Seaming Pieces Together

A good way hold the pieces together when sewing the finishing seams on a sweater (and to match up seam lengths) is to use the old fashioned wooden spring type clothes pins. You could also use the miniature ones that you can find in the dolls and toys departments of craft or toy stores.

Finishing Hat or Cap Tops

When your project ends with decreasing stitches fast like the top of a cap, the fingers of a glove or the top of an ornament, here’s how to make the finish look smoother. When the pattern says to thread yarn through remaining stitches and pull tight, run your yarn through those stitches a second time and then pull tight from the inside. The double yarn will help fill the loops of those stitches so they don’t gap, make the closing stronger and also help the closing circle lie flat. Another trick to use a smaller needle for the last few rounds of decrease.

Edge Stitches

To create a smooth edge on items like scarves and the front finished edge of a sweater, knit your rows this way. Knit the last stitch in the row through the back loop. Then slip the first stitch of the next as if to purl.
Another way to have a pretty edge is to add two stitches to the pattern and then slip the first stitch of every row knitwise and purl the last stitch on every row.

Natural Fibers

Here's a quick tutorial on natural fibers:
Wool comes from a domesticated sheep. Wool accepts dye well, is flame-retardant by nature, remains warm even when wet, sheds water better than other yarns. Natural wool should be hand-washed. 'Superwash' wool has been treated to allow machine washing. Wool will usually resume its proper shape when washed correctly; if it is mistreated and washed in too-hot water, it will shrink or felt.

Mohair comes from an Angora goat. Mohair is durable, sheds dirt, dyes well and does not felt easily. Despite its hardiness, it is usually spun into knitting yarn used for fluffy garments and scarves. This knitting yarn is abraded, roughing its fibers to create that 'fuzzy' look.

Angora comes from rabbits. Fabric made from this yarn is inelastic, very fluffy, soft and warm.

Silk is the yarn produced by silk moths. Silk knitting yarn is made from damaged silk cocoons and broken fibers. 'Raw' silk still has the original moth secretions in it. 'Tussah,' silk obtained from wild moths is brown. The food fed to domesticated moths determines their silk's natural color; this can white, green or yellow. Silk retains heat, absorbs moisture, pills less than wool, is very strong and very stable when knit, neither shrinking or stretching.

Cashmere comes from the undercoat of a Cashmere goat. It is so expensive because only a few ounces are obtained from each goat per year. It is such a delicate yarn, more fragile than wool and more susceptible to abrasion, that it is usually blended with wool to make it more durable.

Camel comes from the two-humped or Bactrian camel. Camel hair cannot be bleached, so it is either used undyed or dyed a darker color. It is lightweight and fragile.

Vicuna comes from the vicuna, a South American relative of the camel. They are rounded up once a year and shorn like llamas or sheep; their hair is finer than any other animal yarn.

Alpaca is a smaller relative of the llama but its hair is more commercially valuable. Knitting yarn does not felt or pill easily. It comes in fifteen natural colors (as do the alpacas) and is denser than wool . The undercoat of a llama is very similar to alpaca hair.

Qiviut (kiv-ee-uht) the yarn itself is very hard to find. It comes from a musk ox and resembles pale gray cashmere but does not shrink.

Underarm Stitches

To avoid holes at the underarm seam of a sweater, use a smaller needle to pick up stitches at the underarm. Pick up one stitch in each of the extra cast on stitches (if knitted in the round) or the bound off underarm stitches (if knitted flat). Then decrease in your first row of knitting if you have more stitches than needed for your pattern.

Fringe

If you are adding fringe to a poncho, afghan or a scarf or whatever your project is, here’s an easy way to cut even lengths of yarn. Cut an empty paper towel tube to the length of fringe that you need (mark the tube length the future use). Then cut a 1" length-wise wedge out of the tube. Wrap your yarn end-to-end around the tube. The curve will keep your yarn from sliding out or off the edges. Cut the ends of the wrapped strands and you’ll have the proper length of fringe. You can store several different lengths of tubes inside each other so you always have the right length to cut fringe.

