🧶😅👉 Look out for these common knitting mistakes

👉 When knitting from a chart, cover the rows above the one you’re knitting—not below 🧶

That way, what you see on the chart matches what you see on your project 😉✨

Lyn asked me to show how to make an SSK, i.e. a left-leaning decrease.

Knitting 2 stitches together produces a right-leaning decrease, so if you want to have symmetrical decreases, e.g. on either side of an armhole or sleeve cap, you will need to knit 2 together on one side and make an SSK on the other 🧶

The Norwegian purl #knitting

I’m ending this year with a Norwegian purl video 🧶 🧶 🧶

I always get lots of comments on these videos, so for those of you who actually read the captions 😅:

🧶 Yes, the movement is larger than in continental purling, but it saves you from moving the yarn back and forth between knit and purl stitches

🧶 The end result is exactly the same as with a continental purl

🧶 The term “Norwegian” isn’t entirely accurate: not all Norwegians purl this way, and plenty of knitters in other countries do

🧶 And of course, if you already have a purling method that works well for you, there’s absolutely no need to change

Happy New knitting Year ✨ ✨ ✨

Annie asked how to unpick knit and purl stitches 🧶
Good news—they’re undone the same way ✨

Learning to read your stitches and fix mistakes as you go is an essential #knitting skill 🙌 So don’t get frustrated when something goes wrong—every mistake is a chance to learn and practice 💛

Trudy asked me how to add stitches in her knitting, and it reminded me of the very first increase I ever learned: the kfb (knit front and back) ✨

I love the motion of this stitch, but it’s definitely visible and not symmetrical—so for more invisible increases, you might want to explore other options 🧶🙌🎁

Why don’t I sell my knitted creations? It’s a question I get asked quite often.

The simple answer is: I don’t want to create just another consumer product. My goal is to share the joy and satisfaction that knitting brings. Giving someone the gift of a lifelong hobby is far more meaningful than any beautifully crafted beanie or sweater.

I love gifting my knitted pieces to family and friends—it always makes me happy to see their faces light up. But honestly, I feel even more fulfilled when I help someone discover the joy of crafting for themselves.

So, if you’re short on time and can’t knit for all your loved ones, why not give them the gift of learning a new craft?

There are so many wonderful hobbies to explore, but if knitting is the one you want to share, I can help with that. Consider gifting the book Learn to Knit in 50 Squares. Support your local yarn or bookstore, or use the link below 👇

Italian cast off shortcut

Once you’ve internalised the 5 steps of the Italian cast off, you can combine some of the steps to work more efficiently and gain speed.

I’ve seen other combinations, but this is how I like to do it.

Why knitting is my secret weapon at family dinners:

It keeps my hands busy so I won’t reach for seconds when I’m already full 😉😁

Happy Holidays

🎁❤️🎄🎶🎺

Ex post lifeline

It’s never much fun to frog, but using a lifeline can make it a little less painful 🧶🥲

In plain knitting, it’s easy to add a lifeline after the fact. Pick up the right leg of each stitch with a pair of circular needles.

In stocking stitch, it’s best to work on the wrong side, where the purl ridges provide a clear guide. Otherwise, it’s all too easy to skip a row by mistake (Don’t ask me how I know this 🙄)

Jogless join in the round

As I wrote a couple of weeks ago, there are different variations of this method as with so many #knitting techniques.

Thank you ❤️ to Hanna who pointed out that if you pass the last stitch over the first (and not vice versa as I used to do), all the strands at the bottom will lie in the same direction 🧶

So, yes, as of today, I’m doing it this way! 🙌

Jeny’s surprisingly stretchy bind off #knitting

Make a yarn over and pull it over the next stitch together with the previous stitch when casting off. This will make your cast off really stretchy.

Ideal for toe-up socks, top-down pullover hems and shawls, where the regular cast off usually turns out rather tight.

I hadn’t realized that in fact you should make a reverse yarn over, when casting off knit stitches 🫣 (and a regular one when casting off purl stitches), which gives a really neat look!

Audio: Winter Moon by Mindy Gledhill

The flutes in my band asked for small knitted hats for their instruments to use during Christmas performances.

These little hats also make a charming decoration for a wine bottle when giving it as a gift.

This year, I knitted sideways and used the Turkish cast on as a provisional cast on and then grafted the two edges for a totally seamless hat.

However, you can also use a three-needle bind-off, or simply use a regular cast-on and cast-off and sew the ends together. Or you can knit the hat in the round, like the ones I made last year (3rd photo).

I used fingering yarn. Cast on 15 sts, knit 40 rows. Close the seam, gather one end and add a pompom or tassel.

Grafting in garter stitch #knitting

Many people are daunted by the 4 steps in stocking stitch grafting (Kitchener stitch). Maybe it’s a good idea to start by grafting in garter stitch, which is simpler, because the steps are the same on the front and back needle.

Make sure you there’s a ridge at the top of the two sides facing you.

*Enter the first stitch on the front needle knitwise and slip it off the needle, enter the next stitch on the front needle purlwise and leave it on the needle. Repeat on the back needle.*

Keep repeating from * to *

Turkish cast on

This is an alternative to Judy’s magic cast on and is in fact really, really simple!

I’ve been hesitating to use it, but thought I’d try it out on this mini project.

You can use it for sock toes on toe-up socks, or as a provisional cast on as shown in this video.

Have you ever used the Turkish cast on in your knitting projects?

Upon request, here’s a repost of how to knit and purl through the back loop (ktbl & ptbl)