5 Things BEGINNER KNITTERS DON'T DO That Experienced Knitters DO

today i want to talk to you about five things that beginner knitters don't do that experience knitters do do it takes a little bit of time and some missteps along the way to become a really good knitter the good news is that journey is really fun but with this list i'm hoping if you're a newer knitter i might be able to impart a little bit of knowledge that helps you along that journey and helps you avoid some of those missteps and if you're a more experienced knitter i'm hoping that this list will be fun to listen to as you look back on how you learn some of the lessons that i'm going to talk about but wherever you are on your knitting journey i hope you'll stick around to the end because i'm going to tell you how you can win a complete set of chao gu's four inch interchangeable needles these are amazing bamboo needles that are great for both experienced and beginner knitters and you're going to definitely want to know how to get a chance to win these needles so don't go anywhere hey welcome or welcome back to drowning in yarn i'm caleb and i'm so excited to share these five things that beginner knitters don't do that experience knitters do do but before we get to that list be sure to hit that little like button while you're watching if you're getting some value out of the video and if you haven't already and you'd like to stick around to see more knitting related videos like this one then hit that subscribe button and the bell next to it to get notifications when i post new content so this past weekend brian and i went to our local yarn store knit one chicago for the first time in like a year they opened back up to the public and we went just to shop and have a look around i was so inspired by a lot of the things i saw and i took a lot of footage and i'm gonna share some of that footage with you today while i run through this list in the hopes that maybe some of it will inspire you so i hope you enjoy that footage leave a comment down below let me know what you think of the yarn store if you're watching and have questions about what i'm talking about leave those in the comments down below as well but let's jump into this list and the first item on the list is swatching and specifically swatching for more than just gauge swatching for more than gauge is something that i didn't do when i first started out that i do now and i think it makes all of the difference so what i'm talking about is using your swatch to get as much information as you can about your yarn and your pattern and your project before you start a swatch isn't magic and it can lie to you sometimes but it will allow you to go into your project with so much more information than you would have had otherwise some things that i look at whenever i'm swatching is how does my yarn feel at this gauge in this pattern what does my pattern look like in this color of yarn or this texture of yarn i'm currently doing a cabled cardigan in a darker colored yarn that's also heathered and i was concerned that the stitch pattern wasn't going to have really great definition with this yarn so i used my swatch as an opportunity not only to find my gauge but to find out how did this yarn drape how does this yarn look in this stitch pattern is the stitch pattern still recognizable in the yarn these are things that if you just jump into your project with your yarn you're going to have to find out along the way and it might be too late you might not want to rip it back so use a swatch as an opportunity to find out before you start the project what that project is going to look like but don't rely on those things as if they're like immutable properties because once you knit it into a larger garment some of that's going to change but just use it as an opportunity to gain a little bit more confidence as you go in and to make a little bit more informed decisions as you start your project and you'll be amazed at the difference it makes with your project planning one thing that you'll want to keep in mind when you're swatching is to block your swatch treat your swatch like you're going to treat your final project and that's going to give you the most accurate information and this is going to lead me to the second item on the list which is blocking blocking is something that experience knitters know can work wonders but new knitters sometimes don't have that same experience to let them know not to worry too much until you block your project i know that's how i was when i first started knitting i didn't necessarily block anything and some of the tension issues that blocking can even out were huge deals to me because i didn't know that those things were normal and those things could be fixed by a little bit of blocking sometimes so if you're not really familiar with blocking what it is at its most basic is getting your project wet like submerging it in water pressing the water out never ringing never this motion always pressing rolling it in some towels squeeze out all the water and then laying it out to dry there are different types of blocking that is the most basic description and i'll leave some links down below to more resources about blocking but at its most basic that's what it is so when you're working with animal fibers or natural fibers blocking can allow your stitches to sort of redistribute themselves a little bit it can allow your yarn to bloom take on its final drape and to relax into your stitches so that your finished project just looks more complete and neat and a little bit nicer i don't know how this is going to work with acrylic yarns i've never tried it so your mileage may vary i'll leave some information about that below as well i don't block everything there are some hats that i don't block or if i had mittens i may not block them because they'll sort of block themselves as you wear them but when you're knitting garments blocking is always a great option particularly if you notice a little bit of wonkiness in your stitches so the number three item on my list is having multiple whips or works in progress going on at one time i know even some beginner knitters do this but in my experience it is a lot more freeing as an experience knitter than as a beginner knitter i think beginner knitters have this tendency to kind of dig into their projects and to like really push themselves to finish something even if it's stressing them out which happens a lot more when you're not quite sure what you're doing sometimes whereas experience knitters know that if a project is stressing you out put it down take really great notes on your pattern so whenever you do pick it back up you can get started again and not feel lost and pick up something that is a little bit more fun right now this is a hobby that's supposed to be fun and having multiple whips going at one time can help you to have a little bit more fun because a really difficult really involved pattern isn't always going to be right for every situation and there are going to be times where it's just gonna stress you out so pick up that vanilla sock you also cast on or that hat you also cast on or that fourth or fifth cast on that you have and make a little bit of progress on that so that