We are always on the look out for knitting and crochet problems that you need help with and several people have asked our advice on making sure they understand pattern instructions correctly. We’ve picked out a few instructions that can trip people up. “Decrease on every” This instruction (and similar ones of increases) are quite… Continue reading Don’t be tripped up by pattern instructions – part 1
We noticed that in the USA April is volunteering month so, even though we are in the UK, it seemed like a good opportunity to talk about the benefits of volunteering and suggest a few ways to link it to your crafting skills. One of the UKHK team in particular is a very keen volunteer.… Continue reading Volunteering with your craft skills
When we meet knitters at events, we are often asked about using circular needles – in particular if there is any difference to using straight ones. As with all things knitting, needle choice is a very personal thing and some needles will suit some knitters more than others. When you are using circulars, you make… Continue reading Straight or circular needles
We’ve been flicking through the fashion magazines and blogs again, looking for some spring knitting inspiration, and we’ve noticed one phrase coming up a lot – ice cream colours. Pastels shades and subtle colours such as pale strawberry, pistachio, lilac and lemon are good choices for this spring and summer. Even variegated pastels will be… Continue reading Trendwatch: Ice cream and texture
One question we are asked a lot is: “Why does my crochet go wiggly?” This is usually because you have either made too many or too few stitches in a row or ended it in the wrong place – or possibly both. One thing people find difficult when starting to crochet is knowing where to… Continue reading Tips for keeping your crochet straight
Easter is only a couple of weeks away and the UK is beginning to thaw out from the recent cold blast. With this in mind we’ve decided to be optimistic and take a look at some newer yarns for spring summer that might inspire you. The yarns we have picked out are, clockwise from top… Continue reading New yarns for spring
Despite the challenging weather conditions and interesting transport situation our lovely volunteers and Yarn Doctors battled through to help crafters at the Knitting and Stitching Show in London last week. They report that quite a few visitors asked what the correct way to knit is and some even said that they had been told they… Continue reading The “correct” way to knit
At the start of the year many of you told us that your resolution was to finish off your unfinished projects – and some of you told us that you had several knitting or crochet works in progress (Wips) that you hadn’t got round to finishing yet. So we have been collecting some top tips… Continue reading Tips for getting on top of you unfinished projects
As we reported the other week the experts at Pantone have named Ultraviolet as the colour of the year for 2018. Of course, very few of us will want to knit or crochet in just one colour all year but we are set to see a lot of purple in fashion and homewares this year.… Continue reading Pairing colours with Ultraviolet
Some knitters see ripping back their knitting as a sign of defeat, but sometimes it really is the best answer and reknitting a number of rows will take less time and cause you less grief than trying to fix a problem another way. On other occasions there may be a quick fix that means the… Continue reading Tips: When to rip back or not
