Nadina’s Free online knitting patterns

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..

If you’ve raised livestock for very long you learn that most animals who are not healthy, die and the issue stops there. The old farmers never ate sick animals, those got hauled away/burned/buried. An injured animal that wasn’t drugged is safe to be butchered, but the degree of injury would affect adrenaline and likelihood of toughness, thus the decision would have to be made carefully and that animal might be best as dog food. (more…)

- they came out beautifully! In case anyone is interested, I bought some cheap wooden picture frames, some cheap mats, and double stick tape. Stuck white paper over the cardboard backing in the frame, stuck the blocked swatch onto the paper with the double stick tape, threw it in the frame under the mat & voila! So easy to coordinate with your room! (more…)

Oh yeah. You never stop ripping no matter how good you THINK you are. I’ve been ripping out  for too many years. I almost never take the work off the needles unless the mistake is so egregious, I have no choice. But when I do rip each stitch out, rather than pull the yarn out of the old stitch each time, I do an entire row (round) and then gently pull the ripped yarn.
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I’ve been using Crystal palace bamboo circulars for quite some time and it definitely has helped with the soreness. I also am firm believer in Handeze gloves. I know they suggest using these for arthritis but feel that the support they give the wrist can only help. Sometimes the best thing is rest, though…

I never block garments made of acrylic yarn. Acrylics are plastics. Plastic has no memory-unless you apply too much heat, in which case acrylic yarn will melt. Follow the manufacturer’s directions, i.e., throw it in the wash and then dry it on low for a few minutes.( Whenever I wash a garment in the machine, no matter the fiber, I turn it inside out which decreases pilling)
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As a rule, just because the gauge matches doesn’t mean you can play fast and loose with the fiber. If it is a specialty (read fashion) yarn, I don’t substitute. If it is a generic worsted, I will. I have substituted acrylic for wool in a classic cable pattern with no problems. (more…)