I have seen a number of knitted fringe instructions in old books, and finally decided to give one a try. At first, I couldn't imagine how this would work out, but of course it does! It's a little bit of knitted magic.
You can use any yarn and needles you like.
Cast on 8
*K2, YO, K2tog*
Just repeat this for every row, until the fringe is as long as you like. Then, bind off five stitches. Cut the yarn and pull the tail through. You will have some stitches just hanging around on the left needle - these will turn into the fringe. Slide the remaining stitches off the needle, and unravel them.
You can then attach your fringe to knitted or crochet items. You can sew the fringe on with a tapestry needle, or attach it with a crochet hook and single crochets. I attach mine with a crochet hook in the video below. You can hold your fringe and the item you are attaching it to with right sides together, so the crochet seam is on the back, or you can hold them wrong sides together, and the seam can be used as a decorative element.
I suppose you could even make the fringe on some fine crochet cotton, and sew it on with a regular needle and thread. I think this would look so pretty as a decoration on a pillowcase, or maybe some nice dinner napkins.
Here is one of my cats, Tiger, modeling the Pillow Talk Valentine's Day Pillow!
This is a quick, easy project. I used Christmas Red and White Cascade 220 yarn, but you can use any colors you like. The heart used about 160 yards of yarn total. This is stuffed with polyester poly fill; I put as much in as I could, which is about 2 oz. but you can use more or less. The letters are added with duplicate stitch using a few scant yards of scrap yarn.
If you don't know how to do duplicate stitch, you can find a video on my YouTube Channel.
The pattern is available for purchase from my Craftsy store. The charted letters are included with the pattern. Click on the picture below to go directly to my Craftsy store and purchase the pattern.
Cabling without a cable needle (or DPN, or whatever you may use to cable) is a handy trick to have in your knitting arsenal. Suppose you forget to pack your cable needles - you can still work on your project!
This is particularly useful when making small cables also. Who wants to fuss with a cable needle to cross only two or three stitches?
Of course, if you feel comfortable only using a cable needle, there is nothing wrong with that. If you like cables, but the idea of messing around with a third needle doesn't sound like fun, then give this technique a try. It really is very easy to do!
Probably the biggest cable I would do this with is an eight stitch cable - any more than that might get a bit tricky. Go with whatever you feel comfortable with.
To make a Right Cross:
Slip the designated number of stitches from your left needle. For our example, we are doing a 6 stitch cable, so slip six stitches off your left needle. The first three stitches are Set One. The last three stitches are Set Two.
With the left needle, reach BEHIND Set Two and slip Set One back onto the left needle.
Now, grab Set Two with your right needle and slip them back onto the left needle. Proceed with your knitting.
To make a Left Cross:
Slip the designated number of stitches from your left needle. Again, let's use 6 as an example.
With the left needle, reach IN FRONT of Set Two and slip Set One back onto the left needle.
Now, grab Set Two with your right needle and slip them back onto the left needle. Proceed with your knitting.
Doesn't that sound easy? If not, don't worry. It made no sense to me the first time I read these instructions either. After reading the instructions a few more times, I sort of had it. Then, after actually trying it out, I had this down! Now I almost never use a cable needle.
Again, you should do whatever is most comfortable for you. Here is a video to help if you are more of a visual learner.
I wanted to take a quick look at felting in this post. I've made a few felted bags and hats in the past, and always have fun. You can make hats, bags, hot pads, cat/dog beds or mats, and lots more.
I have never followed a pattern, but rather just cast on, knit, and then felted. My projects have always turned out well. Luck, I guess!
I made a short video of how I felted the piece of knitting above. My typical method is to just run my project through the wash with a small load of laundry, using hot water and a short to medium long cycle. Rarely do I stop the machine to check progress. I do recommend you check your item about halfway through to see how it is coming along. The old 'Do as I say, not as I do' bit. If my item is not felted enough to my liking, I leave it in for another round with the next load. The yarn is some that I dyed myself. It started as a neutral/ivory color, from Patons. I forget the needle size used, sorry. I cast on 34 stitches, knit for about 50 rows. This was about 7.5 x 5.5 prior to felting. It came out at about 6 x 5.
Place the item you want to felt into a pillow case. A lingerie bag is sometimes suggested, but the lint/fuzz can still get out of the bag, and if you felt a lot, the lint will build up and ruin your machine. A pillow case will collect most of the lint.
