Simply Knitting - UK (2020-02)

ASK THE EXPERTS

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FAIRISLEFANCY

Q

I’dlovetodesignmyownFairIsle

patternbutI’mnotverygood with

colour.Doyouhaveanytips?

JessicaReid,viaemail

Themostimportantthingistohavea

balancedselectionofcolours,witha few

mid-tones,andatleastonedarkandone

lightaccentcolour.Inthedesignpictured

right,theburgundyisthelightaccentand

theblueisthedarkaccent,withtheother

colourssittingaroundthemiddleofthe

spectrum.Aneasywaytoworkoutyour

accentcoloursistogatherallyourpotential

yarnstogetherandtakea photographof

theminblackandwhite.It’sfareasiertosee

thedierencesinlightanddarktoneswhen

youtakeawaythecolour,andyou’llbeable

toseeif yourchoicesaretoosimilarintone

if theylookthesameinblackandwhite.

Mostdigitalcamerasorphonecameras

havea blackandwhitesetting,oryoucould

converttheimageusingbasicimaging

software on your computer.Sophie

DARNGOODTIPS

Q

I wouldliketotrySwissdarning.

Doyouhaveanyusefuladvice

fortryingoutthistechnique?

JennyC,viaFacebook

Themostimportantthingistomake

surethattheyarnyouareusingisthe

sameweightastheoriginalyarnthat

youarecovering.Thisensuresit isthe

correctwidthtocoverthestitchbelow.

Besuretousea bluntneedlesoyou

don’t split the stitches.Debbie

SECRETSTASH

Q

I havea sizeablestashofrandom

singleballsofyarnI’veacquired–

anyideasforwhatI candowiththem?

LauraHelens,viaemail

Howexciting!I wouldsortthemalloutby

weightsandshadesfirst,asthatmight

starttoinspireyou.Myinstinctwouldbe

tothinkaboutknittinga fabulousthrow

orscarfandexperimentwithallthe

dierentshadesinyourstash.Debbie

There’salways

a reasontobuy

another ball of yarn!

Circularneedleshave

manypros,buttherearea few

tipstobearinmindtokeepyour

circularknittingexperiencesweet.

Unlessyouwanta mobusloop,

alwaysmakesureyouhavenot

twistedthestitcheswhenyou

caston.Wehaveallbeen

caught out!

Did you

know...?

DebbieBlisspatterns,booksandyarns

are available fromwww.lovecrafts.com

DEBBIE

BLISS...

YOU ASKED

CheckyourFairIslecolourpalette

with a quick bit of phone photography

CURIOUSCASTON

Q

What’sa provisionalcaston?

PiaGeorgerio,viaFacebook

Thissortofcastonistemporaryandyou

canundoit later,inordertoknitintheother

directionorjointwopiecesoffabricwithout

havingtosewthemup.It’shandyforlace

patternsasit helpstostopuntidyseams

thatmightotherwisebevisible.A provisional

cast on requires two needles held together

anda pieceofwasteyarnlongerthanthe

cast-onedge.Placetheslipknotaround

bothneedlesandthewasteyarn(1)and

thenjustkeepwrappingtheworkingyarn

aroundboth(2).Continueknitting,leaving

thecast-onstitches‘live’onthewasteyarn

(3).Knotthewasteyarntokeepthestitches

safe.Whenyouneedtostartworkingfrom

thecast-onend,justslipa needleintothe

stitches and remove the waste yarn (4).Jen

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2

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