Finger Knit Glam Infinity Scarf with Scarf Cuffs

How to Finger Knit a Glam Infinity Scarf with Scarf Cuffs

Finger Knit Glam Infiinity Scarf with Scarf Cuffs

You can make this attract infinity scarf in about an hour and you all need is one ball of yarn and your fingers! One scarf cuff is make of a finger knit cord and the other is crochet. I've used Sirdar Glam for this but you can use any yarn.

Arm Knitting Reviewed

 Arm Knitting Reviewed

I discovered arm knitting by accident and was instantly attracted to how quickly you could produce a quality item. I am learning as I go along and here are some of my successes and some of my not-so-much successes.

Arm Knitting: Free Pattern for a Braided Infinity Scarf

Free Arm Knitting Pattern - Braid Stitch

arm knitting braid infinity scarf

This free arm knitting pattern puts a slightly different twist on it. I was fed up with the plain arm knitting and started experimenting - this braid type stitch is what I came up with. Knit this infinity scarf in about twenty minutes.

A new article for Arm Knitting Braid Christmas Necklace and Finger Knitting Cord Christmas Necklace

Arm Knitting braid Cristmas necklace

Finger Knit Cord Christmas Necklace
Arm Knit Braid Christmas Necklace

There is a new article on Hubpages if you would like to arm knit a braid Christmas necklace or finger knit a cord Christmas necklace - follow the link to see how to make these two necklaces - you still have time!
http://annmackiemiller.hubpages.com/hub/Yarn-Craft-Arm-Knit-and-Finger-Knit-a-Christmas-Necklace

Finger knit cord Christmas necklace

Free Pattern for Triangular Bag or Purse

Simple Knitting Pattern for a Triangular Bag with Handles

knitted triangular bag

This is a very attractive triangular bag that teenagers love. The line down the center and the triangular shape is achieved by knitting three stitches together in the center of every alternate row.

You can make them as small or as large as you like - you adjust the size by increasing the number of stitches used, just add as many as you want proportionately, that is, you will need to add them in increments of 2 to keep the shape.

You can alter how it looks by the type of yarn you use. . In this illustration I have used yarn with two colors but there is a huge variety of yarn available to buy today. Check the label on your yarn to determine needle size. 

Alter the type of handles you use. The ones used in this illustration were girl's bangles I had in the house or you could buy handles and bangles from ebay or Amazon.

Learning to Knit: Stocking Stitch: Free Knitting Pattern for Stocking Stitch Roll Scarf

How to knit stocking or stockinette stitch

stocking stitch knitting

I said before the two main stitches in knitting are knit and purl or plain and purl depending where you come from. Here I'll show you how to add a purl stitch to your portfolio. Knitting a plain stitch for one row and purling each stitch on the next makes what is called a stocking stitch in the UK, stockinette in the US.

Knit one row, Purl one row alternately and you have stocking stitch. 

Free Knitting Pattern: Adjustable Neck Warmer for Men or Women

How to make a cosy neckwarmer for her or him - get creative

Adjustable Neckwarmer

Are you looking for some handmade gift ideas. Here you will find a free knitting pattern for a neckwarmer that would make a great gift for him or her. This is an easy pattern that can be adapted for her or him.  Even a beginner can make this in a few hours.

Free Knitting Pattern for a Festive Cowl

Knit a Festive Cowl to Wear or Give Away: Free Knitting Pattern

Beginner Skill Level 

festive knitted cowl

This is an easy knit cowl that even a beginner can knock up in an evening. If you know how to cast on and cast off and how to knit a plain knit stitch you can do this one easily. If you are in the US that is bind on and bind off!

It doesn't show up in the photo but this yarn had a glitter woven into it - just right for this time of year.

How to Join Yarn in Knitting

How to join a new ball of yarn into your knitting project

how to join yarn

There comes a time when you want to knit a project using more than one ball or skein of yarn.  My next knitting challenge for beginner knitters is a Festive Cowl which uses two balls of wool so you will need to know how to join in the second one. This short article shows you how.

