KNITTING

Hallo readers, knitters, aspiring knitters and all positive thinkers out there, I hope you have had a great morning. Have you ever worn a knitted item, bought one for a friend or family member and with time you realized that your knitwear was either losing shape or increasing in size? Did you ever realize or find out the cause of this? If not this is an article for you to help you protect and care for your knitted items. So lets get started.

BEFORE KNITTING
Before knitting it is recommended that you do a gauge swatch for your intended pattern. This will enable you to know the number of stitches and rows to make per inch using a certain type of yarn and needles. The gauge will determine the size of your finished knitwear.
Some yarns come with free patterns and the pattern contains the instruction of how to gauge your project. After knitting the swatch, wash it, let it dry then take the measurements, if the swatch is bigger or smaller than what is required for the project, you can either use smaller or bigger needles/crotchet hook than the one you initially used. You may have to repeat the gauge swatch more than once to ensure that you get exactly the size of needles/crotchet hook to use.
When knitting items like sweaters, tops, laptop sleeves or phone cases it is recommended that you take the exact measurement of the person or item that you are knitting for, as these projects are unique to different individuals. Do not assume that what worked for a different laptop for example will work for another laptop, as laptops and phones differ in sizes and shapes.
For sweaters, tops and skirts you may knit them a few stitches smaller as they stretch when worn.
Ensure you read the instructions on the label of the yarn as it will give you some information on how to take care of any knitted item that is made from that particular type of yarn. It will tell you whether the yarn is machine washable or not, if it can be ironed or not and if its shrink proof or not among others.

WHEN KNITTING
After doing the gauge swatch you will have an idea of how many stitches to work per row and how many rows to work in general. It is advisable that as you build your project, stop and count the number of stitches you are doing per row to ensure that you do not skip any stitches along the way as this will alter the pattern, size and outcome of your project. Count the number of rows that you have worked to ensure that you have the desired number before you bind off.
For beginners you can use stitch markers to show you the beginning and the end of a row and also help you know where to put your stitches. Stitch markers can be personalized for example when I first started knitting I used yarn of contrasting colour to mark my stitches then I moved to bobby pins and eventually I learnt to work my stitches without any marker.
You can also use a tape measure to find out if you knitted the right size of knitwear especially if you took measurements for your project.

AFTER KNITTING
After completing a project it is advisable to block your knitted item. Blocking can be defined as the process of changing the shape or size of an item or returning it to its original dimensions by redistributing the knit weave. Blocking does not alter the pattern of your knits.
Items to be used for blocking include; straight pins, hangers and blocking mats among others.
Importance of blocking include:
giving shape to a knitted item
maintaining the shape of a knitted item.

WET BLOCKING
Fill a basin with lukewarm water, do not use hot water as its used for felting.
Use the required detergent preferably a liquid detergent.
Place your knitted item in water, lift and lower it gently but do not twist.
Empty the basin and gently press out excess water, be sure not to wring.
Fill the basin with clean water, place your knitted item back in and keep the item moving to rinse.
Squeeze out excess water without wringing.
Rinse a second time and a third if necessary to ensure that you get rid of all the detergent.
Lay the item flat on a dry towel, pat the top with a second dry towel to accelerate the drying process
lay it out to dry for thirty minutes or more and do not let it lay on a wet towel.
You can use straight pins to keep it laying firm.

STEAM BLOCKING
Steam blocking requires the use of an iron box.
Pin your knitted item to the desired dimensions making sure that the wrong side of the knit is facing up.
Wet a towel and wring out the excess water so that it becomes damp.
Place the damp towel on top of your knitted item
Set the iron box to its hottest point and press down gently.
Repeat this until the towel is dry then lay your knit out to dry.

N/B:
Never let your knitwear sit in water without agitating.
Undertake hand washing only when you have time to see the process to the end.
Wash one item at a time unless they are similar.
When taking knits for cleaning request that they may be measured and blocked. Incase of any previous custom blocking done to the knit let your cleaner know.
If your knit is multicolored let the cleaner know to ensure there is successful colour tracking.

STORING YOUR KNITS
Clean dirty knitwear before storing
Let it dry well before storing
Do not overcrowd your closet to enable your knitwear breathe
Keep away from moisture, dust and insects.
Fold your knits before storing them so as to maintain their shapes. This is important for seasonal or long-term storage
Use proper hangers for knits that are stored for a short term and avoid hanging heavy knits as they may suffer from the unequal distribution of its own weight
Do not store knits in polythene bags as they prevent the knits from breathing.
Use an ideal storage bag preferably with a zipper and a transparent window to allow contents to be seen without opening the bag.