Custom Gift Tags

To make a custom gift tag for a special item you've knit, cut a piece of white cardstock into the shape of the item (such as a sweater shape, mitten shape, sock shape, etc.). Then wrap extra yarn from the project around your gift tag so if it ever needs repairs, the recipient has matching yarn. Punch a hole in the top and attach to your gift.

Handy Measuring

If you are traveling and working on a project, sometimes you don’t have a ruler with you. Use a dollar bill instead. The length is 6” so folded in half makes a 3” ruler for ribbing. In thirds you have a 2” and 4” ruler. If you have a full page pattern, you will know 8-1/2” and 11”.

Cast On for Double Pointed Needles

If you are trying to cast-on using double pointed needles and the instructions say to “divide stitches evenly”, it’s not an easy task. So that the needles don’t slide out while you are manipulating those stitches and needles, use small rubber bands. As you distribute the stitches, put the rubber bands on both ends of the needles to keep things from slipping. When you knit the first round, remove the bands as you go keep them on for a few rounds until the needles will stay as you knit.

Chemo Cap Sizing

Here's a guide to head sizing for making chemo caps. There are lots of free patterns avaiable via the web. Try www.ravelry.com, http://www.freepatterns.com/ or www.headhuggers.org for patterns.
SIZE AROUND HEAD FRONT TO BACK EAR TO EAR
Extra Petite 20-1/2” 12” 10-1/2” to 11”
Petite 21” 12-1/2” 11” to 11-1/2”
Average 21-1/2” 12-1/2” to 13” 11-1/2” to 12”
Large 23 13”+ 12”+

SIZE AROUND HEAD FRONT TO BACK EAR TO EAR
Extra Petite 20-1/2” 12” 10-1/2” to 11”
Petite 21” 12-1/2” 11” to 11-1/2”
Average 21-1/2” 12-1/2” to 13” 11-1/2” to 12”
Large 23” 13”+ 12”+

Sleeves First

One way to knit a sweater and not end up with a vest is to knit the sleeves first. A sleeve can also be used as your gauge swatch if you are the type that doesn’t believe in swatches. It’s much easier to take out a few inches of sleeve than to end up with a garment that doesn’t fit.

Make One Stitches, Increases

If you have a hard time remembering which way to insert your needle when making a make 1 left or make 1 right (M1L, M1R), here’s a saying to help you.
“I left through the front door but I’ll be right back.”
Therefore, a left slanting increase (M1L) tells you to put your needle through the front of the stitch and a right slanting increase (M1R) tells you to put your needle through the back of the stitch to start the increase.

Unisex Baby Sweaters

When making baby sweaters in colors that can be worn easily by either sex, knit buttonholes on both sides of the front band. Sew buttons over the holes on the appropriate side once you know the sex of the baby. If it’s handed down, the buttons can always be moved to the other front band.

Buttonholes

To keep buttonholes neat, when you are finished with your garment, separate yarn plies and use one or two plies to sew a buttonhole stitch around the buttonhole. Also use separated yarn plies to sew on the buttons.

Measuring

When you make a copy of the pattern so you can highlight as you finish sections, add a tape measure in the margin when you make your copy so you always have one available and handy as you knit.

Cap Blocking

To shape a knitted hat, blow up a balloon to a size to fill out the hat and then spray it with a water atomizer. Let it dry before removing from the balloon. Blocking the easy way!

Using Up Yarn Scraps

If you are making striped mittens for kids and trying to use up odd ends of yarn, knit both mittens at the same time and use both ends of your yarn to divide it equally. That way you'll have enough to do both mittens without running out of a particular color of yarn.

Changing or Customizing Patterns

If you have a pattern that you’ve made some modifications to or use again and again, here’s a way to make life easy for you. Type the pattern into a Word document (just copy and paste if it’s an online pattern). Make your notes and changes to the pattern in a DIFFERENT COLORED FONT from the original pattern. Highlight the instructions for different sizes making yourself a key color chart on each page and if there are some complicated instructions (like increase every 4th row and at the same time, cable or whatever), add a table to your document with row numbers so you can check them off as you do the instruction. When you need to use the pattern again, just print another copy, and another copy, and another copy. . . . .

