I’m a beginning knitter. I learned from an instructor about 10 years ago, but didn’t stick with it. Now, I’m reteaching myself from a book. I’m almost finished with a baby blanket and it’s turned out pretty well. I have a couple questions, though.
How do you change yarns (when your skein is finished)? My book says to start at the beginning of a row and knit the old yarn and new yarn together for a few stitches, then just keep knitting with the new yarn. This is what I’ve done for the blanket, but I’m not happy with how it looks. Doing it this way makes the edge uneven on that row and makes the row a little bulky. Do any of you have a better way of doing this?
Second, do any of you know good online yarn stores? All we have here is a Ben Franklin and a Michaels, which both stock a very good selection of arcrylic yarns, but nothing else. Online stores that have good pictures and/or descriptions of their yarn are very much needed!
I’m an extreme beginner knitter. I learned about seven years ago, quit then my aunt’s teaching me again right now. I know she’s not home right now, but I’m sure she can answer both of your questions if someone else hasn’t by then. She was telling me about online fabric stores, so I would assume there’s some good yarn stores.
-Lil
It depends on what the yarn is made of and the pattern you’re looking at. 90% of the time, I weave it (which I cannot begin to explain in typing. Most good knitting references (Vogue Knitting, Readers Digest Knitting, etc. Big thick hardcover books with loads of technique) will have it. Also, with acrylics (which I think you’re using right now), you can (if you’re careful, just knit to about 5 or 6 inches away from the end of the old skein, pick up the new skein and start knitting about 5 or 6 inches in. Continue. When you’re done, go back to the hole you have in the middle of your work, and very carefully fix the tension by tightening the hanging ends. (Very, very carefully). Then weave the ends in with a yarn needle.
Strangely enough http://yarn.com/ is an awesome yarn store (both online and in persno) and I’d highly recommend them.
I used to knit to the end, hoping the knot would be on the wrong side of the work. Now, I just knit until I’ve got a decent enough piece to tie off. I then start the new yarn, and after I’ve gotten it secure with a few stitches, I go back and tie the two ends together. That way, I can control where the knot is.
I guess you could call me a moderate knitter…I can cable stitch and I’m currently mosaic knitting. Good luck! If you go to yahoogroups you can find quite a few knitting groups that can help you with techniques and ideas. (And of course, you can also post here!)
This is how I deal with new skeins of yarn as well. I really think you have to do some sort of discreet knot so you don’t end up with a hole somewhere down the line. And it’s easy to weave ends in with a crochet hook. It’s best to join a new skein at an end of the piece if at all possible. That way, you can weave your ends and have your knot in the seam allowance.
If you buy a knitting magazine, there will be lots of ads with web addresses in them. I checked out yarn.com and it seemed like they had lots and lots of closeouts, not much choice.
I think I’m going to try the ivylass/anniclaus method when I change skeins again. Annoyingly, I think I’ll have to do it one more time before I finish the blanket - I’ve only got about 15 rows to go, but I don’t think my yarn’s going to make it. I’m in the border of the blanket, which is in seed stitch, so I don’t think a knot will be noticeable. The book I have says that knots are a very, very bad thing…but, come one, they’d have to be better than a wonky row!
I’m actually using cotton for this blanket. It’s nice and soft, but slippery, so it hasn’t been easy to get a consistent knit out of it.
I’ve only just started knitting, I’m about 3/4 through the back of a sleeveless jumper. So, I really am a beginner! I’m having lots of fun now; it’s great to knit if you’re having a convo with someone. I was so excited when I finished my first ball of wool! (Until right near the end it looks like it’s never getting any smaller, you know?)
I have knitted several hundred items; possibly over a thousand. Only a handful of them were of a single color; in most of my work I change colors at least every few rows, often ever few stitches.
I have never tied a knot, and I have never had a hole.
To continue with a new skein of the same color, wait till you’re down to about six inches, then knit 3 or 4 stitches together with the beginning of your new skein. When you’re done, weave the ends in for an inch or so (at the back, of course) and cut with about a half inch dangling. That half inch will usually soften and loosen, and will never, NEVER pull back through to leave a hole. Keep in mind that a knitted stitch is anchored in four places–each and every stitch–and no accidental tension is going to pull at all four directions in the right order, and thus pull out the stitch.
To change to a different color, just drop the first and start with the second., leaving about six inches of each. When you’re done with the piece, turn it over, thread the tail of yarn through a blunt yarn needle, and weave it through the nearest patch of matching yarn. Follow the path of the already knitted yarn with the tail on the needle for a few stitches. Then weave the end in for a bit, and trim to half an inch.
I have done this tens of thousands of times, and have never had one fall out, and never had anyone else notice the graft from the front.
Make sure to do all this loosely, not tightly; tight end weaving is more noticeable from the front than gently woven ends.
I try to change yarns at the beginning of a row. Just start knitting with the new yarn, then tie a knot after a few stitches, then weave into the seam or edging. As far as online stores go, I like The Knitter– no shipping charges.
I really, really want to convince those of you who use knots to try it the other way, without knots. Most of the pieces I make are seamless, and therefore, for all intents and purposes, rowless, so I must blend the ends in wherever they fall. I do so easily, invisibly, and entirely without knots. Try it.
lissener, that’s the technique that my book advises. How do I do it that way and not have the beginning of that row look bulky? Also, knitting the two yarns together (old & new) makes the edge of the row stick out. Am I doing something wrong or will that unevenness work itself out? The yarn I’m using is not bulky - it’s Bernat cottontots worsted weight, 100% cotton.
It’s hard to describe the subtleties of weaving yarn ends in a forum like this. Go to a small independent yarn store and ask one of the women who works there to show you.
Barring that, practice weaving invisibly. Do it in the back, and experiment with different approaches if it appears too bulky. But some of the bulkiness will indeed work itself out; I have never had anyone but an extremely experienced knitter, looking very very closely, find my ends from the front.
When I’m making something seamless, in the round, or with a lot of color changes, I weave in the ends as I knit. It’s very hard to explain, though. There is a video called something like “Philosopher’s Wool” that shows how to do it as part of learning to knit with a color in each hand. That might be a little overwhelming for a beginning knitter, however. But if anyone wants to try it, I was able to check this video out of my local library, and lots of places will have it for sale.
I haven’t even started weaving the ends…even without that, the row looks bulky because there are two strands of yarn knitted in, instead of one. Obviously, it’s not the whole row - just the first few stitches.
By the way, I finished the blanket tonight! Well, finished knitting - now I have to weave those ends, wash, and block. Yay! And, I bought some more yarn to start a purse I’ve been wanting to make - Pink!
(Until right near the end it looks like it’s never getting any smaller, you know?)