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December 31, 2019December 31, 2019

6 Crafting New Year’s Resolutions I Can Keep

Conventional wisdom says that sharing New Year’s resolutions with someone else is supposed to keep us accountable and thus more likely to achieve success.

I’ve come up with 6 reasonable and sustainable goals for my crafting life in the New Year. With your help, I think I can achieve them. Who wants to join me with these New Year’s Resolutions?

This post may contain affiliate links, which help support me but don’t cost you anything extra.

Resolution #1: Allow My Yarn to Mature

Resolution #1 Mature Yarn: skein of natural-colored Candide Yarn — This classic yarn has been in my stash for many years.

Not all yarn needs to be used immediately. Sometimes it needs to age until it is ready to reach its full potential.

This process may take years. Since yarn doesn’t go bad if properly cared for—in moth-proof storage, for example—there’s no time limit on when it must be used. I have yarn that is more than 25 years old. It’s still a nice color. It’s still wool. It just hasn’t decided what it’s going to be.

My yarn stash serves as high-quality housing insulation.

I resolve to not stash bust this year.

Resolution #2: Allow My Yarn Stash to Grow

Resolution #2: New yarn from Stunning String Studio — Who wouldn’t want this beautiful pink yarn from Stunning String Studio? And some cute stitch markers, too?

Forget “yarn diets”! They just make me feel guilty about buying new yarn. Yarn doesn’t have calories and it doesn’t make me fat, so why should I diet?

Instead, I want to embrace the joy that purchasing a beautiful new yarn brings: the expectation of a future project; the zen of repetitive motion as colorful fiber slips through my fingers; the prospect of unlimited options.

Budapest Yarn Shop — I bought souvenir yarn with my last forints in this shop in Budapest.

Yarn makes an excellent travel souvenir. Every time I see that ball of yarn I bought in Budapest, I remember the adventure I had finding the yarn shop. I couldn’t read the street signs, the store was on a small street away from any tourist areas, and no one around spoke English (or Spanish or French, which were other languages I tried). When I found the shop, we all had a marvelous time visiting and admiring each others’ work, despite some pretty significant language challenges. They helped me figure out how many forints I could spend and still have enough change to take the tram back to the boat. If I had been on a yarn diet, I would have missed that entire experience!

I resolve to buy more yarn this year.

Resolution #3: Allow My Yarn to Range Free

Resolution #3 messy studio space with free-range yarn — The sad truth is that my studio is never Instagram-worthy.

Some people like a very tidy desk, a very tidy house, and a very tidy studio. I am not one of those people. While I like a neat kitchen, living room and bedroom, when it comes to my creative spaces, “tidy” is not a word that any one would use.

When I’m being creative, I want to see things out in the open. As I sit and crochet with one yarn, I like to let my eyes rest on other yarn that I have yet to use. I allow my mind to wander and dream of my next project. If everything is tucked away from sight, I can’t do that. I prefer free-range yarn.

I resolve not to organize my stash this year.

Resolution #4: Allow Some Yarn to Depart

Resolution #4: bag of yarn to donate — Not all yarn needs to live at my house.

This resolution may seem at odds with Resolutions #1 and #2, but it’s not. I do have a finite amount of storage space, and an even more finite amount of open (free-range) space.

Sometimes as yarn matures, it tells me it needs to leave the house and spread joy elsewhere. (Infrequently, it tells me this the moment it arrives at my house, but often it takes a bit longer.)

Maybe the color is not my thing, or the fiber content. Maybe I swatched with it and just couldn’t get it to behave in the way I wanted it to. These are the yarns that are ready to spread their wings and depart my nest.

There are plenty of people who would love my unloved yarn. I’ve given to senior centers, elementary and middle schools, and church groups, and they are always happy to accept donations.

I resolve to give away yarn this year.

Resolution #5: Use the Best Tools

Resolution #5: Circular knitting needles stored in The Circular Solution — I don’t love every single one of these needles. It’s time for some to find a new home.

I have a lot of crochet hooks, and even more knitting needles. I have tape measures in every drawer and project bag.

However, some of those tools aren’t the greatest. Needles may have blunt tips or sticky finishes that I find annoying. A few circular needles have a catchy cable-to-needle join. Certain brands of crochet hooks don’t fit my hand and make crocheting awkward and uncomfortable. A couple of those tape measures are surely stretched out and faded.