Multiple Strands

If you are working with 2 or 3 strands of yarn, before you start the project thread all strands through a small plastic ring like a cafe curtain hanger. This will keep all the yarn strands flowing smoothly and together. It also lets you be sure that you are always using the same number of strands.

Clip Marker Use

If you don't have pen and paper to jot down which row you are on in a pattern and aren’t using index cards, an easy marker is to use the clip type stitch markers or coiless safety pins. If your next row is row 7 in the pattern, clip the marker on the 7th stitch on your needle. When you start knitting again, you don't have to try and figure out where you were.

Shaping Hats

Another way to shape knitted hats: place the finished hat over an upturned colander which is placed over a pot of boiling water on the stove. Let the steam shape your hat for you.

Ribbing

Make sure you bring the yarn forward ALL THE WAY when changing from knit to purl stitches. If you notice that you have a bit of a gap after a knit stitch which is before a purl stitch (such as uneven K1, P1 ribbing), give an extra tug when you bring the yarn forward to close that gap.

Attaching Fringe

To attach fringe, use a latch hook tool (like the ones that come with latch hook rug kits). It will pull the yarn through the hole smoothly and not split your yarn.

Self-Striping Variegated Yarns

If you are using variegated yarn, always pull the yarn from the skein in the same way (i.e., from the center or from the outside) throughout the project. With many variegated yarns there's a distinct difference in how the color patterning appears.

Reversible Patterns

If you are knitting a reversible pattern such as in a scarf and have trouble remembering if you are on a right or wrong side row, this tip is for you. If you use a long-tail cast on, the tail end of your cast on yarn will be at the tip of your needle when you are on the right side of your work and it will be an odd numbered row. When that tail is at the far end of the needle, you are on a even numbered row and the wrong side of your project. You could also place a clip marker on the right side start of the row.

Decreases

If you need to make paired decreases like in sweater sleeves and if you are knitting circular, place one color marker at the seamline and different colored markers at the end of the stitches that will not be decreased. It makes it easy to see how many decreases you have left and you can easily count to make sure you did the decreases on both sides of the center marker.

Picking Up Stitches

If you need to pick up stitches, such as around a neckline, the easiest way is to use a crochet hook and then slip the stitches on the knitting needle. Remember they will be twisted on the hook so make sure you slip them to the needle going through the back.

Some Handy Measurements

Some handy measurements for knitting on the go:
• One Inch is roughly the measure from the top knuckle on your thumb to your thumb tip.
• Four Inches is roughly the width of most people's hands measured across your bottom knuckles (without the thumb).
• Eight Inches is an average thumb tip to little finger tip span.
• One Yard is roughly the distance from your nose, to the bent fingers on your outstretched hand. This is an easy way to estimate yards of cord, fabric or ribbon.
• From your bent elbow to the tips of your fingers is between 15 and 18 inches for most people.
• A woman's size 9 foot (US and Canada) is usually ten inches long.
• A standard business card is 3-1/2 inches long and 2 inches high.
• Standard credit cards are 3-3/8 inches by 2-1/8 inches.
• A US dollar bill is 2-7/12 inches tall by 6-1/6 inches long.
• A one cent coin is 3/4 of an inch across.
• A quarter is just under one inch across.
• Standard modern doors are six foot six to six foot eight inches high.
• A dining room table surface is usually 30 inches from the ground.
• The seat of a dining room chair is usually 15-17 inches from the floor.

Adding Beads to Knitting

Knit the stitch you want the bead on and then slip that loop into the center of the bead and put the loop on the right hand needle. This method will always have your bead facing forward in the exact spot you want. You also don’t have to thread them onto your yarn beforehand. To make life easy, use a tiny crochet hook that fits through the center of the bead to pull the loop through the bead.