Archive for the 'tutorial' Category

Marsha

Free lunch: Tutorials

Recycling yarn from store-bought sweaters. My favorite part of this tutorial is the author’s use of the term “yarn barf.”

How to darn holes in knitting. I have a pair of socks (the first pair I knit for myself) in sore need of this kind of attention.

How to knit attached i-cord. This would be lovely as trim on sweater edges.

Tutorial for stranded knitting. Anything that combines knitting with comic-book style has got to be worth a try, right?

Two finger-knitting tutorials, here and here.

And two illusion-knitting tutorials, here and here.

Use Excel to make lace-knitting charts.

Use a crockpot to kettle-dye yarn with kool-aid. I did this last winter and love the results!

How to cut plastic shopping bags to make “yarn” for knitting. I bring my own bags to the store these days so don’t have plastic shopping bags for cutting. But I like the idea here. If any of you try this, I’d love to hear about the results.

Make yarn from old t-shirts. I love how this results in tubular yarn.

Marsha

Free lunch: Footwear

This sock pattern is touted as something “for men,” but really, anyone could wear diamonds in their shoes.

Here are some knitted slippers made with sock yarn, knitted slippers made with chunky yarn, a whole family’s worth of knitted-and-fulled slippers, and cute duck slippers for wee toes.

These Tatami Socks (from Judy Sumner’s Knitted Socks East and West) can be found on the Storque (Etsy’s handmade blog), where you can either download a PDF (look for the link in the introductory paragraphs) or follow the instructions right on the page. Most sock patterns strike me as too “fussy,” but I do like these and may give them a try soon.

These yoga socks are intended to warm your feet while leaving your toes and heels free for gripping. I wonder if the knitted surface would raise your toes from the mat just enough for them to lose their gripability. I also wonder how slippery these socks themselves would be–or if they’d be a good solution for people who get sweaty (and slippery) feet during their practice.

I know that legwarmers aren’t technically footwear, but legs are attached to feet, so I figure that’s close enough. These legwarmers have a lovely cable detail (from a scarf that’s been on my to-knit list forever…). And here are some super stretchy legwarmers knit out of worsted weight yarn (which means that if you want to knit some as a holiday gift, if you get cracking right now you might actually get them done on time).

And finally, just in time for the holiday season, elf shoes. The pattern sizes range from infant to adult, so you’ll definitely find one to suit your needs. Why should all the cute knitted shoes be for kids only? Adults need some elf-shoe goodness, too!

(Every time I come across a cute pattern for felted slippers, I think, “They look fun, but they’d be too slippery on my wood floors.” Suede soles are one solution, but they are outrageously expensive. Here’s a far cheaper solution: use silicone caulk on the soles.)

Marsha

Continental knitting

Continental philosophy always gave me a headache in graduate school, but continental knitting is one technique that I’ve been wanting to learn for a while. From what I hear, it’s pretty efficient and can get your stitches moving fast; plus, it’s a good idea to know more than one way to knit so you don’t get any repetitive stress injuries and have to get your own Phantom.

From the Craftsanity podcast comes this great demo on continental knitting. I’m looking forward to giving it a try when I’m able to knit again!