Some of these items should be discarded entirely, while others would be perfect for another crafter. Why am I keeping these tools?

I resolve to use only tools that make my crafting more enjoyable.

Resolution #6: Practice Safe Crafting

Resolution #6: Knitting Comfortably cover

If I want to keep knitting and crocheting for years to come, I need to take care of my body. This means avoiding repetitive stress injury, getting up and moving instead of sitting at my computer and behind my needles/hook. It means getting sufficient full-body exercise. It means using a body-friendly bag when I go to teaching gigs, fiber shows and shopping sprees. It means paying attention to proper lighting, keeping my yarn and electrical cords out from underfoot, and more.

These are not new resolutions to me, but it helps to remind myself of them. One of my go-to resources for reminding myself of these things is Carson Demers’ excellent book Knitting Comfortably. (Read my interview with Carson.)

I resolve to pay attention to crafting ergonomics this year.

Final Thoughts

Of course, I could make more traditional goals that would make me more organized, tidier, and maybe even more financially responsible. But I probably wouldn’t keep them, and that failure would just make me feel bad.

I’m content with the way things are, and these goals fit into my lifestyle this year. If they don’t fit into yours, that’s fine. Perhaps you need to save money and thus should use stash yarn all year. Maybe an untidy crafting spaces gives you the creeps, or UFOs make you nervous. Perhaps your living space doesn’t allow for more yarn.

Embrace what works for you, and set your goals accordingly. This fiber-crafting thing is supposed to be fun and relaxing. Make it so.

What about you? What are your goals for the New Year?
Share in the Comments below.

October 11, 2019October 10, 2019

Review: knitCompanion

Knitting may seem like a low-tech craft, but modern technology can help us enjoy it more. The knitCompanion app adds functionality to pdf patterns that the printed page can’t match.

I was given an app subscription in exchange for my review, but all opinions here are my own. This post may contain affiliate links.

What Does knitCompanion Do?

knitCompanion is a powerful pattern tracking app for iOS and Android. It allows you to keep track of where you are in a written pattern with digital markers, counters and highlighters. It is especially helpful for following knitting charts. If you are used to using highlighter tape, magnet bars and/or tick marks to keep track of where you are in a pattern, knitCompanion will take their place.

What Patterns Work with knitCompanion?

Any pattern at all! If the pattern isn’t in pdf form, the knitCompanion website explains how to get it into the proper format.

From the app, you can link directly to patterns in your Ravelry library or Dropbox. You’ll need to set up the pdf in the app to get the full benefit of what it can do, but there are plenty of tutorials to show you how to set it up.

For my review, I chose to use a kCDesign. kCDesigns are patterns that are already formatted for use in knitCompanion. In that way, I avoided the setup and was able to get right to my knitting. (A note to my designer friends: You can transform your patterns into a kCDesign for no fee with Create2Thrive!)

Knitting with knitCompanion

Edie knitting in Provence — Knitting in Provence

Purchase and installation was a breeze on my iPhone. I loaded up a kCDesigns sock pattern just before a two-week trip abroad. I find sock knitting to be perfect vacation knitting, because it allows me to travel light but still have a project stuck in my backpack.

The sock pattern was written for four sizes. I chose the middle one and found to my delight that my chosen size was highlighted in yellow throughout the pattern — automagically! I loved that I could zoom in on the pattern to make the text easier to read during my red-eye flight, and that it kept track of where I had left off every time I hurriedly stowed my sock away.

Unfortunately for the purposes of testing the app, I quickly learned the lace stitch pattern. I’m so familiar with socks that I started working on auto-pilot and forgot to advance my markers. I forgot to follow the pattern for huge sections, and only went back to it when I reached a milestone, like the heel.

knitCompanion didn’t blink. I just advanced the pattern to the next section and kept going. My sock turned out fine, but vacation ended before I finished the second one. It’s waiting, halfway finished, until my next vacation.

