Crafty Belles

Maintenance Is The Key

Knitting fabric takes a lot of time and involves a lot of sweat and toil. Wouldn’t it be devastating if the sweater you spent hours knitting didn’t last more than a few washes? I certainly would be shattered if I was not able to use something I have created with such effort waste away too quick. Mostly we would end up blaming the yarn and cursing ourselves for not picking better quality stuff. However, most of us do not ever consider bad maintenance as a probable cause of the fabric’s short life.

Maintenance is the key to long life for any kind of fabric, specially the kind that you have spent hours knitting. Just a few careful considerations and you can ensure a long life for your knitted fabric. Trust me, it is easier than you can imagine! All you need to do is keep the following things in mind while taking care of you knitted fabrics. (more…)

The basics of knitting can be summed-up in two stitches: the knit stitch and the purl stitch. A basic pattern in knitting has stitches from the “right side” (knit stitch) and from the “wrong side” (purls stitch). In this article, you will find basic instructions for knitting these two stitches. Once you have understood how to cast on, you can move on to trying out the following instructions for the knit stitch as well as the purl stitch.

The Knit Stitch:

The knit stitch is the most basic stitch in knitting. Not only is it the easiest to learn, it is also the first step to learning any of the other more complex stitches. Once the casting on work is done, you can begin to knit stitches from back to front. Holding the needle with the stitches that you cast on in your left hand you must place the tip of the other needle between the first and the second stitch. Now push this needle, from under the needle in you left hand, into the first stitch. Once you have the tip of the needle peeking out from under the left needle and through the first stitch, loop the yarn around the tip of the right needle from back to front. To proceed, carefully pull the yarn out of the first stitch and the needle in the front and let the old stitch slip off the left needle. Be sure to let the yarn loose at this point or else, it could leave gaps in your fabric. Continue the process until you have shifted all the stitches off the left needle to the right needle. (more…)

Now that knitting appears to you in all its exciting promise, let us get you started on your first project. Knitting is a craft and therefore needs a lot of practice before you can master it. Hence, it is very important that you pick your projects carefully and proceed step-by-step. The process of getting started on that first exciting project can be outlined as:

Step 1: Choose Your Projects Carefully: As a beginner, you must choose a simple project with that requires a low level of skill. Knitting can seem difficult and complicated if you try to jump skill levels. Mostly, scarves and mufflers are considered the best projects for beginners. If you’re feeling apprehensive about taking on a scarf then you can try your hand at knitting a small square piece with cotton yarn ad use it as a dish cloth.

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The invention of the knitting machine was crucial to understanding the social nature of knitting. Only with this invention did knitting-by-hand take on such a social character. Much like crochet or quilting, knitting-by-hand became a non-essential craft and therefore penetrated the sphere of social activity. Using a different system, machine knitting can produce patterns identical to the ones produced by hand knitting.

Even though knitting machines revolutionized the process, there is literally a twist you must beware of! While purchasing a knitting machine you must be very careful to figure out and understand the “twist”. The texture and tension of your finished fabric will depend on the twist of the yarn. When knitting with a machine, the yarn that you use and the degree of the twist are what decide the texture of your finished product.

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Knitting is a craft with a rich culture and history. What makes knitting unique as an art is the fact that just about anybody can learn how to knit! All you need to perfect this art form is dedication and practice.

Understanding The Process
The first step to any knitting project has to be the cast on. Start by making a slipknot on the needle, your first stitch. Continue to loop over the yarn and slipping the needle from under the stitch to create additional stitches. You can do this using a single needle or by using two needle, whichever you are comfortable with. Once the stitches are cast on to the needle, the next step would be to add another horizontal row of stitches to make the pattern grow. Create as many horizontal rows of stitches as you would need to finish your project. Once you are done with the stitches and have knitted enough rows, be sure to bind off the stitches to separate the fabric you have been knitting from the needle. You can experiment with stitches and combinations of stitches to create a new pattern for your fabric. If you are not that confident yet, then you can always look for free patterns in magazines and on websites for that perfect sweater, scarf, socks or bag!

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For a beginner, it can be difficult to understand the knitting literature you find in magazines or online. To decode the language used to describe a pattern can be tougher than knitting the pattern itself at times. In addition, the sight of so much jargon can definitely give cold feet and make knitting seem more complicated than it is. Therefore, I thought a compilation of knitting terminology could really benefit you. To this end, I present to you a short and concise glossary of certain important terms used in knitting.

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Knitting as a process starts with understanding the basics. Once you have that down, it is time to pick your first pattern! The first project is always difficult and therefore, you must choose the pattern very carefully. I would suggest you pick a simple pattern for your first knitting project. A basic stockinette should do just fine since it does not require any shaping and will give you an opportunity to master both knit and purl in the same project. The idea is to pick a pattern that is flat and squarish, making knitting that first item that much easier for you.

Finding A Pattern Online
You can easily find patterns in knitting magazines and books. If you are looking for free patterns you can even find them online. In fact, it is rather easy to find the perfect pattern for your project, although it might be slightly tougher to find instructions for it as well. You can find plenty of blogs and website with wonderful knitting patterns for you project. From sweaters to shrugs and from bags to bandanas, you can find patterns for just about everything on the internet.

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Knitting is a versatile activity in itself. I am sure that by now you have mastered the two basic stitches: the knit and the purl. The next logical step is to move on to some more complex stitches so bring variety into your knitting fabrics. To knit the same stitch repeatedly, project after project, can make the whole exercise painfully dull. Therefore, it is important that you try out other stitches and master them so you can use a lot more variety in your knitting. You can find instructions for other stitches in magazines and on the internet. However, I am going to give you my list of the most popular types of stitches in knitting so get you started!

Garter Stitch:
A garter stitch creates the most basic knitting pattern of all. With every row as a knit, the garter stitch leaves the fabric looking identical on both sides. Used in basic designs like scarves, the garter stitch is also popularly known as “Knit Every Row”. The stitch is probably the easiest and therefore ideal for beginners.

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Understanding a knitting pattern can be easy only if you know how to break the code. All knitting patterns you find will usually follow the same structure, the one I am about to outline here for you. The abbreviations used can confuse at times but if you have the right knowledge before you set to read a pattern you are unlikely to find it difficult.

The set of instructions will first establish visually what the finished product will look like. For this, you will generally find a picture of the finished fabric at the very beginning.

Along with this, you may also find specifications regarding what the yarn quality is like and the needle size details.

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When I think knitting, I think about the sweaters and the colorful pairs of socks my grandmother use to knit for me when I was little. Another image I had was that of my mother knitting cute little things for new-born babies in the family. Associating it with my mother and grandmother, I didn’t think it could be fun for someone young like me. Obviously, my idea of knitting was no where near the truth. And I’m sure many of you reading this right now feel the same way. Let me give you a little historical detail about knitting and break the myths that have surrounded this craft for centuries!

More For Less!
Knitting can be traced back to 1000 A.D Egypt and colorful socks. And since then it sure has come a long way. From sweaters to socks and from bags to various other accessories, knitting lets you to design your own wardrobe. And trust me, it will be nothing less than a designer wardrobe and so cost-effective! With knitting as a hobby, you can get a lot more for a lot less. For years, designer labels have been using knitted clothes and accessories on the runway and in their stores. Even celebrities – supermodels and Hollywood stars can be spotted wearing knitted attires.

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