You can just throw in a pair of jeans or two to help agitate your project and help the felting process. Don't use new jeans though, because the color could bleed and get onto your project. (You know, like when you accidentally put a new red T-Shirt in with something white....) Better to use old jeans.
Some people suggest using towels - I do not. Towels give off lint/fuzz pills of their own, particularly if they are newer, and it could stick to your project. Older towels may not pose much of a problem, so you may be fine to use old towels.
Detergent helps the felting process, so if you are washing some laundry, of course you will already be using some. If you are just felting with a pair of jeans or two for the agitation, go ahead and put a small amount of detergent in.
Not all yarns will felt in the same way. Some may felt faster than others, some may shrink more or less. Your best bet is to knit up a test swatch and felt it to see how the yarn reacts. You will need to use an animal fiber for felting, as acrylic yarns will not felt. Animal fibers have scales, which open up when exposed to hot, soapy water; with agitation, these scales become tangled together. The scales close up and remain locked together as the fiber cools down and dries, creating felt.
You may have some difficulty felting white yarn; sometimes these yarns have gone through a bleaching process, which removes the scales from the fiber. No scales, no felting. Again, your best bet is to do a test swatch, or even ask around for advice from frequent felters. Try the boards at Knitting Paradise, for example. Interweave has some felting magazines, and there is even an Australian magazine called Felt you may want to check out.
Here is a cute little bag I made several years ago. I also did one in pink. The yarn is some that I purchased on eBay from forestgreener. Great seller that I have purchased from often. I always love the yarn, and have never had a problem with this seller. There is no pattern for this bag; I encourage you to create something unique for yourself.
Yes, it took me four years to knit this sweater! But I finally finished last night. Right now it is drying outside. I gave it a little bath in some SOAK, rolled in a towel to remove excess water, and then put it onto another towel to pat into shape.
I guess I did ok for my first sweater! My tension got screwy in the yoke/neck area, it is looser than the rest of the sweater. Not sure what happened there. I can clearly see the decrease rounds, and that bothers me. I also don't like the bunching, and don't know why that happened. I was hoping it would be nice and flat like the body. Blocking has helped a lot though.
I made the body longer than sweaters typically are, since the recipient requested it be done that way so when he bends over, .... well, you know!
I am happy this project is done, I learned a lot. Especially that I don't care for knitting sweaters, and most likely will not make another one any time soon.
I made this with Cascade 220 using EZ's percentage method in the round. It was really easy, and I am glad I decided to make the sweater this way, instead of having a bunch of parts to seam up. The underarm seaming was enough for me, even though I love the magic of kitchener stitch.
Sample knit with Debbie Bliss Amalfi on US Size 7 needles
Knitted Broomstick Lace, no crochet hook required!
I first saw broomstick lace a few years ago, and gave it a try, but didn't like fussing with the crochet hook. The whole process was just too fiddly for me. Imagine my surprise to learn that you can knit broomstick lace. I saw this process in the Summer 2012 issue of Love of Knitting. Along with instructions for the broomstick lace, there are a few patterns in the magazine.
The process is fairly simple.
Work with a multiple of 5
For the first row K1, YO(2) across the row. That is, knit the first stitch, make a double yarn over, and repeat to the end of the row.
Next, you will be slipping the knit stitches and dropping the yarn overs. Slip a total of five stitches to the right needle. These stitches will be long/loose.
Then, place the five stitches back on the left needle. You will now K1, YO, K1, YO, K1 into this group of five stitches, and drop from left needle. Repeat this to the end of the row.
Love of Knitting did not specify how many rows of plain knitting to do in between the above steps. I suppose it does not really matter, however, if you look at one side of your work you will see a strand running across the fabric. You can see the strand in the picture of my sample from the front; it is more noticeable on the back. If you work an even number of rows between the lace stitches, your strand will always be on the same side of the work. You could set it up so that the strand shows alternately on the 'front' and 'back' of the work. For me, I actually like the look of the strand running across the fabric, so consider this a reversible fabric. Try a sample and see what you think.
Here is a video of the process. I misspoke and said I had 25 stitches on my needles, I only worked with 20. Happy Knitting!
Each year, I plan some type of holiday project that never works out. This year, I actually got it done in time!
This cute little stocking is a fairly quick knit. One stocking uses less than 100 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used Cascade 220), and you don't even have to use red/green/white. My test knitter used pink/grey/white and it looks very pretty!
You can use these for decoration, or stuff them with a few small gifts, such as gift cards or maybe some cash. A plane ticket to a nice quiet beach.... ok that is my wish, but you get the idea!