Features

knitCompanion has more features than I can name here. Explore the website to see them all! The ones I found most intriguing were:

Highlighter-allows you to highlight anything on a page
Sliding row and stitch (column) markers on every page
Linked Counters- allow you keep track of several things at once, like neck and armhole shaping
Magic Markers-allow you to color code different types of stitches in a chart
Notes-allow you to make notes about anything, so you can write where you changed something
Video links-allow you to embed video links as how-to reminders

There are three levels of knitCompanion. kCBasics is free and offers basic features. Essentials adds additional tools, including the Notes and Highlighter features that I mentioned above. Setup + Essentials allows you to set up a pattern the way you want it, including cropping and combining charts. I didn’t even try that part, but it looks amazingly powerful and useful to a certain segment of knitters.

Pros & Cons

Let me start with the cons. There is a lot to learn, and you have to work a bit. You’ll spend quite a bit of time watching video tutorials and experimenting with the app to learn all the features. If you don’t like learning through videos, you’ll just have to deal with it.

I tend to be a read-my-knitting knitter rather than a read-my-pattern knitter. I learn the stitch pattern and understand the shaping, and only refer to the pattern now and again when I reach a milestone. I’m usually not following complex lace charts. I seldom use highlighting aids and I’m very good at reading my work to see where I am in the pattern. That made knitCompanion of limited use to me on the pattern I chose to follow as a test. I probably wouldn’t use the app for most of the types of knitting that I do.

One more tiny whine: I wish that it supported crochet charts as well as it does knit charts, but that’s not really a “con”. It’s called knitCompanion, after all.

Now to the pros, and there are many. This is a very powerful app that does many useful things. Let me repeat: Many. Useful. Things. Once you start delving into the features, you’ll see that it’s like having a very smart friend holding your hand along your knitting journey, and reminding you when you need to do something.

If you do lots of chart work — lace or cables especially — you’ll find knitCompanion an essential tool. I plan to try it on a complex cable next. I expect to be wow’d.

The support offered in the app, on the website, and through the support ticket system is phenomenal. It’s probably the best that I’ve ever seen for an app. Add to that the very active Facebook group of knitCompanion fans, and you have all the help you’d ever need in figuring out how to make knitCompanion work for you.

To learn more about knitCompanion, check out the website.

To learn about alternatives to traditional knitting charts, read Navigating Knit Stitches with Stitch Maps.

August 15, 2019June 12, 2020

Join-As-You-Go Crochet with Flat Join

Two granny squares joined with flat join using join-as-you-go

Using a join-as-you-go method to join crochet motifs is a great way to save time and effort.

With join-as-you-go, you don’t have any seaming to do at the end of the project, because you have joined all your individual pieces as your work. The flat join method of join-as-you-go gives a particularly beautiful and smooth connection.

Flat joins can be worked into chain spaces or into the top of stitches. With granny squares, the joins are usually worked into the chain-spaces.

Follow these step-by-step instructions, or scroll down to the bottom of the post for a video explanation.

This post contains affiliate links which don’t cost you anything but may provide a small income to me. The yarn pictured is Red Heart Chic Sheep by Marly Bird.

Join-As-You-Go Granny Square

We’ll be joining a classic granny square that has chain-2 corners and chain-1 side spaces. My sample square has three rounds.

Begin by working the entire first square. Weave in the ends.

Crochet the second square, stopping before you work the last round.

Two granny squares: one complete and one incomplete

Begin working the last round of the second square, stopping when you get to the half-way point of a corner. In other words, stop after “3 dc in corner space, ch 1”.

Flat Join Join-As-You-Go

To work a flat join, draw up the loop on the hook until it is a bit longer than usual, then take the hook out of the loop. This is known as “dropping the loop”.

flat join, step 1: Insert hook from RS to WS into first square

Pick up the first square with the right side facing. Insert the hook from right side to wrong side (from front to back) through a corner chain-2 space.

flat join, step 2: Pick up dropped loop and pull it through

Pick up the dropped loop with your hook and draw it through to the right side of the first square.

Flat join, step 3: Continue on current square

Continue working on current square: ch 1, 3 dc in same space.

Continue working flat joins in the chain-1 spaces along this side, while working (3 dc, ch 1) in each ch-1 space of the current square. The last flat join will be in the chain-2 corner space.

Completing the Square

Once the squares are joined all along their sides, keep working along the remaining sides of the current square to complete the round.

Learn More About Join-As-You-Go

Join-as-you-go is such a time- and effort-saving technique! There’s a lot more to learn about this topic. If you want to make your crocheting life happier, check out my books and pattern page.

