Smoother Bamboo Needles

If you have a pet chew on your bamboo needles, use this tip to fix the problem.
Use super fine sand paper to get the big bits off and then steel wool to smooth. Finish with a good rub with a piece of wax paper, which will fill the dents. Also, if you need an emergency cable needle for small work, a toothpick rubbed with a bit of wax paper works well, too

Slanting Decreases

An easy way to remember which way a decrease slants is by using this logic. A left slanting decrease is an SSK which has a left slant (the S) in the middle of it. A right slanting decrease is a K2tog which has a right slant (the 2). See: S2 = \ /. Left slant, right slant.

Chart Reading

Reading charts for color work or cabling can be intimidating even for experienced knitters. Part of the problem arises from trying to read the chart as we would read a written page (left to right and top to bottom). Knitting charts are read from bottom to top and right to left for right-side rows, left to right for wrong side rows. If you are knitting in the round then all rows are read from right to left.

To assist in knowing which end to read from and to keep you on track with your pattern, number your chart on the side of the row you need to start from for each row – 1 on the right of the bottom row, 2 on the left of the second to the bottom row, 3 on the right of the third to the bottom row, and so forth.

How Much Yarn Per Row?

A simple rule of thumb to estimate how much yarn you need per row:
Spread out your work to get the full width of the piece. With your remaining yarn, loosely extend it across the work 3 times. If you have enough yarn to do that, you have enough to knit the row. The only exception is if you have yarn gobbling features like bobbles or cables. If you are binding off, you'll need at least four lengths as this procedure takes that much more to do it properly.

Cables

Ever look at your cables and then look at those in the magazines and books and wonder how the designer got such a tidy looking cable? Well, the answer lies in a couple of techniques that keep the stitches in the cable and right next to the cable all the same size.
• First, just like ribbing, when changing from a knit to a purl, or visa versa, bring the yarn straight back or forward and give a little tug to get rid of the slack in the yarn.
• Second, keep the stitches in the cable from stretching out by working at the tips of the needles through the cable section on a row where the stitches are crossed. You’ll be amazed at how neat and tidy those cables will look.
• Third, manipulate the stitches if necessary to get rid of looseness. Loose stitches usually occur on the left side of the cable if the cable is a left or front cross and on the right side if the cable is a right or left cross.

Fiber Content and How To Figure It Out

Sometimes you find a fantastic bargain yarn, inherit someone else’s stash, or choose from the charity yarns where the skein has no label. Determining whether the fiber is animal, vegetable, or synthetic can be accomplished with a burn test. Below is a chart of burn test results and the process for performing the test.

The test is done as follows:
Hold a small piece of yarn near the flame and observe whether the yarn melts as you bring the flame close.

Hold the yarn in the flame and note how fast it burns.

Withdraw the flame and note if the yarn continues to burn or goes out.

Smell the odor of the burnt yarn.

Note the color of the ash and whether it is hard and brittle by pinching between fingers.

If a molten bead forms, note the color and hardness.

If you want to find out if a yarn is animal vs. other you can accomplish this without flame by placing a snip in some full strength bleach. Animal fiber will dissolve. Vegetable will change color but remain. Synthetic will remain unchanged. Blends will do a combination of things.

To find out if a wool is superwash or feltable, take a very small bowtie of yarn and rub intensely between your palms in warm soapy water for 1-2 minutes. Superwash may get a little fuzzy but remains distinct strands and maintains good twist definition. Feltable wool will show a tendency for the strands to stick together and the twist definition will become indistinct. If you continue rubbing, good feltable wool will become a nugget of fiber in your hands. Some of you may find this is an excellent way to make jewelry.

Stretchy Bindoff

Use Elizabeth Zimmerman’s stretchy bind off if you end up with necks being too tight after binding off the stitches for bottom-up sweaters, socks, etc. After you finish the row, cut the yarn so it’s about 3 times the length of the edge you have to bind off. Thread on a darning needle. Then sew forward (to the left) through two stitches, and back (right) through only the right-most of the two stitches. Slip the right-most stitch off the needle and continue. Forward two, back one, drop, forward two, back one, drop, etc. If you are knitting in the round and want to use this bind off, slip the first stitch to the right needle and make it the last stitch for an even finish.

To watch a video of how it’s done, use the link in the title.

Garter Stitch in the Round

Garter stitch, which is so easy to do when you're knitting flat, is kind of a pain when knitting in the round! This is because you have to alternate knitting one round with purling one round to make up for the fact that you're not turning your work. If you feel up to the challenge, you can do a wrap and turn at the end of each round, and go back the other way, still knitting, which creates kind of a "cheater's" garter stitch.

I-Cord

Using the I-cord technique would work in any knit-in-the-round situation where you have less than 10 stitches – as in reducing stitches for a hat, or making strings, ties, or toy parts (dread locks, squid legs, etc).

