Double knitting is a very easy technique to master, even though is sounds difficult and looks like magic. You use two straight needles to knit back and forth, but you end up with a tube of knitting. It’s a great technique to make a double thick fabric for a yoga mat or rug, and it’s […]
Category Archives: Free Lesson
Pieces knitted in stockinette stitch will shrink more in length than in width during felting. To calculate how much your piece will shrink, knit a good-sized swatch and use this table to “do the math.” 1. Measure the stitch gauge, length and width of the swatch, then felt it. Width (example) 8 in. (20 cm) […]
Working with mohair yarn can be a challenge. Because the yarn is so fuzzy and the fibers are clingy, the yarn will stick to itself as you knit, making it almost impossible to rip out. If you do have to rip, slowly unknit the piece stitch by stitch, using a sharp scissor to separate the furry halo if it gets stuck together. But be careful not to cut the core of the yarn!
Lithuanians use a standard long-tail cast on, and the illustrations in knitting books always show the cast on worked with two needles held together. This makes the stitches on the cast on larger than normal, which makes knitting the first row much easier. You can get the same result by using a needle several sizes […]
If desired, you can crochet a border on your wristers, with or without incorporating additional beads into the design. Use a crochet hook that is close to the size of the knitting needle you used to make the wristers. Attaching the Yarn With RS facing, join the yarn to the knitting at one corner, ready […]
There are many different ways to knit with beads. We will go over the way that is used in Lithuania when knitting garter stitch wrist warmers. The patterns are charted. Plain knit stitches are either white or the color of the yarn being used. Bead stitches are indicated by a square that is black or […]
The traditional way to string beads is to use a sewing needle and a piece of strong thread. I prefer to use a dental floss threader or a large-eye beading needle. To string beads with a dental floss threader or a large-eye beading needle, thread the knitting yarn through the loop or needle eye and […]
Knitting with Beads Using only garter stitch and small glass beads, Lithuanian knitters have traditionally created beautiful jeweled wrist warmer cuffs. The beads are strung onto the yarn before stitches are cast on for knitting. Many of these wristers are decorated with crochet trim stitches—worked with or without beads. Seed beads are used for these […]
This decorative braid is popular in both Lithuania and Latvia. It is worked by making three rounds with two colors, changing colors after every stitch. The first round is knit and the second two rounds are purled. On the purl round, the floats create the braid pattern. It is very important to pick up the […]
Right Slanting Decrease (Knit 2 together from the “top”/front) A right-slanting decrease (k2tog in English books) is knit two together from the “top” or through the front loop. This is the most basic decrease in knitting. With “grandmother’s knitting,” this would be like knitting through the back loops, except that the stitches are turned around so […]