June 3, 2019July 24, 2019

Fernandina Beach Bag Crochet Pattern

The Fernandina Beach Bag is a summer tote you can crochet yourself. Bright and breezy, it will carry your summer essentials in style.

A solid single crochet base worked in the round is topped by colorful mesh stripes. A bit of fringe adds whimsy—add more or less according to your taste.

This post contains affiliate links, which don’t cost you anything, but may provide a small income to me.

The Yarn

I used Universal Yarn Yashi, a 100% raffia tape. The raffia provides a bit of structure, but you may choose to line the bag with fabric, as well.

The bright colors are perfect for the summer, while the black hides any dirt on the handle and base of the bag.

The Pattern

It’s easy crochet: you’ll use single crochet, double crochet and slip stitch.. There are no seams at all; it’s entirely one piece. Crocheters just beyond the beginner level should find this bag within their ability.

Text instructions and stitch pattern chart are provided, as well as a couple of assembly diagrams to aid in understanding. American crochet terminology is used throughout.

A Bonus

River Heights Shawl worn around shoulders

This bag pairs perfectly with my River Heights Shawl. Crochet both and wear the shawl over a little black dress for a perfect ensemble!

May 7, 2019July 24, 2019

How to Wind Yarn with a Yarn Swift and Ball Winder

Skeins or hanks of yarn must be wound into balls before you can use them. The easiest way to wind a skein of yarn is to use a yarn swift and yarn winder. These tools help you wind the yarn into a center-pull ball that sits nice and flat while you work. Center-pull balls won’t jump down and roll around the floor as you work!

The following instructions assume you have both a swift and a winder. You don’t have to have both, but it does make things easier.

This post contains affiliate links, which may provide a small income to me but don’t cost you anything extra.

How to Use a Yarn Swift

A yarn swift holds the opened-out hank of yarn while you wind it. The yarn photographed below is Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock.

Stanwood Needlecraft Tabletop Amish Style Wooden Yarn Swift

Yarn swifts come in many different styles. Some clamp to a tabletop or counter; some sit on a table. They may be metal or wood. Some open and close like an umbrella, while others have pegs that can be adjusted for the diameter of your yarn hank.

Depending on the type of swift you have, begin by clamping your swift securely onto the tabletop or placing it on a sturdy surface. Make sure there is plenty of room for the swift to rotate without hitting anything. Remember that in the case of an umbrella swift, you’ll be opening it up to a wider diameter once the skein is in place.

Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock skein with label removed

If the yarn band is wrapped around the entire skein, pull it off and set it aside. If it is tied to the skein, leave it in place for the moment.

Your yarn came in a gently twisted skein, with one end tucked inside the other. Untuck that end and allow the skein to untwist into a circle. There are two or more smaller pieces of yarn tied around the hank to keep the strands in place. Don’t cut these yet!

Place the circle of yarn onto the swift and adjust the swift to the desired diameter. The yarn should be held securely but not be stretched in any way.

Now you can find the yarn ties that hold the skein. Carefully cut one of these ties next to the knot. Release the strand; it probably goes in a figure-8 around the hank. You may have uncovered one or both ends of the yarn skein or you may have simply discovered a shorter piece of yarn. Cut the remaining ties in the same manner. If the yarn label was tied to the skein, it should have been released and removed when you cut the ties.

At this point you should have found both ends of the yarn. Pull one end gently; it should start to unwind from the swift without much effort.

If you find that it is getting tangled and not unwinding smoothly, stop and make adjustments to the skein. See the video below for more explanation.

How to Use a Ball Winder

Yarn winders do the work of winding the yarn into a center-pull ball. They clamp onto the table surface and have a center spool that holds the yarn. You thread the yarn through one or more yarn guides that place the yarn in the right position to roll onto the spool. Most yarn winders are hand-cranked, allowing you to control the speed. There are, however, electric yarn winders on the market.

The brand of yarn winder pictured here is no longer made (as far as I can tell), but there are plenty of similar ones available. Check out the links below for options.

Secure the yarn winder onto the work surface. I’ve found that it’s best to leave about 18-24” [46-61 cm] between the yarn winder and the outer edge of the swift, if you have the space.

Thread the yarn end through the feeder eyes on the winder and insert it into the slot at the top of the spool. The exact path of the yarn may vary; check the instructions that came with your yarn winder for specifics.

