I LOVE my Circular Solution needle cases…one for DPs and one for circulars…you can get them from most of the vendors online. They have the sizes marked on the pockets so it is easy to see which sizes I need to buy more of… Actually I was lucky enough to get one (from the creator) that did not have the sizes marked…so I could arrange it just the way I wanted to…
The best, I’ve found, have compartments to organize the needles and a zipper around the perimeter to keep them closed.
Others roll up and have a tie around the middle, also with organizing compartments. The big drawback, I’ve found, is the expense–they are usually FAR more expensive than I want/can afford to pay. My solution is to scour flea markets, sidewalk sales, resale shops, etc., and also E-Bay!
Give it a try– you’ve got nothing to lose, and might get a great “find” for your trouble! (By the way, if one can sew on a fair-to-middling basis, the roll-up kind wouldn’t seem too hard to make on your own!)
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!
BEFORE you knit with it…
Take a bit of the yarn between your fingers of both hands, pull, tug and twist it a little. Then push it back against itself (about half inch will do). If the threads in the twist fall all apart ittjust might split while you are working with it.
Just knit with what you like. But on the other hand, if you plan on frogging alot (ripping out your knitting), I’d probably wouldn’t use it just for convenience sake. You can untwist the yarn while you are knitting, frogging, knitting, frogging, knitting, etc.
What you really need to watch out for is that slippery stuff. You haven’t knit yet till you try to keep some of that slippery stuff on your metal needles. LOL It’s impossible! You havent knit yet you will try to combine the yarn with something else or try and use wooden needles. I pass this tip on from experience.
Are you knitting with acrylics, or with wool? wool fibres tend to stick to themselves just by their nature…
So, for acrylic fibers: Knitting the two ends together should be sufficient to lock in those
new balls of yarn, but if you would feel more secure, weave the ends
in for a few stitches horizontally thru your knit stitches. You can
even take a stitch or two back then along the row below if you want.
For wool fibers (I am working with right now):
I’ve attached ball o’ yarn #6 to my shole. This thing is starting to wear on me, so I thought maybe I’d stop & take care of the ends I have hanging everywhere…When I joined each new ball, I knitted or purled holding the old yarn and new yarn together for 3-5 stitches, whatever the pattern would allow (I had decided it wouldn’t be good to do this near any yo’s)…
I weave my ends in the direction I think they will be least visible…If you
are working with wool, the fact that you have already knit them together for
a few stitches should be close to enough…the wooliness with cause them to
stay attached after you have washed and blocked..
Actually I was lucky enough to get one (from the creator) that did not have the sizes marked…so I could arrange it just the way I wanted to…
