Gift-Knitting Jump Start

Just a couple of days after her new speckled, hand-dyed yarn dried, friend Shelley had selected complementary yarn. Look how great the green and blue (Encore by Plymouth Yarns) pick up the similar colors in her hand-dyed sample. By now, I expect she's already cast on and is creating a great hat that one of her …

Soft, Color-Shifting Cowl

After promising an update when I finished my second Chromatic Cowl, I completely forgot to post the finished product! In the intervening week or two since my back seat knitting, I completed the cowl and grafted the two ends together with the Kitchener stitch. I must be doing something wrong with my provisional cast-on because I ended …

Topping Off a Baby Hat with a Tassel

A two-colored tassel tops off knitted baby hat perfectly.

Just not sure about the fit

I often recommend neck warmers or cowls as a first knitting project. They're shorter than scarves, provide the opportunity for trying new stitches (garter stitch gets old really fast), and don't have to fit in the same way that a sweater does. I'm not so sure about the Albers cowl, but I suspect it's because I …

Running Short

You know that feeling when you do a quick mental-visual calculation and realize that the yarn you need is greater than the yarn you have? Yeah, that. While knitting with the good women of the midday Friday group at JP Knit & Stitch, I suddenly realized that I would a few yards short of the …

Taking the “Eeks!” out of Steeks

One of the captivating aspects of knitting is the engineering of the craft. It's ingeniously simple -- everything's made with two basic stitches -- but the variety, complexity, beauty, and artistry are endless. Various techniques are used to transform knits and purls into beautiful works of all kinds -- fine lace, Fair Isle sweaters and …

Color Theory or Making Your Colors Pop

Day #2, Knitting Cruise: Saturday morning started with a workshop on color theory, which, in simple terms, is using colors that work together so that each color looks its best. In our goodie bag, we each got a nifty color wheel, one more detailed than the one I recall getting in elementary school art class. …