Begin turning the handle of the yarn winder slowly. The yarn should begin to wrap around the spool. Place your finger on the yarn end for the first couple of rotations to make sure it stays in place. Once you see that the yarn is coming off the swift and onto the spool without a problem, you can increase the cranking speed. Don’t try to go as fast as you possibly can, but aim for a nice steady rhythm. I like to place my hand between the swift and the winder and allow the yarn to run through my fingers. That way, I can stop winding if I feel a knot or unexpected slub in the yarn.

When all the yarn is off the swift, stop cranking. Place your thumbs on the top of the spool and use your other fingers to lift the yarn off the spool. The center of your yarn ball may collapse and close the hole where the spool was, but the yarn tail should still be visible.

You are ready to use the yarn! Simply put your lovely new yarn cake on the table and pull the yarn tail from the center.

Watch the video to see me wind yarn using both the small winder pictured in this post and a jumbo winder.

April 4, 2019April 4, 2019

Body Measurement Basics with Lindsey Stephens

In order to design garments, you must know something about body measurements. Many new knit and crochet designers struggle with understanding body measurements, especially for body types that are different from their own.

This post contains affiliate links, which may provide a small income to be but don’t cost you anything extra.

My colleague Lindsey Stephens realized that this struggle is real, and has written Body Basics, an e-book to help designers understand more about body measurements. See what Lindsey has to say about Body Basics. And if you decide you want to buy it, use coupon code Edie1 for $1 off the purchase price.

What made you decide to write Body Basics?

I initially sat down to write a booklet on grading, or the process of changing one pattern in one size to multiple sizes. The more I thought about it, though, I realized that the reason so many people have difficulty with grading is because they’re missing a fundamental bit of knowledge. They don’t understand all the body measurements that come in to play when designing a garment.

If you understand the body measurements, and how to turn those body measurements into garment measurements, then not only will your designs look better and fit better, but you’ll have a much easier time when you do decide to tackle grading.

Who needs to read Body Basics?

Anyone who wants to design a garment to fit a human body. Especially if you want it to fit a specific human or specific measurements.

In your opinion, what is the #1 mistake that novice designers make when designing garments?

Cross back

Crossback and Armscye. Those are the two measurements that the majority of beginning designers don’t take into account. Many of them don’t even realize they exist. However, these measurements are critical to a good fit and to determining the silhouette of the garment.

How will understanding the concepts in the book streamline the design process?

Armscye

This book isn’t about streamlining. It isn’t about doing things faster and quicker. It’s about doing a deep dive to gain the critical knowledge and understanding to do the job well. Once you have that understanding, then yes, you’ll find that not only the quality of your design work will be better but you will be able to do the design math more efficiently.

Why can’t I just design a garment in one size and let my tech editor calculate all the other sizes?

You totally can just hire a tech editor. And you will be better able to judge the tech editor’s quality of work if you know what they’re actually doing. I’m a big fan of doing something yourself at least a couple of times before you farm it out. It makes you a wiser and more knowledgeable buyer and employer.

I personally prefer to do my own grading and then have my tech editor double-check the pattern. Why? Because there are design decisions that have to be made as part of the grading process. Should the cable be the same for all sizes? Should the button band be wider for plus sizes? Is the goal to make the waist shaping happen in 4 distinct locations around the body or just evenly around? There are no right or wrong answers, but deciding these things is part of the process of design.

After I’ve read Body Basics, what should my next step be in learning more about design?

The next step after reading Body Basics is to design a garment based off the new information you’ve learned. That’s why every Body Basics purchase includes my free Schematics Templates pdf. This is an additional pdf of over 40 blank schematics. Use these as a launching point to start your new designs. (Don’t forget to use coupon code Edie1 to get $5 off the purchase price.)

About Lindsey

Lindsey Stephens is a near-fearless crafter with a passion for making things. She spends her time crafting 24/6 (no crafting on Shabbos*). Lindsey shares her crafting expertise with her followers, who love her signature wit and humor. Lindsey also works as a technical editor for crochet and knit patterns, as a website manager, and is a mom of two. Read about her latest intrepid crafting adventures on her blog.

*Shabbos, also known as Shabbat: The Jewish Sabbath observed from sundown Friday to nightfall Saturday

To learn more about designing for knit and crochet, check out my Knit & Crochet Design Resources.