Very good instructions & pictures of how to do cast on, knit, purl, increase, decrease, bind off. It also goes into knitting in the
round, fair isle, intarsia. Other sections on how to fix boo-boos such as dropped or twisted stitches, guage, and a discussion of different yarns & needles. 3 projects are included to use the skills as you learn them: a knitted dishcloth (increase/decrease), a scarf (knit/purl/counting stitches), and a hat (knitting in the round).
I would recommend this book to someone just learning how to knit—in fact I just used it to learn how to crochet, and it was clear & entertaining. I lent it to another woman who wanted to learn how to crochet, and she’s doing very well with it, too. But using it as a reference for either knit or crochet? I honestly cannot see myself ever opening it again, now that the basics have been learned. A wonderful book to get someone started, but it’s a book that could be outgrown rather quickly.
I can tell you it’s not so easy to sew on buttons, especially with some of the interesting buttons you can get today!
You dont want the buttons you sew on a cardigan to look loose and dangly…Sometimes the chosen buttons can be too heavy for the knitted fabric. (This is fairly common with heavy pewter or other relatively heavy metal buttons.) The easiest way I’ve found around it is to sew on a smaller “backing button” along with the main button, but on the back of the buttonband. This goes a long way to stabilize the flopping button, and also keeps the knitted fabric more stable. The backing button can be an inexpensive plastic button that matches the buttonband color as closely as possible.
SO: Reinforcing with a clear plastic button (on the buttonband’s wrong side) will help prevent your knitting from stretching out when you wear your sweater buttoned.
This is especially helpful with soft, less stretchy yarns like cashmere and alpaca.
I’ve made tons of hats on circulars. I start at the lower edge with a 16 inch circular, when I decrease so that there are to few stitches to continue I switch to double pointed needles the same size. I use a size seven for worsted weight. You can go down to only about 16-20 stitches before having to switch over to the dpn.
Note: When making hats in the round at some point of decreases you have to change to double pointed needles. I usually don’t even bother with the circular just do the whole thing on D.P. needles. I find it much easier to connect 1st row without twisting. Hope this helps!
It’s been rather quiet lately…My knitting has been very hit or miss lately, with mostly misses, but I’m sure that happens even to the best of us. Though I am the sort who prefers to have just one project going at a time, I’ve been allowing myself to be distracted & start whatever I want: so the list of semi-active projects has become quite long, and each has its own special issue: the socks are very slow going, because I’m beginning to realize that I just don’t like variegated yarns that much; the sweater may become a shawl because of the variegated yarn I am using, while some wool is whispering from the stash that it might just make a nice sweater instead…As with any craft, some parts get easier with practice and some bits are never relaxing (these are the parts I don’t do anymore…) because I am doing this for fun…
Here’s what I do:
Punch a hole in an index card, attach it to the work [or skein, if it
won't interfere] with a coilless safety pin. Add more if needed. Now
all you have to do is worry about the pen.
Here’s a little program that lets you create your own graph paper (you set vertical lines per inch & horizontal lines per page). You’d have to do a guage swatch & measure your rows & stitches & do some math. I’d use this if you can’t find the knitters graph paper :
I personally dislike fringe, so I wanted to add an edging instead to the stole I am making now. I have the idea in my head that there is a way to do a provisional cast on, and then go back & somehow pick up the stitches as you go along and knit an edging perpendicular to the cast on. Well, yes, edgings can be done this way. But I wouldn’t use a provisional cast-on unless I were going to pick up all the stitches from the cast-on and work down. In this case, I would use a method similar to that used in applied I-cord: work my edging to the last 2 sts, k (or p) 2 tog, k 1 stitch from the finished edge. The long-tail cast-on base stitches will be fine. I prefer knitted-in edgings because there’s less opportunity for error. You can ease the edging in as you go and it’s much more accurate. If you attach edgings, yes you should pin them in and mattress-stitch them in place. AND you are going to have to guesstimate how much edging you’ll be needing and not bind the stitches off in case you discover at the end you have knit too little…
I suggest  that chenille “hides” the garter stitch effect nicely…You are getting a good knitting education in using a non wool fiber. You will reach new heights in your knitting career by making these items look good by a very gentle pressing/ and blocking.
I know not all can use wool in their items due to personal circumstances, but its a lovely fiber to work w/ and block, especially in shawls. Its my personal favorite as a fiber for many things, especially shawls.The only fiber that I have had a lot trouble w/ is chenille. I wish it was an easier fiber to work w/, for its a glamous looking fabric
I like wool because it keeps me warm and I am always cold…I don’t find silk to be as warm. You can adjust the amount of warmth by how loosely the shawl is made…one on big stitches will give you more circulation.
Are you looking for warmth or just a light cover-up…and, by the way, once you make a shawl…you could get hooked!
