![]() I want to make up a sample of these gloves as I think this will be the perfect pattern to teach my beginner hand knitting students how to: Rib Knit In The Round Work Straight on Circular Knitting Needles The original pattern calls for the use of Double Pointed Needles; personally I'm not a fan of them so I'm going to rewrite the original pattern so that the group can practice the magic loop method. I'm constantly on the lookout for patterns for things I can make as small fundraising or craft fair items.
So what in my mind makes a good fundraising item? To my mind the item has to be safe, quick and cheap to make, durable and easily cleaned. A bit of a lucky haul today. I went in to Kilburn to snap up some last minute food bargains. For some reason I ventured in to my local Traid Clothing Charity shop. It's very rare for me to go in there, unless there is a sale on, but I was in the mood for a bit of a wonder. Good job I did! I managed to find two 50g balls of Stylecrafts Senses yarn - 80% acrylic, 20% mohair in Eucalyptus for £1.99 for the two. They retail at just over £3 each so not a bad find. I also found 4 x100g balls of Contessa Aran yarn - 80% acrylic, 20% wool in cream. I'm guessing this is a 'retro' yarn as I've never seen it in the shops or online before. At £1.99 for two, again not a bad find.
I learnt how to knit the Kitchener stitch using knitting needles before I learnt the more common method of sewing off your stitches using a tapestry or wool needle. Kitchener Stitch is once method you can use to 'graft' two pieces of knitting together. It makes an invisible join if you get the sequence and tension right.
The Long Tail Cast On is a great cast on to know if you need to cast on quickly and you have a lot of stitches to cast on.
I was so pleased to discover this very stretchy cast off (bind off). There are quite a few stretchy bind offs out there, but the thing I like about this one is that it doesn't flare and it's easy to learn; simply bind off as you would normally but give the stitch on the right hand needle a quick twist! Who knew the cure for tight ankles when knitting socks would just be a quick twist of the needle.
A lady in my Twiddle Muff knitting class mentioned that she and her son had made the Knit a Bunny From A Square Pattern. It's something that I looked at a few years back and found ingenious - who comes up with these things? I'm guessing origami had some kind of influence in it. Anyway, I came across this video which wasn't around when I first came across the pattern and I have to say I think her bunny looks better than the other patterns I've come across.
I'm trying to get to the end of this week, so I can knuckle down and start thinking about what I hope to achieve in 2017 knitwise. The club will no doubt evolve in to the sum of it's parts but I'd like to have some patterns and tutorials lined up for the beginner knitters.
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Craft - 'An activity involving skill in making things by hand.
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