To make I-cord place all stitches on one double-point needle, knit across all stitches. Instead of turning your work, simply slide the stitches all the way to the right end of the needle and continue knitting. It’s a little confusing at first because the yarn for the first stitch is attached to the opposite end of the work, but what you will find is that the yarn that is running from one end to the other is actually pulling the work into a stockinette stitch tube. Really cool.

This page has a video demo of how I-cord is made and also how you can apply it to an edge as a bind off (bonus!)
http://www.knittinghelp.com/videos/knitting-tips

Picking Up Stitches Evenly

Sometimes it’s challenging to pick up a specific number of stitches over a span of work. If you have issues with having too many or too few stitches, try this. Fold the side where you are to pick up the stitches in half and mark the fold, then fold the work in half again and mark the two resulting folds. Now your work is divided into 4 even sections. Divide the number of stitches to pick up by 4 and pick up that number in each section.

Toe Up Socks

When knitting toe-up socks, use the socks themselves to hold the yarn ball. You can also knit both socks at the same time using the magic loop method. Magic loop is a way to knit in-the-round using a very long circular needle making a large loop with the cord that hangs outside your knitting so you can continue to knit in the round.

Kitchener Stitch

There is an excellent reference on how to do the Kitchener stitch here - http://techknitting.blogspot.com/2007/05/easier-way-to-kitchener-stitch-also.html. Kitchener is also called graft stitch or grafting and produces a seam that is flat and even – obviously really good for socks but also for hats or shoulders where you have two planes of work meeting and would rather not have the bulk of a seam.

Matching Self Striping Yarn

To help match the pattern, when making socks with self striping yarn, leave a 1-2 yard tail at the beginning so you can match the repeat exactly. If you are making two socks from the same ball of yarn you may have to pull a bit before you get a match for the start of the second sock.

Stabilizing Buttonbands

Sew a small clear button on the inside of the sweater band on cardigans. This will help stabilize the fabric. It also helps if you have a fabric that tends to stretch or is weakened.

Untwisting Yarn

To untwist yarn while working items like a twined knitting project, place your yarn on a turntable lazy susan and turn as needed.

Yardage Per Row, Last Stitch Bind Off

If you are getting close to the end of your skein of yarn and aren’t sure if you can make another row, check to see if the remaining yarn is about triple the width of what you are knitting. If so, then you’ll have enough to complete the row. Once you’ve bound off the row and you have one loop left on both the left and right hand needles, knit through both the left needle stitch and the stitch below it by picking up the loop of the stitch below and bind off all three together. Then you don’t end up with the little point on the corner of your work.

Notions - Provisional Yarn

Keep a length (about 3-5 yards) of smooth lighter weight cotton yarn in your notions kit so you can always do a provisional cast on when you need it.

In a provisional cast on, you are casting on with a temporary yarn and then knitting with the project yarn from the temporary loops. The intent is that later you will undo the temporary cast on, picking up the resulting loops of your project yarn to knit from the “bottom edge” of the piece. A garish color for your temporary makes it easier to pick out or unravel and smooth cotton won’t catch on your loops as you remove it.

Gauge! and How To Fix Yours

Question: "What do you do if you are getting the correct stitches but the wrong rows per inch? Changing needle sizes may correct the number of stitches, but what if the row gauge is wrong?

Answer: If you are knitting in a different yarn than what is suggested in the pattern, it may produce a different stitch size. Depending on the yarn you choose, it could create a very different stitch length and width, even if the yarn is of similar weight and fiber content. (I’ve learned that you come closest when both the weight and the yardage of the skein match – so 50g and 100meters will knit very similarly to 50g and 109meters but not so much when it is 50g and 125 meters.)

Continental-style knitting is said to produce a shorter stitch than knitting the English method. If you knit Continental, try knitting to the indicated total length rather than row count if length is provided in the pattern. (Continental knitting is where you use your needle to pick the yarn from your left hand and English method is where you use your right hand to “throw” the yarn around your needle).

If your project is made seamlessly in the round, your gauge swatch should also be made in the round. Making a back-and-forth gauge swatch could be inaccurate because tension tends to be different when working flat, knit and purl rows, as opposed to knitting every round when knitting seamlessly.

And lastly, you may want to consider your "hung" gauge. A final garment measurement is different when it is lying flat or on a table rather than when it is hanging on a person. Try placing your swatch on a pant hanger and applying a lightweight object to the bottom to get a more accurate measurement. Especially true if your knitting with large needles or soft, floppy yarn.

Yarn Laundry Guide

Armhole Shaping, SSK, K2Tog

When working armhole shaping of a sweater, start the RS (right side) rows with a ssk (slip, slip, knit) and end with a k2tog (knit 2 together) to following the line of the armhole. You can remember this by knowing the "s" in ssk means to start the row (but work the slant in a stitch or two).

