Knitting Short Rows (Wrap And Turn without holes!)We don't want to create short rows with holes and loops of yarn crossing over where they shouldn't be, so we use the wrap and turn knitting technique that I'll show you today.

Every neckline should be as tidy as the one on the right. Unfortunately, most are written like the one on the left. Since I can't travel to every corner of the world to teach this in my European Finishing class, I'm posting instructions for the Proper Cocoknits Neckline for every knitter to use and enjoy If you are leaving your neckline raw, these techniques are a must. Even if you are picking up stitches to finish the neckline, look how much easier picking up stitches will be around the neckline of the sample to the right. I have worked this sample in Stockinette stitch but the technique works just as well when working in stitch patterns. These Cocoknits patterns use this technique; Leonie, Nieve, and Veronika.

VeryPink offers knitting patterns and video tutorials from Staci Perry. Short technique videos and longer pattern tutorials to take your knitting skills to the next level.

In this post I’m going to show you how to Knit two together (K2tog) and Purl two together (P2tog) These are both “decrease” knitting stitches. These techniques will help you redu…

Stockinette St is one of the most basic of knitting techniques. It creates a smooth fabric of knit stitches, but if it has one shortcoming, it's that it's curls. Usually this is counteracted by adding an inch or more of ribbing to hems, which works great in most cases, but does look, well

Slow Motion Provisional Cast-On - VeryPink offers knitting patterns and video tutorials from Staci Perry. Short technique videos and longer pattern tutorials to take your knitting skills to the next level.

Tidy Finishing on a Circular Bind-Off - VeryPink offers knitting patterns and video tutorials from Staci Perry. Short technique videos and longer pattern tutorials to take your knitting skills to the next level.

How to knit an I-cord edge Hey friends! For today’s Tips and Tricks Tuesday, I’m going to show you how to knit an I-cord edge. A few people asked me how I got such a tidy looking edge on my new shawl design (work in progress), so I thought I’d share a quick tutorial. Here’s...Read the Post

EN Summary: So the journey begins. Susan Khalje’s jacket pattern has proven to be a great base pattern for the jacket that I’ve envisi...

The 3-Needle Bind Off is a great finishing technique for joining two pieces of knitting…

In knitting, single decreases slant to the left or the right. This post shows you which common knitting decreases to use for shaping.

Once you’ve worked out the specifics of where and by which method to knit the holes into a buttonhole band, it seems like an easy enough proposition to sew the buttons onto the button band in corresponding positions. And that’s not hard: Most people will line up the two bands, put a pin (or removable […]

The chain selvedge forms a tidy decorative edge. It’s perfect for knitted accessories, such as scarves or shawls, that will have a visible edge.

Today I would love to share with you a technique that I learned several years ago that is absolutely essential for cardigans if you want to avoid knitting the bands and finishing the raw edges. It also comes in handy for scarves or any items with open raw edges. It looks like an ap

Making a folded hem or edge on a knitted garment is the way to give a project an edge in stockinette stitch that does not roll.

