Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Smooth Transition to Ribbing

If you want to create a smooth line for ribbing when knitting a top down sweater, on the last round before the ribbing, change to a smaller sized needle which is usually 2 sizes smaller than the body of the sweater. Work one round of the body stitches (stockinette or pattern). On the first round of ribbing, SLIP every knit stitch and purl the purl stitches. On the next round, knit the normal ribbing stitches to the desired length.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Bind Off Using A Crochet Hook

You can save quite a bit of time by using a crochet hook instead of the right hand knitting needle when binding off. Here's how:

Using a crochet hook about the same size as your knitting needles, hook the first loop on the left-hand needle and knit the stitch onto the hook. Knit the next stitch onto the hook and pull the new stitch through the stitch already on the hook. Continue across the row pulling your new stitch through the one already on the crochet hook. At the end of the row, pull yarn through the last loop on the hook. It makes a nice even edge and is a major time saver.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Long Tail Cast-On - Which Strand?

If you use a long tail cast-on, do you ever accidentally pick up the tail end to knit only to find out half a row later that you are using the wrong strand? When you finish your cast-on, tie a slip knot in the tail or else wrap it into a butterfly knot so you can tell immediately which is the strand for knitting.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

Placing Buttonholes Evenly

To evenly mark buttonholes, use about a 12-15” length of 1” wide elastic. Lay it out without stretching and using a permanent marker, mark a dot every inch leaving an inch selvedge on each end. To use it, use a binder clip to fasten one end of the elastic to a ruler or yardstick. Stretch it to the needed length and clip the other end. Now you have a movable ruler marked to your buttonhole specifications. I do recommend marking the sweater (clips or the like) right away to avoid errors in the event that the binder clips slip. When stretched, the dots will mark your buttonholes evenly down the length of front band so just use a clip stitch marker at the spots where the dots are.

By the way, to remember which side for buttonholes, use this saying:
Holy Moly! Girls are always right and boys are always out in left field. (The holes would be on the right for girls.)