One of the topics our yarn doctors are asked about most is tension or gauge. Or rather, a lot of people ask why a project has come out bigger or smaller than expected – and the answer comes down to having the wrong tension. Any good pattern will tell you how many stitches and rows… Continue reading New tutorial: Getting your tension right
Each year a panel at colour experts Pantone selects the colour of the year. The idea is the shade is something they expect to see in design this year which also embodies the mood of the time. In recent years some of their colour choices have been a bit of a challenge to knitters and… Continue reading Classic Blue – the colour for 2020
Instead of going on a diet or setting yourself some extreme exercise challenges, have you thought about making some knitting or crochet new year resolutions. We have a few ideas: Learn a new technique. Choose a technique that would allow you to tackle a pattern you’ve always admired but didn’t feel you had the… Continue reading New Year Knitting Resolutions
A huge, huge thank you to everyone who donated hats to this year’s Commit To Knit appeal for hats for homelessness charities to distribute. Whether you are an individual who made us one hat or a knitting group that delivered massive bagfuls of hats to us at a show, we really appreciate each and every… Continue reading Thank you for all the hats
Have you ever knitted or crocheted your own Christmas decorations? These can be great stash busting projects (which, let’s face it, we all need once in a while!) as a lot of decorations are small items so don’t take much yarn to make. The larger projects on this list still don’t require a lot of… Continue reading Stashbusting Christmas decoration patterns
We were asking on social media recently about how many hooks and needles people have and how they store them. The answer to the first part seemed to generally be “a lot” while the storage options included jam jars, pringle tubes, Tupperware boxes and biscuit tins as well as handmade needle rolls and special cases.… Continue reading Love your needle stash as much as your yarn
Winter sweaters are getting bigger and bigger. Looking at catwalk pictures and magazine articles about winter fashion trends, we have seen lots of large textured sweaters with scarves or even belts. Big and bold is definitely the way to go which is good news for knitters because that means quick knits in chunky yarns. We’ve… Continue reading Trendwatch: Knit big this winter
Do you know what is in your yarn stash? Is every ball and skein something you love – or, perhaps more importantly, yarn that you will use? Really, even the purple eyelash yarn? Every now and again it is worth taking a look through your yarn stash and ask the love it or list it… Continue reading Love it or List it? (Your yarn stash)
This year as part of Commit to Knit we are asking people to make and donate hats for homelessness and refugee charities. We have a number of free hat patterns on our website including our basic beanie pattern. This simple pattern is easily customised: so you can use up your yarn stash by using stripes… Continue reading Stashbusting for Commit To Knit (and how to adapt a pattern from DK to Aran)
If you are taking part in Commit to Knit month and planning to knit or crochet something for charity during September, here are some events organised by retailers that might be of interest to you. Shed Load of Crafts, Enfield, Every Wednesday and Thursday in September Join Yvonne and Sandra to make hats for the… Continue reading Commit to Knit 2019 events
