Sorry for the late post everybody, but better late than never, right? I hiked for 12 hours yesterday to come home and find the full sized chart for Angel lost – long story. Then I got a 6:00 call time for today (Tuesday) and now I have a 6:00 call time for tomorrow as well. I will be putting up this post then heading to bed and will redo the Angel chart tomorrow. Since the rest of the pattern is done, I should have it finished and online then too! Keep your fingers crossed. In the meantime, here are the tips of the week …
Simplifying Charts – when doing a color chart (or regular pattern) that has color changes, you might want to try snipping a very short piece of each color of yarn and taping it to the chart key/pattern. That way you don’t have to constantly try and figure out what substitutions you made or which is A and which is B.
Correct sizing – If you’re making a sweater and can’t figure out which size to make, take out a favorite one from your closet and use that as a standard. Measure it to decide what the finished measurements should be for the one you’re making and knit the size closest to your measurements.
The right neck – When picking up stitches for the neck, it is usually better to pick up too many and decrease down in the next round. This will ensure that your neck will fit the head you want it to.
Non-lace lifelines and Stitch Markers – Lifelines aren’t just for lace knitting. If you’re making a sweater with a complex pattern (cables?), you can use the lifeline principle in the same manner. Just remember if you use stitch markers as well, don’t thread your lifeline through the markers.
Get used to slipping – Slipping stitches is a great technique to add a different twist to your knitting. Even though the pattern may specify a particular way to slip the stitches, it often doesn’t. It’s a good idea for you to make a swatch experimenting with the stitches being slipped differently. Label them and keep it handy so that when you need to decide which way to go you have a reference for how it will look.
Learn your decreases – just like the slipping of stitches, there are different ways to decrease. Right or left slant? SSK or k2tog? Again, make a swatch as in the tip above, label it and keep it handy for future reference.
Look for more tips next week and/or send in your own!
Hugzzz 😎