REPAIRING YOUR KNITS
It is now quite certain that your knitwear may get a hole after using it for a long time do not think of disposing your knitwear. This is because the knitwear can be repaired. If you are not a knitter do not worry you can always look for a professional to fix it for you.
I sure hope that this article will benefit you in one way or another until next time have a successful day.

THOUGHT CONDITIONER
The fear of failure is the barrier to your success.

Good morning dear readers,knitters,aspiring knitters and to all positive thinkers out there.I am especially delighted to be writing this article today for I feel particularly happy this morning.I hope you are having a beautiful day and to all Kenyans,have a happy Madaraka day.
Today I would like to let you in on some of the knitting terms and abbreviations that are mostly used.This article will be beneficial for beginners,intermediate and advanced knitters as it will give you a general idea of interpreting the knitting patterns that you may come across and also help you when writing your patterns down.So let’s get started.

Terms and abbreviations
Stitch(es)– st(s)
Cast on- abbreviated as CO
When knitting using double pointed needles the first thing to do after making a slip knot is to cast on a required number of stitches on one of your needles and then use your other needle to create other stitches so as to build your work.
Knit- k
Purl- p
Round(s)- rnds(s)
Right side – RS
Wrong side- WS
Place marker- Pm
As if to purl- purlwise
As if to knit- knitwise
Slip- SL
Slip Stitch- Sl St
Slip Slip Knit- ssk
Pass slipped stitch over– psso
Together- tog
Through the back loop- tbl
Yarn Over- yo
Binding Off- BO
Main Colour- MC
Contrasting colour- CC
With yarn in the back- wyib
With yarn in the front- wyif
Knit into the row below– k1b/k_b
Purl into the row below- p1b/p_b
Knit two together through the back loop- k2togtbl
Chain using crotchet hook– ch
Pass next stitch over- pnso
Double pointed needles- dpn
Yarn forward over needle- yfon
Yarn forward around needle- yfrn
End of row– EOR
End of needle– EON

Position abbreviations
Remaining– rem
Beginning– beg
Alternate– alt
Continue– cont
Following- foll

When making cables
Left twist- LT
Right twist- RT
Cross two stitches to the right- C2R
Cross stitch to the left– C2L
Cross two purl left– C2PL
Cross two purl right– C2PR
Back cross– BC
Right cross– RC

When Making Increases
Make one stitch– M1
Make one away- M1A
Make one back– M1B
Make one front– M1F
Make one left– M1L
Make one right– M1R
Make one towards– M1T
Make bobble– MB
Make bobble number two– MB#2

Thought conditioner: Life is a stitch,make it.

Good evening beautiful people,I hope you are well.Today I would like to talk about saving money.You may be wondering why you need to save some doh for a hobby or leisure activity but I tell you that it is important to have some money kept so as to help you enjoy your leisure activity and even more to accomplish whatever project you choose to do during your leisure time.There are more than one reasons for an individual to save money,a few reasons maybe:-
To buy materials needed to accomplish a knitting project that you are planning to do.
For one to start knitting anything at all, there are items/materials that you MUST have.These include; knitting needles or crotchet hook(depending on the pattern that you are planning to knit), yarn of your choice (remember the size of your needles/crotchet hook determine the size of your yarn), a stitch maker(esp for beginners), a measuring tape, a tapestry needle(to weave in your loose ends) and a pair of scissors.
These materials need to be bought first by any beginner and that’s why you may need to have some savings to help you purchase these materials that are a must for any knitting project

Buttons,buckles,hooks and zippers are not materials to be used in every project but an individual can use them to accessories knitted bags,tops,sweaters and even scarfs.
Other reasons for saving money may be:-
For emergencies e.g sickness
For luxuries e.g to buy a phone
For a better future e.g fulfill future plans

HOW TO SAVE
For those without a permanent job you may choose to save the daily or weekly leftovers in form of coins.This form of saving may take longer for one to reach their target but the good news is you only need a little patience to get you there.
You may put the money in an air tight container with a small opening at the top to allow you put in your coins but not remove them.Most of such containers are usually destroyed when removing the savings from the container at the end of the time you set for yourself to save.This means that you should plan and save early enough before you embark on a certain project.

For those having a permanent job or with a regular source of income,plan on saving a certain minimum amount monthly and save it.Therefore make sure you know your monthly income, your monthly expenses, your monthly balance and how much you can save from your balance.

