Knit Confidently with Heather
Binding off over a cable can lead to flaring.
Try this bind off for a better finish:
Keep a spare US 1 or 2 needle in your accessories bag for these moments. The goal is to calmly catch the stitches with as few stitches unraveling as possible. A small needle is easier to get through the loose stitches than the gauge needle.
After all stitches have been placed on to the needle, now work them onto the gauge needle and place them in the proper position. (Right leg forward.)
When knitting or purling, the correct position for a stitch to sit on the needle is with the right leg forward.
If it feels “funny” or “tight” when working a stitch, check to see that the right leg is toward the front of the work. (If you knit eastern combined, then this will not hold true on knit stitches, but you already know that.)
Need to cast on 100 plus stitches?
Use a stitch marker after each 25 or 50 stitches cast on to help keep track of all those stitches.
A reminder for returning to a WIP (work in progress):
The yarn that comes from the ball to the needle is leading to the last worked stitch. The last worked stitch is the stitch on the right needle tip. Double check that that needle is in the right hand before starting to knit.
Does the pattern instructions read “bind off loosely”? Next time try the Yarn Over bind off.
It’s four simple steps.
Set up: Knit the first stitch, then
This tip is especially for YouTube users. The frustration of waiting for the demonstrator to get to the example OR flying through the example is over.
Hover on (or tap) the video, a settings icon appears in the bottom right corner of the video box. Click on the settings icon and choose “speed”.
Now the video can be sped up or slowed down, giving the viewer a chance at a better learning experience. Try it!
I have been asked several times this month about uneven stitches in stranded knitting and how to fix them. A certain amount of unevenness is always going to occur in stranded knitting and fortunately there is a way to get rid of them.
If you block the knitting while applying tension to it, you should come away with smooth and even stitches. Warning… this will not fix overall tight or loose stranded knitting.
See me at HeathKnits Craft Studio for help with this.
It can happen to anyone… the late discovery of a yarn over hole. In my case, I found it after many rows of decreasing and couldn’t bear the thought of frogging so many hours of knitting. Using all of my resources (books, knitting heroes, and the internet), I found an excellent solution to share with you:
“To close a yarn over, use a piece of matching yarn, threaded in a yarn needle, to encircle the hole on the inside of the garment and gently pull it closed. Weave in and trim both the ends.” –Margaret Radcliffe
It worked like a charm and I would defy you to find the hole (from the front).
When a pattern says to decrease (or increase) one stitch at each end of the row, the best practice is to work the decrease in one stitch from the end. This will keep the edge neat for wearing or for sewing.
Needles require care and feeding. All needles should be washed at least on an annual basis. Use mild dish detergent and warm water for all needles (no scrubbing, just use fingers).
Metal and nickel plated needles just require drying. Wooden needles will appreciate being dried and then rubbed with wax paper for conditioning.
The holiday season brings new projects to our needles which in some cases means we are planning to put an old project aside.
Before you put a project into hibernation, remove the needles from your work and store the live stitches on waste yarn. This will save you the trouble of frogging stretched out stitches when you return to the project in a month or a year or whenever.