There are several things we found stifling and frankly intimidating when we first began knitting. Through the years we’ve overcome these obstacles in order to fully express our creativity—especially when things we felt like doing or materials we had at hand seemed unorthodox or just plain weird. We recommend exploring your own methods, but here are a few pointers.
We’ve found varying levels of helpfulness at yarn stores over the years. But we’ve always encountered a certain amount of “know-it-all-ness” when we’ve asked for help. Or a doubtful look from the sales associate when we buy very large needles and very thin yarn. Nothing is as wonderful as seeing and touching the yarn yourself, but we’ve found the Internet to be a great alternative for buying yarn and materials, and usually at better prices! Once you’ve found a few brands of yarn that you enjoy working with, you can trust what you are ordering from the Internet.
The yarn gauges written on the label or the recommended gauges that appear next to instructions are fine if you are making something strictly by the book. However, you may want to use larger needles when creating your project because you want your finished item to have a looser stitch or you may not find the exact same yarn. . . . Don’t fret. You should always knit up a little swatch (about 10 stitches and 10 rows gives you a pretty good idea). Then simply figure out your stitches per inch and your rows per inch. You should be able to customize any instructions with a little math. Keep your swatches safety-pinned to a notebook page, along with your notes. It makes for a fun scrapbook over the years, as well as being useful!
The first time we encountered knitting instructions in a magazine, we wanted to cry. It looked like Greek! In order to really understand what was happening, we had to go to the explanation of abbreviations and literally rewrite the directions without any jargon or abbreviations. It seemed much easier to tackle in plain English. We hope our explanations in the book appeal to those of you who’ve shied away from traditional knitting in the past.
When washing and rinsing knitted items, we prefer to use a capful of hair conditioner instead of detergent. It’s mild, smells great, and improves the finish of the knitted item. This is one of those happy accidents we discovered over the years. After soaking your knitted item in a sink full of water with conditioner in it, lightly rinse and wring out the excess water, lay the item flat on a towel, and roll it up in a towel to truly wring out as much water as possible. At this point you can block the item, if necessary. Generally, you will block the item to prevent any edges from curling up. You can sometimes also correct proportional problems. For example, if an item seems too long, you can gently manipulate it width-wise through blocking. To block wet items, we like to use a pillow covered with a towel, but of course you can use a blocking board. Simply place the damp item flat on the covered pillow, and use quilting pins or safety pins to hold it in place until it’s absolutely dry.
Felting is strictly experimental territory for us. Again, it’s something we discovered by taking a chance. Although there are books dedicated to the various methods of felting, this book keeps it simple. Just throw your finished item in the washing machine! Depending on what yarn was used, the outcome will be sturdier with fewer holes (and with significant shrinking). The sturdy fabric is terrific for bags. Some mild felting is also great for improving the look of intarsia, especially when there are tension inconsistencies where color switching occurs. As a general rule, we’ve found that repeated warm or hot water washes result in the most exaggerated results. For mild felting without overwhelming shrinking, a cold water wash or hand washing is best. Remember, you can’t felt synthetic fibers or cotton. Although it’s hard to predict exactly what will happen when you felt your completed item, we can assure that you’ll get a similar outcome if you use the yarns we’ve indicated. But feel free to experiment!