My Knitting Nook

Fun Knitting Projects, Books and Patterns

How to do a Felted Join for Knitting

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The Felted Join for Knitting

This technique is perfect for when you want to join 2 skeins of yarn without having to weave-in the ends when you’re done.  For someone like me who hates doing the finish work at the end of a project, this technique is a great idea.  But remember, you can only use this with 100% wool, or the yarn won’t felt together properly.

Listen to Episode 45 of the Knitting Pipeline Podcast available on iTunes or at www.knittingpipeline.com Join your wool nearly invisibly using the felting te…

Two Color Knitting Video

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When knitting with two colors, there are several options for holding your yarn to get the best tension and speed.  This video does a good job of showing you how to hold one color in each hand, giving you the ability to knit without dropping one yarn to pick-up another.  This approach is a combination of knitting continental with one color and throwing, or flicking, with the other color.
Fair Isle knitting and knitting with color really opens-up the possibilities for you.  If you’ve been scared to try knitting with two colors, then try practicing with some swatches and you’ll see how fun this type of project can be.

Want to improve the speed and tension of your fair isle knitting? Here are a couple of tricks that I find useful.

Get a Perfect Ribbing With the Italian Cast-On

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The Italian cast-on is a wonderful method that gives you a beautiful edge.  With its alternating knit-purl pattern, this cast on method is ideal for ribbing.  You’ll end-up with a cast-on row that blends seamlessly with your band of ribbing.  This cast on knitting also has plenty of stretch and give.

 

I admit that when I tried this method for the first time it took me a little bit of practice to get the rythym.  But once you “get it”, it really is an easy method.  Watch the video a couple of times (the beginning at least) so that you can see the rhythym of this cast on.  I think that once you see it and get the rhythym in your head, you’ll be able to do pick it up yourself pretty quickly.

 

In addition to using the Italian cast-on for ribbing, this cast on method is also great for Brioche knitting.

Visit knitfreedom.com to watch the entire video course and get more great tips to help you learn how to knit brioche.…

How to Join Side Seam on Sweater

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When the knitting is complete and it comes time to sew your sweater together, there are several different finishing techniques that can help give you a professional look.  For joining the side seams of a sweater, the mattress stitch is an easy way to get a strong, invisible seam.
The mattress stitch is good anytime you want to join two stockinette pieces together.  So while this stitch is one that you’ll use time and time again when knitting a sweater, you’ll also use it plenty of times with other projects.
Here’s a quick tutorial knitting video on how to do seaming with the mattress stitch.

In this knitting video from www.KnittingHelp.com , Amy shows you how to create a beautiful invisible seam using mattress stitch. This knitting how-to video uses a contrasting color yarn so it’s easy to follow along.

An Introduction to Continental Knitting

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Demonstration of Continental Knitting

What type of knitter are you?  Are you a traditional thrower, or do you use the continental knitting method?  I’m a traditional thrower (English knitting), but have played around with the continental method now and again.  My problem is that I’m a fast knitter, so to make a change is hard.  But this year I’m determined to master continental knitting so that I can increase my speed and hopefully get as fast as I am today.  Well, it’s a goal at least.  

Jennifer Ackerman-Haywood, host of the CraftSanity podcast, visits Lorilee Beltman, owner of City Knitting in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for a quick “Continental” knitting lesson. As a veteran “thrower” or English style knitter, Jennifer didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to see how the other half knit. She brought her video camera along to record the tutorial for all of you.

Learn a New Method of Casting On

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Cast-on-Bind-OffDid you know that there are hundreds of ways to start and finish your knitting?  If you’ve only done a standard method of casting on, now is the perfect time to learn a new method.  Each form of casting on and binding off has pros and cons.  Some offer more stretch, while others are decorative in nature and are part of the pattern’s design.

How many ways can you cast on and bind off?  Do you have a favorite?  I use the long tail cast-on for most projects, but some patterns require a crochet cast on that can be removed after you make some progress with the pattern.  My preferred method of binding-off is a method that I learned from Lucy Neatby.  I think that it gives sweaters a professional and polished look.

Hard to believe that there are so many ways to cast on and bind off?  There are some great online tutorials to help you learn a new technique, as well as books that outline a variety of methods.  The Cast On Bind Off book by Leslie Ann Bestor outlines 54 different methods.  Reviewers agree that this book offers easy to follow instructions, along with illustrations to supplement the written instructions.  At a whopping 4.8 star rating, this book is a top-rated knitting book that is a great reference when working on any project.

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