Free Knitting Pattern for Beginners: Eyelash Neckwarm Twist

Easy Knitting Project for Beginner Knitters: Eyelash Neckwarmer with a twist

garter stitch neckwarmer with eyelash yarn

Make this cosy neck warmer in a couple of hours. It uses only garter stitch but I have given it a twist to make it look fuller when I sewed it up.  Eyelash yarn is wonderfully soft and will snuggle round your neck like a warm hug.

Free Knitting Pattern: Christmas Neckwarmer

Free Knitting Pattern suitable for Beginner Knitters: Christmas Neckwarmer for Men or Women

Make this festive neckwarmer in a couple of hours. This is a free pattern for a knitted neck warmer, I used a crochet flower to embellish but you can use buttons if you prefer.

Christmas Neckwarmer with crochet ponsettia

I wanted a quick project for teaching beginners how to knit and this neckwarmer is the result. You only need to know how to cast on stitches, how to knit a plain knit stitch and how to cast off stitches when you are finished.

How to do a Knit Stitch: Garter Stitch

Learn to Knit a Knit Stitch

Knitted Christmas Neckwarmer 

If you break it down there are really only two stitches in knitting - knit and purl - everything else is adapted from this. Everyone starts with learning how to make a KNIT stitch. Some call it plain knitting as opposed to purl which I will cover later.

Once you have mastered this stitch you will be surprised just how much you can produce and I have added in this free knitting neckwarmer pattern you can knit in an hour or two - a great place to start and with almost instant gratification! So let's get started.

How to cast on stitches

Casting on for Beginners: Learning to Knit

garter stitch

The first step to a successful knitting project is casting on or binding on if you are in the US. If you do this sloppily, the work will not sit properly, so it is worth taking time to learn a method that suits you. Here I'll show you how to make your first slip stitch, how to cast on using the thumb method and how to cast on using two needles.

Whichever method you do choose, ensure you make it tight and even, every stitch the same as the one next to it and with no loops hanging.

How to Finger Knit a Necklace

finger knitted cord necklace

How to Finger Knit a Cord Necklace

If you would like a fast project with instant gratification, finger knitting could provide an answer. 

I discovered this recently and I'm hooked. OK so it can be a bit restrictive in variety, but there are plenty of options available for beginners. I'm told kids love it. 

First of all watch one of the many videos on YouTube on how to finger knit - their illustrations are much better than mine. 

This is one of the best tutorials -   some tutorials tell you to make a slip stitch to begin but I have found that leaves an untidy huge loop when you are finished so I prefer this method. 

To make a finger knit cord

The necklace in the image is made up of one long finger knit cord - I adapted this tutorial slightly and only used two fingers to knit with which gave me the cord effect.

• Use only your index finger (pointer finger in US) and middle finger and start as before. 
• Hold the tail end of your yarn between your pinkie and ring finger to hold it secure
• Start with wrapping the yarn over your index finger from back to front.
• Take it under your middle finger
• Wrap it over your middle finger
• Then under your index finger so you form a figure of eight. 
• When you have two loops on your fingers, hook the one nearest your palm over the first and drop it off your finger. 
• Pull on the tail end to tighten. Pull down gently on the cord as it forms so you keep it tight.
• Repeat till your cord is as long as you want it to be. 

How to make a finger knit cord

how to make a finger knit cord

Make the cords as long as you want - you will be wrapping it around to make the multiple chain effect you see here. I made them all equidistant but you can vary that if you want. The one in the photo above looped nicely into 4 chains. I made the flower from this video and used it to disguise the join and to hold the necklace together.

I actually used this to wrap around a parcel for a friend's birthday gift. 

Let me know if you try this and how it worked out for you. 

