The Internet offers endless resources for knitting help and instruction. You can do a search for just about any knitting technique and look at sites like:
• YouTube.com (you can find my tutorials on YouTube.com/user/SusanBAnderson)
In-person help can be even better! Visit local yarn shops and look for local knitting groups or knitting guilds. Public libraries sometimes offer knitting lessons, and many schools have sponsored knitting groups.
If you have friends who are learning to knit, you could form your own knitting group. That way, you could support each other and help answer each other’s questions. Meeting on a weekly basis usually works best.
Caring for handmade items can be a little different from caring for store-bought items, but don’t let that stop you from using, playing with, and loving them!
With a store-bought item, you look at the tag on the inside to find out how to wash it. For a hand-knit item, you look to the yarn label for care instructions. Some yarns can be washed in your washing machine but need to be laid flat to dry. Others can go in both your washer and dryer. Super-wash wools, cottons, acrylics, and other fibers are fine to machine wash and dry.
If your hand-knit item is made from yarn that is not machine-washable (like 100 percent wool), here is how I suggest you hand-wash the item:
1. Fill a basin or sink with lukewarm water, enough to cover the item you are washing.
2. Pour in about a teaspoon of a wool wash (I like the kind of wool wash you don’t need to rinse out, like Soakwash). Let your item soak in the water for fifteen minutes or so.
3. Gently squeeze out the excess water—you can even wrap it up in a clean towel and softly step on the towel to get more of the water out.
4. Lay the item flat on a towel and leave it to dry on a clean surface (if it’s a toy, leave it in a sitting position to dry). To speed up the air-drying process, set up a fan to blow over the hand-knits.
Toys are different from most hand-knit items. No matter what the yarn label says, don’t put the toy in the washing machine or dryer—even if the yarn is machine washable. The toy can lose its shape and the stuffing can become lumpy. Instead, spot-clean first with a soapy cloth, rubbing gently on the knit fabric. If that doesn’t work, or if the toy is dirty all over, follow the hand-washing instructions above. You may need to touch up any face embroidery after the toy has dried.
Sometimes hand-knit items get pills, which are little balls of fiber that collect on the surface of the fabric. To remove them, use a sweater shaver. This works like a shaving razor: run it over the surface of the fabric to shave off the little balls of fiber. This is a very effective tool for making your knits look like new again!
TIP
Pom-poms often don’t wash well. It’s best to remove pom-poms before washing a hand-knit item and then reattach them afterward. Otherwise, you may need to replace them after washing.