Yarn That Tends To Bias Or Twist

Chenille yarn tends to bias – slant or twist your work because of the way that it’s made. One way to overcome this is to knit a strand of sewing thread or another very thin, well spun yarn along with the chenille. If it is in a matching color, it won't show at all. If it contrasts, think of it as a design element. This also helps prevent another frequent problem with chenille--worming (when loose loops of yarn pull out of the fabric and twist back on themselves, making little tails).

You can use this same technique for reinforcing 100% wool sock yarn. Choose a good strong nylon thread in a complimentary or matching color and include it with your yarn in the wear areas of your sock. Even if the yarn wears through, the nylon thread will maintain the structure for a possible overstitch repair.

Handy Tape Measure

When you make a copy of the pattern, copy a tape measure in the margin to measure against.
--or--
On your knitting needles mark off inches and with a permanent marker and mark the needles so that they can be used to measure your work in progress instead of having to take a measuring tape along!

Substitute Yarn - Wraps Per Inch

If you are looking for a substitute yarn at the yarn shop (perhaps a less expensive or more durable yarn) for your project, bring a short double point needle and ruler to compare the wraps per inch between the suggested yarn and the one that you want to substitute. Just wrap the yarn around the double point with the coils touching, then measure how many fall within the inch. It will give you a good idea whether the two would knit to the same gauge. Here’s a handy chart for various yarn weights:

Double Pointed Needles

When knitting with double point needles in the round – the more needles you use the less obvious your ladders (stitch that bridges the work between needles) will be. If you are a beginner however it’s often easier to use three plus one working needle because the three in the work form a triangle.

Items in Notions Kit

Keep a length (about 3-5 yards) of smooth lighter weight cotton yarn in your notions kit so you can always do a provisional cast on when you need it. It can also come in handy when jacket buttons pop off and need a quick fix.

Mobile Knitting Charts

If you are taking your knitting mobile and are using a chart, take a photo of the chart with your mobile phone. Then you can look at it whenever you need the chart without having lots of paper tagging along.

Fiber Test

An easy test to figure out if your yarn is animal, plant or synthetic, pour a small amount of bleach in a small bowl or custard cup. Place a length of your yarn into the bleach. It will either:

· bubble and dissolve which means it is an animal fiber and will felt
· the color starts to bleach out but the fiber does not dissolve, it’s a plant fiber like cotton
· the yarn floats in the bleach and doesn’t change, it is an acrylic yarn
· the yarn bubbles but doesn’t disappear, it is probably a wool-acrylic blend

Row Gauge

If you’ve made your swatch and have the right stitch gauge but have trouble obtaining the right row gauge, it could be because of your knitting style. Continental (picking style) knitting produces a slightly shorter stitch than English (throwing style) so it would be good to know both styles of knitting depending on your project.

Cables While Knitting in the Round

If you are knitting a cabled pattern in the round, it’s sometimes difficult to see/know when you are on a cable round as opposed to when you are knitting back and forth. There are a few tricks to being able to count the rounds which I’ve illustrated below.



This is my preferred method and what I think is the easy method.

Smooth Circular Joins

One way to make a smooth join when knitting in the round is to cast on 1 extra stitch. When joining the circle, knit the first and last stitches together.

Reading and Knitting Difficult Patterns

If you have a difficult pattern and lose your place when going from pattern or chart to your knitting, record the pattern steps on audio so you can listen and knit rather than finding your spot on a written pattern.

Counting Rows

It’s sometimes hard to count the number of rows in stockinette, especially if you are using a little bit of a fuzzy yarn. Instead, count rows from the back/purl side and stretch it out a bit so you can easily see the rows.

Chart Reading

If you are moving up to the challenge and knitting a complicated lace or fair isle pattern, mark your chart with colored vertical lines between the obvious patterns. Then use corresponding colored embroidery floss or colored markers (or even colored paper clips) in your knitting so you can see at a glance where you are in the pattern.

Picking Up Tinked Stitches

If you need to “tink” or rip back your knitting in stockinette stitch, make sure the right leg of each stitch is toward the front side of your needle when you pick up those stitches.

Increase in Ribbing

When making increases in ribbing (like from the bottom band to the body of a sweater), use a kfb or bar increase and do the increase in a knit stitch which is immediately followed by a purl stitch. This will make the increase nearly invisible. Then make your first stockinette row a purl row and that will really hide the increases.

Trimming Fringe

To straighten fringe before trimming, comb it out using a wide tooth hair pick type of comb.

Finding Yarn Ends

To easily find the tail end of your yarn skein once you’ve started using the yarn, use a bobby pin. Clip the end of the yarn with the bobby pin and push it into the skein. Totally secure and easy to find.

Uneven Stockinette Stitches

Use one size smaller needle on the purl side of stockinette stitches to make knitting more even overall and be more like machine knitting. Purl stitches take just a smidge more yarn and 1 needle size smaller will compensate for the difference. If you aren't sure if you have uneven stockinette stitches, turn your work over and stretch it vertically a bit. If you have "channels" showing every 2 rows, you need to use this tip.