Not too long ago, I noticed that you don't see too many top-down sweater patterns knitted in stitches other than stockinette, garter stitch, or maybe seed stitch if they're getting fancy. Why don't we ever see a fisherman's rib, or some simple lace in a top-down sweater, for example? My theory about this is that it seems too hard to keep up the stitch pattern, when you keep increasing stitches along the raglan seams every other row. Hm. I started puzzling over how one would carry the stitch pattern across those pesky ever-growing seams. Could it work? I decided to consult The Oracle (also known as Barbara Walker's classic book Knitting from the Top). The answer is an emphatic yes, and though I didn't quite understand Walker's explanation, her hints were good, and eventually I found my way. So here's what I learned. You can use this technique to design your own garments, or to adapt an existing pattern for a top-down garment that was written in stockinette stitch, and make it fancy. There are a couple of important things to know. First of all, you don't actually carry the pattern across the raglan seams. You start the stitch pattern over afresh after each raglan seam. This flash of insight made the whole thing work for me. The rest is just logistics. But a second, and really important point, choose your stitch pattern carefully. Choose a stitch pattern with relatively few stitches in the repeat. A 14-stitch repeat won't look very good. A 3- to 5-stitch repeat will work just fine. Let's use a sample pattern and walk through how to do this, step by step. We'll make a simple top-down baby's cardigan, except we're going to dispense with the plain stockinette stitch, and knit it up in a pretty stitch called "elongated rib check." Elongated Rib Check (multiple of 4 st) Rows 1-6: * P2, K2; Repeat from * to end. Rows 7-12: *K2, P2; Repeat from * to end. Here are the original directions for casting on (these should be familiar if you've ever knitted a top-down cardigan): Beginning at neck edge with a 24 in. circular needle, cast on 2 st, place marker, cast on 10 st, place marker, cast on 16 st, place marker, cast on 10 st, place marker, cast on 2 st. You will have 40 st. Odd rows: Kfb, *Knit to 1 st before M, Kfb, slip M. Repeat from * to end, Kfb the final stitch (inc 10 st total). Even rows: Purl across. Repeat these two rows until there are 22 st between the back markers. At the end of this last increase row, cast on to the end of the needle 3 st. Next row: Purl to end, cast on 3 st to the end of the needle. Continue increasing as before, except without increasing on the first and last stitch of every row (inc 8 st every odd row). Here's the step-by-step to transforming this top-down stockinette sweater to a top-down sweater with our chosen stitch pattern: 1. Supplies. You will need lots of stitch markers in 2 different colors (color A and color B). 2. Take notes. Keep notes on how you modify the pattern so that you'll be able to adapt as you go along. 3. Knit a swatch. This is no joke! You need to knit a nice big gauge swatch in order to a) learn the stitch pattern and get comfortable with it; and b) check your gauge, since it is very likely to be different from the sweater's stated gauge in stockinette stitch. You may need to adjust your needle size accordingly. 4. Casting on: As you cast on, you may need to modify the number of stitches in each section in order to accommodate the stitch pattern. Since the stitch pattern in our example is a multiple of 4, each section should contain a multiple of 4 st, plus 2 (one for each increase stitch). If the front sections are just a stitch or two each, as in our sample pattern, adding too many stitches will mess up your sizing. In this case, you will just ignore those sections for now, and do not begin the stitch pattern until you've knitted enough increase rows that there are enough stitches in the section for one pattern repeat + 2 extra stitches. So for our example: CO 2, Place marker A, CO 10, place marker A, CO 18, place marker A, CO 10, place marker A, CO 2. You will have 42 st. Make a note of the fact that you modified the instructions to have 2 extra stitches between the back 2 markers. after casting on - looks just like any old top-down sweater. 5. Knitting in the stitch pattern. As you knit along, you'll start the pattern row over in each section. But you also need to differentiate between the stitches that are used only for increasing, and the stitches that can actually be knit in the stitch pattern. So as you knit row 1, you'll add a second set of markers, Marker B. Row 1: Kfb, place marker B, Kfb, slip marker A, *Kfb, place marker B, patt to 1 st before next marker A, place marker B, Kfb, slip marker A. Repeat from * to final marker A. Kfb, place marker B, Kfb of last stitch. Row 2: Purl to marker B, *Purl to marker A, purl to marker B, patt to the next marker B. Repeat from * to final marker B. Purl to end. after row 1 - 2 sets of stitch markers (A is red; B is blue) 6. Maintaining the pattern as the sweater grows. On every increase row, you'll gain more stockinette stitches in the little sections between marker B and marker A. Once there are enough of them, you can add them to the pattern section by moving the marker. In this case, you will need 5 stockinette stitches (a multiple of 4 + 1). Once there are 5 stitches between marker A and marker B, on the next increase row, carry the stitch pattern through those 4 stockinette stitches, moving the stitch marker 4 places and leaving one stockinette stitch behind for the increase. 7. The front edges. In every top-down sweater, there's a point when you stop increasing on the first and last stitch of every row, and you cast on a few stitches at the needle tips to make the front edges meet, across the low point of the neckline. This is the final part of the sample pattern, above. This is the final adaptation you'll have to make. Our sample pattern says to cast on 3 stitches. You should cast on as many stitches as it takes to complete a pattern repeat, as close to the recommended number as possible. So if you have, say, 20 stitches in your first and last sections (NOT counting the stockinette stitches between marker B and marker A), you would cast on 4 for a total of 24 stitches, which is a multiple of 4. If you're making a crew-neck rather than a cardigan, you'd be joining the front edges here. In that case, cast on the correct number of stitches to make the stitch pattern flow correctly from one side to the other when joined, sticking as close to the recommended number of cast-on stitches as you can. From this point, there's nothing else special that you need to do - just continue the sweater as directed, taking any of your modifications into account when stitch totals are given, and transforming the little growing pockets of stockinette stitch between your markers into fancy-stitch as they pile up. I know it might sound weird to have these areas of stockinette stitch breaking up your stitch pattern, but in a finished garment you really don't see it. I used this technique in the Plum Blouse that I finished recently - here's a close-up of the shoulder seam. If you were to use a stitch pattern that required a 18-stitch repeat, it would definitely not work. But for stitch patterns that use a 3 to 5-stitch repeat, this is a great way to make a simple top-down design a lot more interesting.

