Knit, Blog & Be Happy!

  You have some tools and good knitting practices under your belt, so let's talk about yarn. There are so many different yarns to pick from, but one mantra is true: quality in = quality out. I encourage everyone to look for the best yarn that suits their project and budget.  When you start, you want to work with enjoyable yarn to knit. You want a yarn that feels good in your hands, bouncy and forgiving. It should be light in color so you can learn to read your knitting and see your mistakes. Knitting with something that is a...

I will admit that when we got these Chain Knitting Row Counters in the shop; I never thought I would actually use them. I love my Cocoknits Row Counter. The click is so satisfying, and it locks so they do not accidentally advance in my knitting bag. I still use it from time to time, but when I knit a larger project, my Chain Row Counter from Twice Sheared Sheep is on my project.  Why do I love this counter? I never forget to advance it. So let me explain how it works. When you start your project, you knit...

Now that you have your favorite needles and notions let's chat about another element of becoming a confident knitter – Practicing Good Knitting Habits. You should do a few things to ensure that your project is going as you hope. Many of these tips are very obvious, but, trust me, we all fail to do them!  How often have I gone gangbusters through a project only to find that I have done something wrong and have to rip out a couple of inches of work? WAY too often. Maybe I need to print this blog post and put it in...

In October, I wrote a little piece in the while we are knitting section on becoming a confident knitter and thought it would be a great blog post. This idea started when a friend asked me how long it took to become a good knitter.  I am not a fan of the word "good," so how about we become confident knitters? While one can always improve, strong knitting skills are like everything; what you put in, you get out.  If you practice, allow yourself to make mistakes (that is hard for many people), and challenge yourself by learning new skills, your confidence will grow...

I like to start the new year organized, so I tidy up my knitting needles and notions at the start of the new year. When you are ready to cast on a new project, there is nothing worse than searching through a tangle of needles to find the size you need.  Read on if your knitting needles look like this:   Let's solve that problem! First, I go through my bags and projects and collect any needles that are not in use.  I give them a little clean (see my blog post called "A Fresh Start to 2021") and sort each...