Designer Knitting Tips - Part One

Discovering a new tip can make a world of difference to your knitting. It is from these additional snippets of knowledge that we can continually add to our knitting repertoire. I feel like there is always something new to be learnt when knitting and crocheting for that matter. It is a constant journey of exploration.

We asked a group of knitting designers and magazine editors to each share a handy kniting tip for knitters and also the knitting tool they can't knit without. If you have a tip that you would like to share please leave a comment on the blog post.

Kaffe Fassett


"If you are working with colour, either yarn or fabric start with lots and lots of colour and then take out ones that don't sit well, until your palette glows with life.
I wouldn't be without scissors or a roller blade - I am constantly cutting threads, fabric and paper as I work."

Debbie Bliss


"Work garter stitch around the edges of your tension swatches, that way they don't curl and work them over at least 13cm square. I couldn't live without my tape measure as I'm always measuring tension, garments or working out the measurements for a new design."

Debbie Abrahams


"Read all the way through your pattern before starting to knit so that you are familiar with instructions. Note the construction, any special abbreviations or pattern notes and measurements. It could save you so much time later on if you know what you are doing from the beginning!
My best knitting tool is my mattress stitch needle. It is a Chibi and has a slightly bent end - perfect for all my sewing up!"

Louisa Harding


"Cast off knitwise on the wrong side because it stops your fabric rolling. Also, when you get to the end of casting off, knit the last 2 stitches together and then cast off the last one. This stops it going off to a point."

Jane Crowfoot


Knitting Tip
Neatening up the side edge:
"Try to avoid slipping the first stitch on the row unless the pattern tells you to do it. Many knitters slip their first stitch in order to neaten up the side edges of their knitting - however slipping a stitch can make the gap between the first and second stitch more prominent when sewing up and can cause problems particularly when picking up around the neckline. If you want to neaten up your edge stitches, knit all the stitches on the knit rows as usual and knit the first and last stitches on the purl row to create a garter stitch edge. The slightly bobbly edge that is created by the garter stitch also gives you a clear indication of where to sew up."


Crochet tip
Changing yarn shade:
"When you change colour in crochet, especially when working in the round, it is quite common to see a loop of yarn from the previous row or round poking up into the next row or round - this can look quite messy.
To avoid getting this odd loop of yarn it is a good idea to change yarn shade on the last step of the stitch before the yarn is needed. Regardless of what stitch you are working, you complete the stitch before the colour change through to the last step so that 2 loops of yarn remain on the hook - draw the new yarn shade through at this point so that the yarn shade on your hook is your new colour."

Part two to follow next week.........