Tuesday, May 31, 2016

Useful Goodies for Girl's Best Friend Pullover

This is such a simple, fun, satisfying knit! And you get to use some cool tricks of the trade.


Neaten Bind Off in the Round

I love this trick! As you know, when you knit in the round, you are really working a spiral, so there is always an annoying "step" where you leave off. Not anymore! Check out this nifty magic:


Backward Loop Cast On

This is my favorite technique for adding a few under-arm stitches when knitting a top-down raglan. This tutorial has it all: written and video!


Let me know if there are other tricks or treats you want to learn by leaving them in the comments!

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

Useful Goodies for Declan Baby Pullover


Declan is super-sweet, super-fast, super-seamless, and super-stashbusting! Baby not included. Here are some clever tricks and goodies to make your super baby pullover extra super!


Neaten Bind Off in the Round

I love this trick! As you know, when you knit in the round, you are really working a spiral, so there is always an annoying "step" where you leave off. Not anymore! Check out this nifty trick:


3 Needle Bind Off

No, I wasn't lying. It really is seamless! But you use a technique just like the 3 Needle Bind-Off, minus the binding off part, to connect the base of the neck with a little cross-over. Here is a video tutorial: 


And here is a written one: 3 Needle Bind Off


Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off

This is my preferred stretchy bind off. Perfect for baby sleeves!


Backward Loop Cast On

This is my favorite technique for adding a few under-arm stitches when knitting a top-down raglan. This tutorial has it all: written and video!


Did I leave something out? Nudge me in the comments!



Saturday, January 2, 2016

Useful Goodies for your Shiny Happy Socks

So many fun techniques! Here are the cheats:


Judy's Magic Cast-On

Truth be told, I hardly ever use video tutorials. When it comes to Judy’s Magic Cast-On, however, I was about to give up on toe-up socks for good after several attempts to use a written tutorial, when I was miraculously rescued by Cat Bordhi and her video tutorial. (I’ve included the link to Judy Becker’s article in Knitty.com in case you are smarter than I.)


TAAT Socks

I love knitting socks two at a time (TAAT). I love seeing both socks grow, I love being done when I am done. And I love feeling clever. Here is a tutorial that walks you through how to do it!


Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind-Off

I find Jeny’s written tutorial of her inspired technique to be easy to follow. If you prefer video tutorials, I’ve included Cat Bordhi’s on the assumption that it is as helpful as her cast-on video was to me.




Erase the Jog in your Bind-Off in the Round

Don't you hate it? That unseemly step between the first and last stitch you bound off? There are many versions of this quick fix. Here is a tutorial that includes a video and written instructions:



Anything I left out? Other neat-o tricks to share? Leave me a comment!

Happy Knitting!