It’s one of the biggest problems with circular knitting needles: the cord is often all twisted! When too curly, the needle is difficult to work with… and it’s often in it’s curly state when it comes out of the package or after being stored for a while (as pictured in photo 1, above). Fortunately, it’s […]
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What size crochet hook do I use for amigurumi?
Of course, this question is easy-peasy if you have the exact yarn called for in the pattern. But what if you want to substitute yarn for your amigurumi? Fortunately, this is easy to do too! The most important thing when making amigurumi is to make sure that your hook is appropriately sized for your yarn, […]
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Free Pattern: Persephone slouchy beret
This slouchy beret is deceptively simple to knit, and makes use of one color-changing yarn and one complimentary solid color to create a gorgeous design. In this sample, I used handspun yarn as the colorful yarn, but any number of commercial yarns would look wonderful, including: Noro Silk Garden, Crystal Palace’s Mochi Plus or Noro […]
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Lessons learned from two at a time socks
Earlier, I told you that I was teaching a class on knitting two socks at a time on two circular needles, using Antje Gillingham’s Knitting Circles Around Socks. Now that the class is complete, I thought I’d share some things that we learned and tips that we found particularly useful for the technique. Wind your […]
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Morris and Sons: Sydney, NSW, Australia
store: Morris and Sons (formerly Tapestry Craft) address: 50 York St, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia website: www.morrisandsons.com.au date of visit: January, 2010 This is my last post about the yarn shops I visited in my recent trip to Australia (although, fingers crossed that I’ll go back soon!). And, although I don’t mean to play […]
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How to keep stuffing from poking through amigurumi
It’s a common problem when making amigurumi: the stuffing sometimes can be seen through the stitches, something nobody wants! Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to minimize the stuffing from poking through the stitches. The photo above is one of my amigurumi… and you can’t see a single bit of white fluff! Crochet through […]
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How to make stitch markers from an old bracelet
This is an old bracelet that I bought when I was a teenager. I didn’t really wear it anymore, and it was showing signs of age… but I didn’t want to throw it out, because the hearts were so cute! That’s when I thought: I can make stitch markers! This bracelet was a great candidate […]
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Craft NSW: Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
store: Craft NSW address: 104 George Street, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia website: www.artsandcraftsnsw.com.au/ date of visit: January, 2010 Okay, so this category is usually reserved for yarn stores… but today is an exception. Australian yarn can be very difficult to find (as I’ve said in my previous posts about visits to Australian yarn stores). […]
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Sew and Tell: Berry, New South Wales, Australia
store: Sew and Tell address: Shop 2, 133 Queen Street, Berry, New South Wales, Australia website: N/A date of visit: December, 2009 Like many other yarn stores in Australia, Sew and Tell sells many things other than yarn, including materials for sewing, needle felting, cross stitch and needle point. Even though the yarn collection takes […]
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Australia allows knitting needles in carry-on luggage!
Exciting news! The Australian government now allows knitting needles and crochet hooks in carry-on luggage, as of December 25, 2009! If you haven’t been keeping up to date, here’s a brief history. The US has allowed knitting needles and crochet hooks on the airplane for some time (although there have been some horror stories online […]
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