Girlfriends Knitting

7 Books for Learning How to Knit There has been a resurgence of crafts and learning how to make things ever since the pandemic locked us in our houses for over a year in 2020. One of those crafts is my personal favorite - knitting. I have spent over a decade teaching people to knit and spreading the love of all things fiber arts and now, it seems everyone knits, or wants to! I have searched the interwebs and have found seven books that I believe will help you learn my favorite craft. But let's get our crafts straight first. Every time I am knitting in public, I inevitably run across someone who says, "Oh, my grandma crochets." I usually respond with, "Mine did, too, and taught me how as well. But this is knitting." At that point I usually get a confused look and a quick end to the conversation. Your average non-fiber artists do not know the difference between knitting and crocheting. There are many examples in movies and television, as well as advertising, wher...

How do you decrease in knitting?  K2tog and SSK explained  When you first learn to knit, you start off with simple straight lines, back and forth. You learn to knit and then to purl. You learn that combining knit and purl stitches can create ribbing. But eventually most of us get bored with various sized rectangular items. There are only so many scarfs, dishcloths, and blankets one can make. If you want to learn how to create sweaters or hats or socks, you will have to learn how to shape garments by increasing and decreasing the number of stitches. A decrease is when you combine two or more stitches, thus reducing the total number of stitches you have. When shaping items, such as the top of a hat, you have to combine decreases to have the desired effect. In fact, there are many different types of decreases to further customize the look a pattern designer wants to achieve. In this article, we will look at two basic decreases. If you are a seasoned knitter, there will be very fa...