Bright blessings

How to knit a snuggle rug

Free Knitting Pattern: Snuggle Rug

Easy project for beginners

Snuggle Rug - Free Knitting Pattern

Furry Throw that won't disgrace you.

To knit this throw, knit in blocks of 9 as described below and sew them all together to your own required size. I then knitted a plain band to go all around the rug. It is all knitted in stocking stitch, that is, every row is a knit row, the patterning lies in the yarn.

For each block you will need:

Eyelash or other 'furry' yarn - 3 balls in main colour and 2 in the other. For convenience I will call them Ball A and Ball B.

A pair of 7mm knitting needles. 10 1/2 in the US.

Method:

With 7mm needles, cast on 20 stitches with Ball A, then 20 stitches with Ball B, then 20 stitches with Ball A

Tip - to keep them all separate you can put each in a plastic bag tied with a rubber band leaving enough space for the yarn to come out.

Knit each row for 26 rows, keeping the colours correct.

Tip - to keep the colours tight together, where they meet knit both together for two or three stitches and pull tight.

After 26 rows, change colours so it goes Ball B, Ball A, Ball B

continue as before for 26 rows

After 26 rows, change colours back to the original, Ball A, Ball B, Ball A

Knit for 26 rows and cast off.

Knit as many blocks as you want then sew them all together.

Baily my lucky black cat loves the snuggle rug

How I learned to knit

Memory of Learning to Knit

yarn and needles from pixabay

Like most people I learned to knit as a child. My mother was always knitting, socks, jumpers, scarves. Fascinated as I was by the process, she didn't teach me. That was left to my father.

Like many men, my father had learned to knit in the army. It was not uncommon in those days, and I believe sailors in particular did a lot of knitting on board ship. Dad took the long trip on a troop ship to India. It was during this time he and his colleagues learned to knit socks.

We used wool from an old jumper that had been pulled apart, and the wool then washed. We stretched it on a Shetland wool winder made by my dad, one I still have. With the wool then rolled into balls, I was off.

Dad taught me to cast on and started me off by knitting squares to make into a blanket. We found my knitting was quite slack so wouldn't follow the gauge on a pattern, so he taught me to knit into the back of my plain stitch. I do that to this day, largely because I think it looks nicer as well as being tighter.

He was a hard taskmaster, making me have each of the twenty two squares I knitted perfect. He taught me to crochet when we joined all those squares together and that blanket decorated my bed throughout my youth.

From then on there was no stopping me and for years everyone got knitted presents for Christmas and birthdays. Growing up in the 50s and 60s my family were always involved in crafts of some kind; mum knitted and sewed, my sister did embroidery and my dad make rag rugs.

Over the years I have tried many crafts but always come back to knitting. In general it went out of fashion for a time but it is good to see it becoming more popular again. There is at least one bar I know of in London where everyone knits, and I believe there are quite a few knitting cafes spring up. The number of new yarns on the market are wonderful and for the lifelong knitter, a real challenge. I wonder what my dad would make of them now.

Welcome to Beginners Knitting

How to Knit: Beginner Guides, Tutorials and Free Patterns

Welcome - I've been knitting since I was a child so I kind-of take it for granted. So I was a bit surprised when a close friend of mine expressed astonishment when I produced a knitted bedjacket for her mother's Christmas. "How did you do that!" was her first comment and I realised there are loads of people out there who were never given the opportunity to learn a skill that I take for granted. That, together with a new obscession with Pinterest has spurred me into starting this new blog.

Here I hope to help at least a few people learn the art of knitting and help them produce work they will be proud to use themselves or to give as gifts to friends and family.

What has struck me about the multitude of knitting sites on line is that very few of them are British. There are slight differences in terms and methods between the UK and US so I will be concentrating mainly on UK pattern terminology. That may mean in future converting some free patterns into UK terms.

I'll write about this more fully in another post but to get you started - you need to learn how to cast on and here is a short video with my Scottish accent to the fore.