Here we are with another six tips to help you improve your knitting …
Swatch it – If you’re like me, you have a few yarns or weights of yarns that you like to use a lot. In order to save you time in the future, you could make a few swatches with that yarn in the recommended needle size and maybe one on either side of it as well in stocking stitch. This way you’ll know what your gauge is in stocking stitch in that yarn with specific needles. Next time you’re doing a pattern with that yarn (or even possibly one with similar weight), you won’t have to do a stocking stitch gauge, as you’ll already know what it is. You can still do a swatch in another texture to put on the inside for future (as recommended in TT previously).
Go back to school – A very smart person once said that if you read one book a week in your profession you’ll quickly become a leading expert in your field. Nowadays, with audio books, reading is a lot easier than it used to be. Of course, when it comes to knitting, you’ll probably want the book so you can follow along with the diagrams and/or your own knitting, but it would be pretty easy either way to read/listen to one book on knitting every month. Even that would increase your skills drastically.
Watch a video – Speaking of going back to school, you can watch a lot of knitting on Tv or your computer or mp3/4 player. Heck, now you can even watch videos on your phone! Daily Knitting has a TV show, and there are countless videos on YouTube and DVD’s available to teach you specific skills with regards to knitting. All you need to do is a little searching.
Pods are here – This is the last tip about learning. If you have a computer (Mac or PC), you need to make sure you have iTunes installed. This gives you access to all kinds of Podcasts about knitting. You can subscribe to them and get all the new ones when they come out. It’s like having your own personal tutor with you whenever you need it!
Shoot it – I always have my camera with me whenever I leave the house. You never know when inspiration will walk right up to you or you to it. In the past you needed a camera, but again, nowadays most people have at least a 2MP camera built into their phone that is more than adequate to snap a quick pic of an idea you come across.
Model it – I saw a sweater in a store the other day and asked if I could take a picture. I was politely turned down so I later returned with a lady friend and had her model it for me. I was able to take pictures of it while she was trying it on. I actually got a better idea of the drape and overall fit by having a friend model it for me! Now I’ll be able to make it myself (with a few alterations) as soon as I get some of my other UFOs done – lol.
I’ll have six more tips next week and we’ll be back to color tomorrow!
Hugzzz 😎