WHERE TO SAVE
You can save on your phone.For those in Kenya you can save on Mpesa,Mshwari and other mobile platforms.
These platforms allow you to save and control your money on your phone for a certain period of time.
You can have a lock savings account where you lock your money for a certain amount of time or a target savings account where you save until you reach a certain target.

You can save in the bank.We have a number of banks to choose from and I would recommend that savings for long term projects should be kept in the bank.You should ensure that the bank you choose has an interest rate that works for you and also ensure you are aware of how the bank operates in terms of withdrawing your savings and also the monthly deposits required.
N/B: Savings come in handy for a knitter, this is because sometimes a project may require more yarn and without savings on standby,you may be unable to complete your project because of lack of money to buy yarn, so ensure you have something in store for a rainy day.
To ensure that you gain financial discipline and develop a saving culture here are some tips:
1.Make sure you plan on how to use your finances.
2.Operate with a budget to ensure discipline,you may avoid carrying extra cash to avoid overspending.
3.You can postpone buying stuff that are less significant when saving for a project.
4.Keep a record of your expenditure.
5.Stop impulse buying or better yet don’t buy what you haven’t planned for.
6.Have a monthly review of your money.
7.Make sure you have a relationship with your money, make sure you understand where It is going and how It Is helping you.

Thought conditioner:
Life is like a beautiful melody,only the lyrics are messed up.

    

Hallo beautiful people,today I would like to talk about the various knitting needles and crotchet hooks available in the market.This article will be very beneficial for a beginner who is not quite certain of which types and sizes of needles to use in a given project.Here is an insight on that.

Single-pointed needles
These needles are usually slender,with a point at one end and a knob on the other which prevents stitches from slipping when knitting.
They vary in length and diameter and are usually used in pairs.The size of a stitch is therefore determined by the diameter of the knitting needles you are using as it affects the length of yarn drawn through the previous stitch. Therefore to get large stitches use large needles and chunky yarn and for finer knitting, use small yarn.

Small and large single-pointed needles

    

                    Chunky yarn

   

                    Small /fine yarn

The single-pointed needles are usually made of different materials e.g bamboo,steel and plastic.If you are looking for knitting needles that won’t bend  I would advice you go for bamboo or plastic knitting needles.
They are used to knit scarfs, tops,bags,snoods,cowls etc.

Double-pointed knitting needles.
They are tapered at both ends which allows one to knit from both ends.They come in different sizes and lengths and are usually used in sets of four or five.Three or two needles are used to hold the stitches while one needle is used to create new stitches.The double pointed needles are commonly used to knit in the round and can be used with either chunky or small yarn depending on the size of needles you have.They can be used to knit socks,skirts,cowls,tops,snoods and many more.

   Large double pointed needles

            Small double pointed needles

Circular needles
These come in different lengths,sizes and materials and are composed of two pointed straight tips connected by a flexible cable/cord allowing it to be used to knit in the round and also for flat knitting.These tips may be connected to the cable permanently or may be detachable allowing one to change the needles and either use larger or smaller needles than the one he/she started knitting with. Before buying circular needles ensure you know the length and diameter  of the needle you need for your project since the circular needles that can be used to knit a sweater may not be the best ones to use when knitting a hat as they vary in length.

                       Circular needles

Knitting in the round with circular needles.

Cable needles
They are used to knit cables.
They come in different shapes,sizes and materials.

Crotchet hooks
They come in different sizes and materials and they have a hook at one end.You will choose the size of yarn to use depending on the size of the crotchet hook,for chunky yarn use large crotchet hooks and for small yarn you should use small crotchet hooks.The size of the crotchet hooks vary based on the material, brand and country of production.The size is also determined by the diameter of the shaft and the shaft will determine how large your stitches will be.

                         Crotchet hooks

How to choose the right size of hook:
Look at the label on any yarn, there will be a suggested hook size and an estimated number of stitches per inch.For yarn that is locally made in Kenya there is no indication of the suggested hook size so make sure you use small yarn with the small needles and the chunky yarn with large needles.
You can do a gauge swatch by knitting a swatch with the stitch pattern you are to use for your project,wash your yarn and let it dry then measure your stitches.You may have to repeat this until you find the right size of crotchet hook needed for your project.

Tapestry needle.
Tapestry needles are the sewing needles with one blunt end and a big hole on the other end.They are basically used to sew in loose ends,fix a button on your knitted item and to generally accessorize your knitted item.The big hole makes it easy for one to put yarn into the needle and the blunt end prevents one from pulling thread when sewing in loose ends.Can be made of steel or plastic.

Tapestry needles

Thought conditioner:Beauty awakens the soul to act.