you feel like you're completing something without feeling like you're having to force yourself to do it i think having a lot of whips or a few whips in my case over three i start to get stressed out i know some people have like 10 or 15 which is something that you'll discover as you knit more you'll figure out that number that's just right and that number that's too much but pick up one of those projects and work on that other thing while the last project you were working on is just not doing it for you and you will enjoy your knitting so much more so number four on the list is learning about your yarn and learning about what it's good for and what it's not good for not every yarn goes with every pattern and not every pattern can just work with any yarn that you decide for instance wool and cotton are not necessarily interchangeable because wool has a lot of elasticity whereas cotton doesn't have much at all so the drape and the way the yarn works in a pattern is going to be different so make sure you take the time to learn about your materials how does this particular yarn like to be knit up what are the things that you need to keep in mind while you're working with it and pick patterns and yarns that work well together and it's going to make knitting so much more enjoyable and a lot easier a lot of people don't necessarily know where to go to look for this information there are so much information available online you can just google about the type of fiber that you're going to work with one resource i love to use if you can is ravelry you can look up the yarn that you're planning to use or yarns with similar fiber contents and see what the comments that people left are even reach out to people i love to send messages to people if i know that they use something if they did a pattern that i like and ask them about their experience if you're complimenting people they will be more than happy to talk about it because they're proud of what they did so reach out go to ravelry go to google and learn about your fibers and you're gonna have so much more fun knitting and you're gonna have a lot more successful projects when you match up the right yarn and the right fiber to the right pattern the last item on my list is having the right tools for the job i'm going to talk about knitting needles and how you can win the chao gu twist interchangeable needle set in just a moment but first i'm going to talk about all the other little things that you need to have around so stick around if you want to learn how to win the needles but first let's chat about knitting notions i love to have a pouch of all the things that i need to use in my knitting projects the things that i think are most important to keep in there are a small pair of scissors a stitch fixer or a crochet hook for whenever you drop stitches that you can't just fix with your knitting needles i like to keep a little bit of waste yarn a lot of stitch markers and a ruler or a measuring tape if you throw all these things into a little pouch and keep them in your project bag you will have everything that you need for most projects but the needles are something that you don't always have what you need if you don't have an interchangeable set a lot of knitters use interchangeable needle sets because it can help ensure that you have the needles that you need whenever you're starting a project if you take a lot of that stress out of starting a project of needing to find things to get started it makes that casting on so much more fun because you know you're prepared and an interchangeable needle set helps with that i personally use chao gu red lace interchangeable needles they're stainless steel needles but i also have a set of these chao gu bamboo needles that chao gu sent to me and they sent me this second set that i can give to one of you they're four inch interchangeable needles made of bamboo which is a perfect material for beginner knitters or experienced knitters because not every fiber likes to work with the metal needle sometimes you need that little bit of extra control that the grippiness of wood or specifically bamboo in this case can provide to you so for beginners this is awesome because you don't have the same control over your stitches or you don't feel like you have the same control over your stitches so having that little bit of extra grippiness can provide you with that sense of like security with your stitches that they're not going to go anywhere so this set is perfect for beginner knitters it features the ability to twist where the needle meets the cable so you don't end up with cables that are all twisted up because the needles can sort of move freely my only criticism with the needles is that if you're a really tight knitter this joint may be a little bit difficult to slide your stitches over but i think it's still a really wonderful set to get started with and i've used these to success in my projects they remind me of my first set of needles that i had it was a different brand of bamboo needles and so using these kind of takes me back to those early days of knitting i think they're well made they're beautiful needles they come in this really nice case and they have everything you need to get started the needles come in a u.s size 2 a 2.75 millimeter up to a us-15 a 10 millimeter and they're four inches so they're going to be perfect for any project that's about 16 inches in circumference on up so you can do hats up to your largest sweater sizes inside this case that holds all of your needles and keeps everything where you want it there's also some cable joiners so you can connect cables for longer circumferences there's some stitch markers it will make sure that you have everything you need for any project you want to do so if you want a chance to win this chalgu twist interchangeable needle set go down below in the comments and tell me what is the first pattern that you would make if you won these needles i would love to discover some new patterns and i think this is a great way for us all to share things that we're looking forward to making all the rules for this giveaway are in the description box down below along with relevant links from the things we talked about today have a look at those leave your comments in the comments down below hit that like button if you haven't already and hit the subscribe button and the bell next to it if you want to get notifications when i post new content thanks for joining me today and sticking around while i talked about these five things that beginner knitters don't do that experience knitters do do i look forward to chatting with you in the next video so until then enjoy your knitting

Channel: Drowning in Yarn

Views: 204,748

Rating: 4.9298615 out of 5

Keywords: beginner knitters, knitting needles, new knitters, beginner knitter, tips for beginner knitters, tips for new knitters, knitting tips, chiaogoo, chiaogoo interchangeable needles review, chiaogoo knitting needles, chiaogoo interchangeable needles, chiaogoo spin interchangeable knitting needle set, knitting for beginners, knitting podcast, knitting, knitter, knitting needle, knitting needles for beginners

Id: nIWK1IQaZTw

Length: 12min 15sec (735 seconds)

Published: Sat Jun 05 2021