Don't be afraid if you have never knit in the round, on DPNs, or made a sock. This is really easy, I promise! My test knitter has never knit socks, and has only limited DPN experience, and she was able to complete hers in an evening. That was without the video, using a pre-edited pattern. She also promises it is very easy!
I have a video of knitting the stocking incase you need help; that along with the written instructions should give you a quick, easy knit that will be done in time for Christmas!
Click on the picture below to get the pattern. Happy Christmas Knitting!
Here is the next project that I am doing for the beginners. If you have already done the garter stitch scarf, and would like to move on to something a little more advanced, give this scarf a try.
In addition to the knit stitch, you will be purling, knitting two stitches together, purling two stitches together, and finally knitting into the front and the back of a stitch.
Knit two together (K2tog) and Purl two together (P2tog) are decreases, and by knitting into the front and back of a stitch (KFB) you will be increasing.
This scarf starts out on forty stitches, and this is decreased down to twenty after ten rows. At the end of the scarf, we will increase back up to forty stitches, work for ten rows and then bind off.
You will need two balls of Cascade Cash Vero and US Size 9 needles to make this scarf or any yarn you like with the appropriate needle size for the yarn.
To go with the Double and Triple Knotted Fringe from last week, I thought I would throw in Beaded Fringe.
So super simple to do! All you need are some beads appropriate for your yarn, a crochet hook or bead needle ( or other gadget to get the beads onto the yarn ) and you are ready. Beads that are too big can fall off; if you find some beads that you really want to use, but they are too big for a single strand of yarn, you can use multiple strands, or after threading the yarn through the bead, bring the tail up and tie a knot above the bead. Loopy beads :0) I didn't show this in the video, because it only occurred to me now as I write this.
You can place the beads anywhere on the strands of fringe you like. Near the top, bottom, or somewhere in the middle.
You can put them on randomly, or place them in specific places. Use different colors, whatever you like.
Here is a short video. Have fun adding beads to your fringe!
I love fringe. It can turn a boring scarf into something more fun. Usually, a single knotted fringe will suffice; but sometimes something a little more fancy is nice.
Here is a video showing both double and triple knotted fringe. I am sure others may have their own methods, this is the easiest way for me. If you make fringe, and find a different way works better for you, that is fine too. You know my rule - there is no wrong way!
Triple Knotted Fringe
Make sure that your starting strands are at least several inches longer than you intend for the final fringe to measure. The tying of knots takes away from the length, as does trimming the ends if you intend to do so. It is better to have fringe that is too long than not long enough. If you need to know how to add a simple, single knotted fringe, go HERE.
Once you have your single knotted fringe on, you can do the double or triple knotted fringe. With the exception of the first and last group of single knotted fringe, all you are doing is tying an equal number of strands from each group of the single fringe together. For the first group of fringe, I use the whole bunch, tied together with half of the second group of fringe. For the last group of single knotted fringe, I use the last half of the next to last group, and tie it to the entire last single knotted fringe. You can do as many rows of knots as pleases you, but for me I find one or two rows is enough. Remember, make sure you have enough yarn so that your fringe still has some length to it after you have tied knots and trimmed ends. I would recommend adding just a few test groups of fringe to see if you end up with the desired result, before cutting enough yarn to fringe your entire piece.
A lot of new knitters stay away from cables, because they seem difficult. To a non-knitter, a cabled garment is a very impressive thing, because cables look like something that takes a lot of work. In fact, cables are super easy to do! All a cable is, is a set of stitches worked out of order. That's it. Cables can be knit with any yarn and any needles you like. You can make them thick or thin, on a reverse stocking background, or any background you like. There really aren't any rules (and rules are made to be broken anyhow, aren't they?!) as far as cables go.
This is the first in a series of cable knitting. This is just the basics - types of cable needles, and general info on cabling. There will be additional posts and videos on reversible cables, cabling without a cable needle, working from a chart, etc.
Let's start with the cable needles. There are a number of different types, and they are pretty much available at any craft store and your LYS of course. You can even use a DPN, which is my preferred way unless I am working with more than 3-4 stitches, otherwise I don't bother.
Here are some of the different cable needles, and a set of DPNs too. You don't want to use anything larger than the needle you are using to knit with, otherwise the stitches may get stretched. Stick with something as close to your needles size as possible; you can use a smaller cable needle, but then there is the possibility it may slip out of the stitches. The U shaped cable needles are a good choice for going with a smaller size since they hang nicely and don't slide around much. You should use whatever is the most comfortable for you.
