TOP THIRTEEN KNITTING TIPS ~

1. Love what YOU knit!
2. Start with the finish in mind. Will the pattern work for you? Did you add selvage stitches for neat, clean seams? Is the length and width right for a perfect fit? Is the style becoming on you? When these questions are thoughtfully answered, your steps in finishing will be effortless as well as joyous.
3. Challenge yourself with patterns that require you to learn a new skill.
4. Alter your project choices from challenging project to a quick/easy knit to allow for emotional happiness. A wise balance will allow you to grow substantially as a skilled knitter while enjoying the process.
5. Greet ripping out as an opportunity to make better. When taking out rows, use smaller needles to re-pick up your stitches. Then, change back to the needle size of your work checking direction of each stitch and that the yarn hasn’t split.
6. Always have a crochet hook by your side to be able to pick up any accidental dropped stitch.
7. Always, always work up a gauge if not for fit purposes, then to examine exactly what the fabric will be that you will be creating. Be willing to make a few gauges to compare and contrast the possibilities.
8. Practice, practice, practice on little swatches the skill that might be new to you so as not to put undue wear and tear on the fibers of your project because you’ve repeatedly ripped out using the moment as practice.
9. Online tutorials are fabulous! I still use them as an experienced knitter!
10. Continue reading about knitting. My latest is Finishing School: A Master Class for Knitters by Deborah Newton. Not only did I learn a thing or two but it also validated the skills that have been my mainstay through the years (many of these very tips!)
11. Be very aware of the yarn that is recommended for the project, not just in its weight, but in its fiber content. The fiber content makes all the difference in the world as to how the garment will lay, pull, and wear.
12. Learn to “read” your work. Rather than counting with paper/pencil and tally, learn to count rows and stitches of the knitted pattern that you are creating.
13. When you are finished with a knitting session, take your work off the needles you are using and place that work on a smaller set of needles.  Stitch holders work just as well.  Do this especially with yarn with memory.  The stitches will stretch, otherwise leaving uneven or pulled stitches.