Easter knitting instructions: Have you checked out these free knitting patterns?

The past few months, I’ve been knitting more socks.

Including my latest one:

Knitting socks includes using various knitting techniques — and different sock knitting instructions. My own adaptions, of course.

Sock knitting does lead to odds and ends of sock yarn. Too small for a large project. I just can’t bring myself to toss out perfectly good yarn. Even if it is only an ounce or less.

Periodically, I look for ways to use my stash of leftover yarn.

After a long cold winter, when the colors outside are mostly browns and grays it’s nice to pull out some colorful yarn. And spring seems the perfect time to declutter, doesn’t it?

Recently I looked at my yarn, trying to decide what to do with leftover sock yarn.

For inspiration, I checked out free Easter knitting patterns online.

The result? My article describing free online Easter knitting patterns.

I found patterns where most of the knitting instructions are for beginners or intermediate knitters.

So what are some of the advantages of knitting your own Easter basket?

• Using your stash. Always a plus, whether you’re de-cluttering or saving money. Or both!
• Saving money by making items that can be saved and reused next year. Rather than tossed in a landfill. Plus, if you’re using your own stash, you’re also saving money by not buying more yarn. At least not for this project.
• Knitting a keepsake: making happy memories now that can be relived in years to come, whenever the eggs or birds or basket are used.
• Knitting a small project can give you a break from larger or more intricate ones.
• It’s fun and colorful!

And you don’t have to knit the whole basket at once. It could be adding one or two handmade items each year can grow the basket until its completion.

Of course, you could knit an egg tree if you’re so inclined:

My preference was to start off smaller:

Happy Easter!

And happy knitting!

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Beyond the knitting instructions: How important is yarn twist?

My current project is: knitting a purse.

It’s been challenging, because I’m making the pattern as I go.  Always an adventure!

And because the yarn is, well, different.

It’s rayon spun into a lace weight yarn. However, the individual fibers of the yarn slide past each other instead of staying in a twist. Plus, as I knit, they untwist.

Which means the individual fibers tend to separate. Instead of staying twisted and knitting nicely, the individual strands tend to loosen. So I don’t always catch them as I’m knitting the stitch.

When I do find them, it can be several rows later. And involve some frogging!

I am grateful I know how a lace lifeline adds to the knitting instructions.

The direction yarn is spun is is called the twist.  There’s an S-twist and a Z-twist:

The S and Z come from the slant of the yarn. S-twist, like the slant in the letter “S” slants from upper left to lower right. Z-twist, like “Z” slants from upper right to lower left.

How do you get an S-twist or a Z-twist? It depends upon whether you spin the yarn clockwise (Z-twist) or counterclockwise (S-twist).

Sometimes yarn will stay twisted if you switch from knitting with holding the yarn in your left hand to holding it your right.  Another reason to learn both ways of knitting! In this case, it doesn’t matter: the rayon yarn still unravels.

Knitter’s Tip: If you find certain yarn untwists as you knit, try knitting it by carrying the yarn in your other hand. KnittingHelp.com has video knitting instructions for the continental method (also known as the German method or pick method) and English method (American method , throw method). If that doesn’t help, sometimes the yarn can be crocheted. Crocheting may use the twist in the opposite direction.

So how important is twist and ply?

• The direction of the twist can determine if the yarn twist tightens or loosens as you knit. This can make your knitting harder or easier.
• Plying the yarn makes it thicker and stronger. Plying is taking the single plies and spinning them in the opposite direction. So, a yarn of two S-twist singles is usually plied into a 2-ply Z-twist.

And, yes it can be confusing when you first think about it. It’s second nature to spinners, though. And many knitters do eventually decide to spin their own yarns.

Have questions about spinning? This book covers spinners frequently asked questions. Whether you approach spinning as an art or a science, this book has answers. Click here to buy now!

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Kool-Aid and Food Coloring Adventures

I used Kool Aid and food coloring for a nontoxic dye, and am happy with the results:

A neat little yarn tip

When you buy enough yarn to finish a project, there’s often some left over.

The alternative, however, is to not have enough yarn.  Which can be even more frustrating … especially if you’re trying to match dye lots.  Or, if you’re blessed with hand-dyed, maybe there is no more of that dye lot.

After a project, sometimes there’s just not enough of a ball left to hold its shape.  Leaving it unwound invites all kinds of tangled messes before you can use it.

For years, I rewound yarn the way I was taught as a child.  You may have been taught the same way: wind around three or four fingers, and then slip it off and wind a ball.  You’ve probably noticed the problem with this method: when using the yarn from the center, the center tends to pop out in a clump, sometimes with more yarn than you want … and sometimes with a tendency to tangle.

Of course, a ball winder will alleviate this problem: sometimes though it’s not convenient or in the budget.  My sister, who spins, has a short dowel she uses to wind her yarn.  She makes lovely yarn balls with it.

However, I keep forgetting to look for a dowel in my infrequent trips to the hardware store.  So, I decided to improvise.

With a pencil!

Here’s the technique:

First, you wind a strand down and around the bottom.  Since this is a small ball of yarn, I didn’t use the whole length of the pencil.

Wind horizontally next …

Then just wind your ball …

The yarn will slip off the pencil (or dowel), with the center loose enough to easily use.

The pencil was fine for small balls of yarn, but I needed something larger for bigger balls …

Next I tried a highlighter. Checking first to be sure it wasn’t leaking!

Not quite ideal because the diameter was larger than optimal, and it’s a bit difficult to pull off the highlighter.

A tapered end would work better, and the ball would slip off more easily. And, inspiration struck!

One of my size 15 tips from my Denise Knitting Needles from Alpaca Direct! It’s the right diameter — more or less — and its tapered ends make sliding the ball off smooth and easy. Instead of wrapping the yarn around the end of the needle tip, I just made a U shape to start, then wound the ball.

And voila …

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