As a general rule, the number of stitches wide your cable is, is the number of rows in between cables. For example, if you are knitting a 6 stitch cable, then you will want to cable on every 6th row. Of course, this rule isn't set in stone. You really don't want to work fewer rows because your cables will bunch up and just look like a lump of yarn. You can though, work more rows in between cables. Take our 6 stitch cable; instead of crossing stitches on every 6th row, try crossing on the 8th, 10th, even 12th row. The more rows you knit in between cables, the longer your cables will be. Play around, do some swatching, and see what you like. It's up to you.
If you look at the top of the picture of this 6 stitch cable, I have crossed stitches on the very next right side row after my first cable. To me, it doesn't look very good. If I were to continue in this way, the fabric would start to bunch up.
Another generally followed rule is that you cross the same number of stitches over each other. A 6 stitch cable is worked by crossing 3 stitches over 3 stitches. You can change it up any way you like though. Maybe 2 over 1, 4 over 2. Your choice.
Let's talk background stitches. A lot of cables you see will be worked in stocking stitch on a reverse stocking stitch background. This makes the cables pop and stand out. Again, this is not a rule that is carved in stone. You can get equally pleasing results working cables on stocking stitch. This is another instance where swatching is useful, because you can play around with backgrounds and see what you like best. There is no wrong way to knit your cables. Whatever looks good to you, is the right way. You can also space your sets of cables as far apart or as near each other as you like.
Now, for the cable itself. Some slant left, some slant right. You may see patterns refer to cabling the stitches as cable left/right, twist left/right, cross front/back, or another similar phrase. The pattern should give instructions on exactly what the terminology means. Because I may use a term in a different way than another knitter, you shouldn't assume that we both mean the same thing even if we use the same wording. Everybody tends to word things in a way that makes sense to them when writing patterns, so be sure you read your instructions carefully. So, how do you make the stitches cross, or twist, or cable? Easy.
If you want your cable to slant to the left, you will slip the required number of stitches to your cable needle and hold them in front of your work. Knit the designated number of stitches from the left needle, then work the stitches waiting on the cable needle.
Holding stitches to the front of the work
You can see here that the stitches are pulling to the left
If you want your cable to slant to the right, you will slip the required number of stitches to your cable needle and hold them in back of your work. Knit the designated number of stitches from the left needle, then work the stitches waiting on the cable needle.
Holding stitches to the back of the work
View from the back of the stitches being held on the cable needle
You can see here that the stitches are pulling to the right
You can find cable stitch patterns in just about every stitch pattern book. Here are a few books you may want to look at:
There is always the internet. Just Google knit cable stitch patterns and you will get a good set of results. A final word about cables. Cabling tends to pull your fabric inward. This fact should already be taken into consideration with commercial patterns; if you are designing your own garment, you will need to be sure to remember this fact, and adjust the number of stitches in your pattern to ensure your garment fits correctly. I have never designed anything (other than a cowl) with cables, so can't offer much more advise. Knitting Paradise has a wealth of seasoned knitters who can probably answer questions on this topic in more detail, or try Googling the topic.
This should get you started with cables. I will be back soon with more cables, stay tuned!
I visited Romni Wools on Saturday, September 22, 2012. I just don't even know where to begin, as I am still at a loss for words about this place.
I was so excited to be there, I didn't even take a picture of the front of the store, sorry. I did however take an abundance of pictures of the inside.
If you ever have the opportunity to visit Romni Wools, you absolutely should go!! You won't be sorry, I promise! Truly, go!!
Romni Wools has the best selection of yarn, notions, books and magazines of any place I have ever been to. The place is literally stocked from floor to ceiling. I was just in absolute awe the moment I walked in the door. I had read about this place of course, but you really don't get the full effect unless you see it in person. OH, yes. They even have a basement, filled to the brim with even more yarn!
About a week before my trip, I was reading reviews and there were a few that said customer service wasn't the best. My experience was quite the opposite - more than one employee asked how I was doing and if I needed help. I was greeted upon entering. I asked for and received a shopping basket - I knew I would need it! I also saw several other customers get help from the staff. I can't say what the problem was with those who said they didn't get good service. I received and saw great customer service at Romni Wools!
Again, I am pretty much at a loss for words. I am just going to once again, recommend that you go if possible, and let the pictures speak for themselves. If I can't get all of these to load on this one post, I will add a second post.
Pictures of my purchase will be in a separate post. Click on any picture to enlarge it.
