‘Recreation and Sports’ Category

What you Must Know about Knitting Looms

One tolls used to create fabric is the knitting loom.  Single and double rake are the two major types of knitting looms.  A single rake loom is used...

 

One tolls used to create fabric is the knitting loom.  Single and double rake are the two major types of knitting looms.  A single rake loom is used to make fabric that has a different right and wrong side.  On the other hand, the double rake looms are used to create double knit fabrics that instead of having distinct sides have two right sides that are alike.  A knitting loom comes with pegs, which function in the same way as knitting needles.  Individuals use different methods to wrap yarn on the pegs to create different but beautiful looking patterns and stitches when knitting.

Knitting looms come in different shapes and sizes.  There are rectangular, circular and even oval looms.   While a variety have just a single row of pegs, others have two rows.   Double rake is the name given to knitting looms with two peg rows while single rake is the name given to those with one peg row.  One thing you should realize is that the size of the knitting loom determines largely, the size of the garment that you will knit.   What is more, the gauges of the looms determine the size of the knit stitches and establish the threads you must use.

Specialty shops and the internet are some of the many places you may buy a knitting looms.  Knitting with looms is simple.  If you are one of those individuals that find knitting needles complicated, then you should try knitting looms.   A knitting loom is very helpful to an individual who is unable to knit with needles due to arthritis, carpal tunnel syndrome or any other ailment that affect the fingers and hands.   Prior to picking the knitting loom that you like, it is vital you first evaluate those sold in various shops.  More over, make certain that you buy from reputable traders who ask for realistic sums of money.

Sometimes when you are using a loom, your knitting may become tight.   It is crucial that you study the various methods that you stop this from occurring.   Tension on the threads as you drape the looms is the chief reason why the knitting tightens. Accordingly, the first and most important thing you should do is ensure that there is enough space between the loon and the skein.  Another way you could deal with the tightness is wrapping and knitting the pegs as you go rather than wrapping the entire loom and subsequently knitting.

Recognizing the Diverse Knitting Abbreviations

 

For many people, especially women, knitting is a favorite hobby.  They use it to express their creative urges.  Every day they set time aside to focus on their knitting.  They love knitting so much that they have formed club where they share their ideas with other knitting enthusiasts.  Some knitting fans have even gone a step further and developed websites where they teach people how to knit, explain the numerous knitting abbreviations and even offer information on where to buy knitting equipment.  If you are first timer, the following are some of the abbreviations that you are sure to come across.

The first is frog.  Yes, it is the name of an animal that lives in water but it is also a knitting abbreviation.   It means undoing one or numerous knitting rows by untangling stitches that have already been made.   It is a method of resolving knitting mistakes.  Skillful and expert knitters reserve the frog for first timers who have no experience and are not familiar with other ways of avoiding mistakes when knitting.   One other common abbreviation that you can possibly stumble upon is KTBL that is sometimes known as TBL.   Knit/knitting through the back loops is what this design method stands for.

Another abbreviation in knitting is SSK, which stands for slip, slip and stitch.  In SSK, you slip two stitches one after the other into the right-hand needle and subsequently insert the left-hand needle to the front of the stitches.   What takes place is that the stitches are shifted onto the needles on the left hand.   The method coils the stitches when the stitches that have been slipped are moved to the needle on the left hand.  In other cases, you can stumble upon SSSK, which utilizes a similar method to SSK. The difference lies in the fact that 3 and not 2 stitches are knitted together after the slip stitches are moved into the left-hand needle.

If you adore knitting socks, PSSO is one abbreviation that you will definitely stumble upon.   It denotes passing the slip stitches over. What you are required to do in PSSO is slip one stitch and knit the one that follows.  Afterwards you should pass the stitch that you slipped over the one that you stitched.  If you love knitting, you should take the time to research and familiarize yourself with all the knitting abbreviations.   One thing you should realize is that it may be a long time before you can learn and master all of them.

Recognizing Intarsia Knitting

 

The type of knitting where people utilize blocks of color is referred to as intarsia.  Compared to stranded or Fair Isle stitching, the threads are not carried or stranded across fabric backs in intarsia knitting.  The fact that the term intarsia is taken from word work and has zilch to do with stitching is the most fascinating thing about it.  In woodwork, intarsia refers to the inlay of different hues of wood in order to make pictures, patterns and designs.  Intarsia knitting requires that you use small balls, long thread strands and bobbins for all the blocks of color.

Compare to other types of knitting for instance stranded stitching, intarsia stitching is said to give not only cleaner but also less bulky looks to garments knitted in this way.  The one difficulty that beginners are likely to encounter in intarsia knitting is getting the threads tangled.  However, using bobbins can help these first timers prevent this from taking place.   Bobbins not only prevent yarns from getting loose but also knotting up.   You simply drop the color blocks that you are using in intarsia knitting and take the ones that follow.  It is advisable that you pick new yarns from below the old ones so as prevent holes from forming in the item that you could be knitting.