I’m always looking for new ways to embellish my knits and the picot cast on was at the top of my list. I finally had the chance this week to learn how it’s done.

Garter-tab cast-on is a method for casting on top-down triangle, crescent, or semicircle shawls. Learn how and why to use it with this step-by-step tutorial.

Short rows in garter stitch are easier than in stockinette! Learn how to knit short rows in garter stitch.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to do the SSK knitting decrease. A left-leaning decrease that forms a pair with K2tog and is quite easy to knit.

Simple Stretchy Bind-Off - VeryPink offers knitting patterns and video tutorials from Staci Perry. Short technique videos and longer pattern tutorials to take your knitting skills to the next level.

A step-by-step tutorial for beginners on how to bind off in knitting - including high resolution pictures and a slow motion video.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to bind off the last stitch neatly for knitting beginners. Including a video and easy-to-follow instructions.

A step-by-step tutorial with video explanations on how to knit the right loop increase. KRL is an invisible left-leaning increase for stockinette stitch.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to cuont rows in knitting for beginners - no matter if its garter stitch, cables or stockinette stitch.

On the knit side m1L : make 1 left, (left slanted increase) . . With the left needle pick up the strand between 2 stitches, from front to back and knit through the back loop. . . . m1R : make 1 rig…

From this tutorial, you will learn how to knit the garter tab cast-on. This technique is used to begin a triangle shawl, that is worked top-down and has a garter stitch border.

Becoming a knitting nerd didn't happen overnight. I've always been interested in learning new things: not just reading on how to do things but I'm equally interested in the why. Here are my favorite resources for getting nerdy with knitting techniques.

A step by step tutorial on how to knit yarn over knitwise and purlwise. A useful stitch for many brioche and lace patterns.

Knitting experts share their knitting tips and tricks to help you have success with your next knitting project.

Learn how to get a smooth, beautiful edge, avoiding that stair-step look of the normal bind-off with the Sloped Bind-Off Method. A simple technique that changes your...

A massive list of common knitting mistakes and how to fix them for beginners. Everything you need to correct stitches including a video.

A step by step tutorial on stacked increase knitting showing you everything you need about this rare knitting technique & how to use it.

A step-by-step tutorial on how to knit a reverse yarn over for beginners. A video shows you all involved steps - continental & english style.

A step-by-step tutorial on decreasing stitches evenly in knitting for beginners. Left- and right-leaning variations for every project.

In almost ten years that I’ve been teaching people to knit, I noticed that most beginner (and not just beginner) mistakes happened because of the lack of understanding how the knitted fabric is created. The skill of understanding what happens when we make a stitch, what kind of stitch it is and how it interacts […]

Lever Style Knitting - Complete Guide - Everything You Should Know. [UPDATED for 2024] Learn more about the history, traditions and techniques.

A step-by-step tutorial for knitting beginners on how to purl. Instructions for this essential knitting stitch the continental way.

Have you ever wanted to knit faster? Continental Knitting just might be the solution!