Techniques

This section covers knitting techniques which may be of interest to beginners and experienced knitters alike. I do not pretend to know everything about knitting, in fact, the more I knit the more I realise how much I still have to learn! I have, however, through trial and error and research, developed a collection of useful techniques that I hope you may find of interest.

Blocking for the Bewildered is the first of the techniques discussed. This is a step by step guide to blocking; why we should do it for everything we knit (or crochet); how we do it for different shapes of garment; what tools we need to help give our finished knitted objects that professional polish.

How to Use Knitting Stitch Markers contains a video demonstrating using markers when knitting a fair isle hat with eight repeats.

The Joy of Swatching will hopefully persuade you that swatching is not an unnecessary chore but an essential part of your knitting toolkit

Three-Needle Bind Off, a very useful technique for joining two pieces of fabric, giving a neat professional finish.

Knitting on a Lace Edge is a very useful skill to have. It provides a decorative, loose bind off for a shawl or blanket, and is easy to master. There is a comprehensive photo tutorial on techniques, turning corners, and garter Kitchener stitch.

Joining the thumb in top-down mittens is my favourite way of constructing mittens. Yes, you still have to do some Kitchener stitch, but it is only 4 stitches! This technique has a photo tutorial.

Also coming soon:

How to Yarnover (Without Weeping all Over your Knitting) will describe and illustrate the several different methods of yarn over (aka yarn forward, wool round needle)

Steek, Not Eeek!  How to Steek your Fair Isle knits

To Begin at the Beginning  A few basic and more unusual Cast On methods

Tidy Decreases   Step by Step guides to the various decrease stitches