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!)
There is nothing wrong with knit casting onto the needles. It is the way I have cast on for many years. When you do, try this, it makes for a neater cast. Put the loop on your left needle, start by knitting into that loop and pull yarn through, then up over left needle (2 loops on left needle). From that point on, instead of going directly to the loop (as you would when knitting), place right needle BETWEEN loops on left needle, yarn over, draw through, and place loop over left needle. Going between the loops on the hook makes the edge much neater.
Pulling a loop THROUGH the stitch to cast-on a stitch is called the Knitted Cast-On and pulling a loop BETWEEN two stitches to
cast-on a stitch is called the Cable Cast-On. You can read about A LOT of ways of knitting in Montse Stanley’s Knitter’s Handbook
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.
There is a stitch called “Mattress Stitch”. You use a yarn needle threaded with the yarn used in knitting the garment, put the two RIGHT SIDE pieces together. Hold the sides together with a stitch at the bottom, then pick up one or two bars (the bar between the stitches) on the left side, move to the right side and pick up one or two bars go back to the left side and pick up one or two more bars, do this a few times, and then pull gently on the yarn to tighten the stitches. The seam will be on the inside, and it will be difficult to see the join on the right side. When you put the two right sides together, put them side by side, not “together” you are weaving back and forth more than anything…then steam the seams with the iron and it will flattened out nicely.
I find this method much better than the back stitch or overcast.
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!
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…
