Useful Goodies for your Hojas y Bayas

Here are some helpful tutorials and tips for knitting your fabulous and fun Hojas y Bayas Shawlette.

I-Cord Bind off

This is an excellent trick for your bag of them. I love the way an i-cord bind-off looks, especially in finer yarns. I am including a written and video tutorial. The written instructor uses ssk and the video instructor uses k2tbl – you can decide which you prefer.I used ssk and think my shawlette looks pretty snazzy.  For a 2-stitch i-cord, you'll have to adjust the tutorials. 

I Cord Bind Off Video

I-Cord Bind Off Written Tutorial

Crochet Bind Off

There are many bind offs that use a crochet hook, but only one that USES NO YARN! It is a firm bind off (as you can imagine), but that is just fine for the top edge of a crescent shawl. 

Yarn Harlot's Crochet Cast-Off Tutorial

Nupps

“Nupps” rhymes with “hoops”.  There are many ways to loop your nupp, but I will focus on 2. The first is the traditional Estonian way to do it, shown by Nancy Bush in this video. (If you are impatient like me you might fast forward about half-way through. But you might be more virtuous than I.)

Knitting Daily Nupp Video Tutorial

This is my chosen method, but I have a little tip to add. When you are about to purl your 7 nupp loops together on the wrong side, pull your left-hand needle to the right until it is hanging limply and those stitches about to be worked are sitting on the cord of your circular needle instead of on the needle tip itself. You now have vastly more space to slip that right needle through all of those loops and seal the deal on your nupp. You will of course have more distance to travel to get those 7 stitches off the left-hand needle, but it is worth it!

After watching this tutorial, I am anxious to give this technique a whirl next time I am knitting nupps. It requires extra equipment (a crochet hook) but looks quick and dirty!

Easy-Peasy Nupp! Video

No Wrap and Turn Short Rows

One of the perks of knitting a crescent-shaped shawl is the beauty of short rows without the hassle or wrapping and turning! One of the fabulous knitters who graciously tested this pattern told me her tip for short rows. (I still have to work out all the details, but it is worth sharing nonetheless.) The niftiness of this tip is it encourages reckless knitting! You don’t have to pay attention while you’re knitting your short rows because those markers are like little alarms that remind you to do what you’ve got to do. Thanks to Roberta for this one: After you turn your work, place a marker on the right-hand needle. Now you don’t have to pay attention to when you are arriving at your gap to close. On the knit side it is super-handy, because you knit up to the final stitch before the marker, slip the next stitch knit-wise, remove the marker, then slip the next stitch knit-wise and complete your ssk! How cool is that?

If you seek more guidance or goodies, or have a nifty tip you think I could have shared here, please let me know in the comments! Thanks! And Happy Knitting!