Play AudioPlay Video This week I’m knitting a Christmas stocking and pattern. Christmas stockings are interesting.  Basically they follow sock patterns and are often knit with larger needles and thicker yarn.  It can be plain or fancy.  This stocking is a top down pattern, so the toe has symmetrical decreases.  Every other row is a decrease row.  And each decrease row has four decreases.  Two are left slanted and two right slanted.  And because the yarn is heavier than sock yarn, I decided to add the decreases to my How To Knit Videos series. To see the left slanted decrease video,... (Read More ...)

Play AudioPlay Video The latest video in my How To Knit Videos is on using single crochet with knitted squares. And there’s an interesting story behind it.  You see, I made an afghan from a kit a few years ago. It is made of individual squares that are joined together into the whole afghan.  I knit it while caregiving.  The squares are a great way of knitting a large project without hauling the whole thing around. I think it’s now my favorite way to knit an afghan or blanket.  Although I can see making strips another option. Yes, I customized the knitting instructions. The original... (Read More ...)

  Play AudioPlay Video This week I was wondering what to include in the next episode of my how to knit videos. While finishing knitting my shawl, inspiration struck – in the form of a bind off especially nice for some lace knitting.  While doing the picot edge bind off, I realized it’s actually two techniques in one. It is a combination of the cable cast on and a traditional bind off. You start with the cable cast on. The cable cast on can be used as an initial cast on.  Usually though it’s used when you need to add stitches to an existing row. I explain the cable cast on in two... (Read More ...)

Play AudioPlay Video Thunderstorms and earthquakes and Hurricane Irene… Oh my! This week certainly has been interesting weather-wise. It started with a SEVERE thunderstorm here. At 3 AM! Although I was tired, I realized sleep would not be an option for awhile. So of course, I started a new project…   Then there were earthquakes in Colorado and in Virginia! The one from Virginia was felt here. No rattling shaking in the house. It just felt for a few seconds as though the floor was on a boat with gentle waves, not on solid ground.  Hurricane Irene was predicted for a time to cause major... (Read More ...)

Play AudioPlay Video Looking to knit a classic knitted dishcloth pattern? One that’s easy? How about one that only uses two different rows other than the cast on and bind off rows? Knitting doesn’t get any easier than that! Recently I was reminded how classic this pattern is. My friend Renee said she’d been looking for a dishcloth pattern her grandma used to knit.  Renee didn’t know the name, but described it as a simple dishcloth with a lace-like border.  Apparently her grandma didn’t share the pattern. Likely Renee’s grandma memorized the pattern, so didn’t write it down. ... (Read More ...)

Play AudioPlay Video How To Knit Videos: How Do I Knit a Classic Left Cable? Thinking cable stitches are as complicated as they look? Wondering where to start with knitting a cable? You may be surprised to find out that many cable stitches are not as complicated as they look. Now when you put several together they do indeed look complicated, and you need to be able to know which row you’re in. I remember when I first started knitting cables. Probably because I didn’t know many knitters find them intimidating, I just started knitting them.  Jumped right in with my knitting needles,... (Read More ...)

Play AudioPlay Video How To Knit Videos: What Is an Easy Knit Cast On For Beginners? Wondering how to cast on easily and quickly? Or maybe you’d like to just have options for your cast ons? Why should knitters have more than one way to cast on? Some yarns work better with one cast on over another. Some first rows are easier with one cast on over another. Sometimes you want a certain look to the cast on edge. Sometimes you just feel like a different cast on or a pattern calls for a certain one. Sometimes “just because” without any other reason. An easy cast on is to simply knit... (Read More ...)

How To Knit Videos: How Do I Cast On With the Long Tail Cast On? Are you using the same cast on for knitting you’ve always used? Wondering if maybe there’s another way you might find easier?  At least for some yarns and patterns? For many years Carol used the same cast on. Oh she tried to follow some she saw in books and some on videos.  Never found one she liked though. When she was the primary caregiver for her mother, Carol began to knit whenever she had a break.  And as her knitting grew so did her interest in various knitting methods.  That’s when she read Elizabeth Zimmermann’s... (Read More ...)