Knit Tips & Resources

I will include on this page the knitting tips and techniques that help me with my knitting. This is going to take a while.

I usually use a needle one size larger for the cast on and a needle two sizes larger for the bind off. For example, I use a size 6 (4 mm) needle for worsted weight cotton for dishcloths, so I use size 7 (4.5 mm) for the cast on and size 8 (5 mm) for the bind off. This helps to achieve the same stretch in the cast-on and bind-off edges as for the body of the piece.
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Speaking of needles, I use circular needles for both round and flat work. It makes knitting in close quarters (such as a movie theater) much easier. And if I happen to drop one end of the circular needle, I am still holding the other end, so I don't really lose the needle.
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When I set my work down or put it away for a while, I push all of the stitches to the cable section (thinner section of the needle between the two ends), ensuring that a ridge from having left the stitches on the thickest part of the needle won't permanently form in that row.
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When I use the long-tail cast on, my choice for dishcloths, I work the first 3 to 5 stitches with both yarns, the yarn end and the ball yarn. That way, I don't need to weave those ends in later.
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I try to complete a row before setting my work down, which helps to maintain a more even tension.
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Blocking. I block almost everything I knit. It vastly improves the appearance, evening out changes in tension throughout the piece. I think it somehow presses the blocked shape into the memory; in other words, even after a cloth is machine washed and dried, it retains the blocked shape.
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Knitting Help Learn how to knit with free knitting videos. The site also includes a discussion forum, a shop, and a Knitting Help video iPhone app that includes more than 150 videos from the website. (Once downloaded, an Internet connection is not needed to watch the videos.) The app is available in iTunes or by searching for knittinghelp within the App Store on your iPhone, iPod Touch, or iPad.
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