Techniques

The basic cast off works very well when you want a nice firm edge with little stretch, but sometimes you need a bit more give. The top of a toe-up sock, a neck opening that needs to go over your head - there's lots of places where you want an edge to stretch comfortably and then spring happily back into...

Some of the most pleasing effects in knitting are made by directional decreases. Armhole decreases that point in mirrored directions look awfully professional, and the beautiful swooping lines of knitted lace depend on them. Most knitters know of K2tog, or knit-two-stitches-together, which leans to the right. Its left-leaning counterpart SSK (slip-slip-knit) seems, from questions at the counter, to be less...

Every one of us, crocheters and knitters alike, have found the perfect pattern, and then had the sinking feeling that comes with realising you can't get the yarn. It's discontinued. You're allergic to the fibre content. It's only available in New Zealand. People come into the shop all the time with exactly this dilemma. So here's how to find a...

Wouldn't it be lovely to be able to save your knitting as you work it, like a Word document or a game? Wouldn't it be good to look back at what you've done and know that whatever happens, you won't have to rip that part back? Today's post is a step-by-step guide to saving your work as you go. The...

Chubby Checker might not agree, but there are times when twist isn't a good thing. At the beginning of any pattern knit in the round, you're likely to see "Join without twisting". We've all done it, though - we've all joined and knitted blithely on for a few rounds, only to discover that yes, there was a twist, leaving us...

Short rows are a very good way of adding shape to your knitting: the toes of toe-up socks, bust-shaping in jumpers, anywhere that you want your knitting to mould itself to a curve. They're really easy to do, but pictures work better for explaining them than words, so here's a photo tutorial. In the pictures below, we've used yarns of...

Cabling without a cable needle is a useful skill to have. Even if you don't adopt it for all your cabling, it means that you can still keep working when the sofa eats your cable needle or when the little blighter's made a bid for freedom on the bus. Once you've acquired it, it makes cabling faster and less fiddly....