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where you have stopped.
Ever get those tell-tale line when going from one double-pointed needle to the next? Aimee Levenson suggests bringing the empty needle which you will be knitting onto behind the right-hand needle with the live stitches to tighten up your work.
Ruffled and lettuce edges are in style. To get a ruffled edge on your bind-off, Pat Del Castello does a double bind-off. Simply knit into the back of the stitch on the left-hand needle and bind off, leaving on needle. Then, purl into the same stitch on the left-hand needle and bind off, taking stitch off needle .
March 2006 Tips & Ideas
***** DID YOU KNOW? *****
As wool absorbs moisture from the air, the fibers liberate heat. A gram of wool gives off 27 calories of heat when it goes from dry to wet…
Space-dyeing means that various sections of the same hank are placed in different colored dyes to create a rainbow effect…
Fair Isle sweaters (popular once again) first became the height of fashion in 1922 after the Duke of Windsor wore one to a golf tournament in St. Andrews, Scotland.
Knitters in Scotland developed their two-toned grid motifs in the 18th century, fashioning them after ancient weaving patterns called "shepherd's checks"...
Aran cables, lattice and moss stitch patterns are believed to have come to the Aran Isles with Irish emigrants returning from America in the early 1900s…
Luxurious mohair comes from the silky-haired angora goat. More than 90% of all American angoras are raised in Texas. Angora goats, raised for mohair, need the company of others and thrive on the competition of pushing and shoving. One goat alone can actually die of loneliness…
To keep mohair garments their softest and fluffiest, always dry clean them; hand or machine-washing will mat the fibers…
Fuzzy yarns are much warmer than smooth ones! All the little fibers create lots of tiny air pockets that trap your body heat...
The heathery multi-color yarns we now call tweed originated in the Tweed River region of Scotland (still famous for its wool yarn and woven fabrics). The thrifty-minded spinners would chop up odd scraps of dyed wool and incorporate them into the yarns they spun…
The indigo plant, the natural dye source for dark blue, has been grown in India and used to color fabric for more than 4000 years!
"What's the big deal about gauge? Is it really necessary to do a swatch every time?" YES, YES, YES! Elizabeth Zimmermann said it best, in Knitting Without Tears: "Gauge is the most important principle in knitting. People knit so differently in matters of tightness or looseness that it is totally impossible to recommend one size of needle for everybody. Gauge means the number of stitches that you achieve to one inch using the wool and needles you plan to use on the project. Get the gauge right and your measurements accurate and the sweater will fit". This is especially important when substituting yarns...
"It takes a long time for my woolen sweaters and felted projects to dry. Any helpful hints?" Here are our favorite short cuts and shape-ups for drying knits from Lisa Carnahan.
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