Pullovers that have huge and hard features such as fruits, geometric shapes and flowers in striking colors are common intarsia knitting examples.   Intarsia is also used in the making of such other things as Argyle pullovers and socks.  In most cases, intarsia knitting is worked flat and not in rounds.  Nonetheless, you can also knit intarsia in rounds using special techniques.   If you are a first-timer and wish to try knitting intarsia, you are advised to start with intarsia aprons.   It is a small project consisting of two colors that could assist you apply your intarsia knitting skills.

Intarsia knitting employs thread blocks of different colors. Beginners are advised to practice their intarsia knitting skills using old yarn so as not to waste it.   The internet is one place you can obtain information on intarsia knitting.   Many websites offer details on this method of knitting. The majority of the sites are owned by avid knitters.  However, for practical experience you need to work under the guidance and direction of professional knitters.  They are best placed to tell you about the dos and donts in intarsia knitting.

Popular Knitting Techniques You Will Need To Learn

 

Learning different knitting techniques is essential if you want to become any sort of a decent knitter.  There are certain techniques that you will not really have to worry about until you are more experienced and are taking on more complex projects.  Then there are others that are used in almost all patterns and these are known as the basic knitting techniques.  You won’t find these knitting techniques that hard at all once you get a bit of practice.

Of course the first and one of the most basic knitting techniques to learn is just to plain knit.  Hold your needles in your hands and then you want to have the yarn in your left hand, holding just the string coming out of the ball of yarn.  Now if you are left-handed you may want to switch things around because it may not be comfortable for you to hold things like this.  It is completely up to you and whatever you feel more comfortable with.

To make a basic knit stitch you want to put the tip of your right needle into the loop most at the top of your left needle.   Take the yarn and wrap it around the top of that needle once, making sure to keep it nice and taught but not too tight.  Always make sure that you are pulling the yarn in the opposite direction or you will be making a purl stitch.   Then you have made the knit stitch and for the purl you just do it all backwards.

When you purl in your knitting pieces you will see a nice patterned look as there is a noticeable difference between the two types of stitches.  You will also need to learn how to pick up stitches if you want to follow even the most basic kitting patterns.  You would need to do this if you were making sleeves for a sweater or had any other circumstance where you needed to add more stitches on when you were already part way through a pattern.   Your goal is to not have people be able to tell where you cast on more stitches because you want to keep everything neat and tidy.

One of the most important things to remember when knitting is to keep the yarn held at the same tightness throughout the entire piece.  You do not want to work hard on your knitting only to have to undo it afterwards because there are parts of it that are looser than others and it just does not look right. It takes practice to become a good knitter.   Remember, even the best knitters you know had to start somewhere.

Learn How To Knit In A Few Easy Steps

 

A lot of people look at the expert knitters and cannot imagine picking up a pair of needles and trying to knit.  Of course it is going to look confusing if you have never tried to knit but if you give it a chance you will probably be surprised at just how easy it is.  You do not have to be over the age of fifty just to have an interest in knitting.  You can knit no matter what age you are and there are a few steps you can follow to learn how to knit in no time at all.

If you want to learn how to knit, you will first want to choose a design that you like.  Obviously you want to stick to something more basic at first, even something as simple as a coaster or a blanket.  Something that is straight and squared where there are not too many difficult instructions is what you really want to get started with here.  Once you have a design you know what supplies you are going to need.

Your knitting needles are your most important knitting tool so choose a pair of these before you worry about picking out any yarn.   There are a few different types of knitting needles to pick from including the round needles, but a pair of the straight needles will be good enough to get started with and are called for in the more basic patterns.  When picking out your yarn you will want to follow the pattern for the amount of yarn you need but you can usually pick out whatever colors you want, which is one of the nicest things about knitting.   You will have to be aware of what all the different knitting abbreviations mean before getting started or you will not be able to follow your pattern very well.

There are hundreds of abbreviations used but the k and p are what you will see most, k meaning to knit and p meaning to purl.  To knit you would just knit straight across whereas a purl basically shows up as a backwards knitted stitch.  The purl stitch results in the same stitch as a knit, if you were to look at your piece from the opposite side.   Purling creates a very nice streamlined look on knitted pieces and is the second most commonly used stitch in knitting besides regular knitted stitches.

You may find it hard at first to keep track when you are following a pattern and you may find it handy to use a pen to keep track of how many stitches you have to go.  Try to keep the same tension in the yarn as you knit so that there are not some tighter and some looser areas in your knitted pieces. Learning how to knit does not have to be hard.   As long as you work hard and practice you can become a skilled knitter in no time at all.