Q&A
Off the block
skin. It's £2.99 for a 5 0 g ball
and as a bonus, King Cole
has a range of patterns
available online for the yarn,
including jumpers for women,
children and babies. Visit
http://www.kingcole.com or call
01756 703 670 for stockists.
BOBBIN ALONG
Q
My friend said she was
thinking of using yarn
bobbins for her next jumper.
I was too embarrassed to ask
what these were. What are
they used for?
Irene Shaw, Manchester
A
Lucy says: Yarn bobbins
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cardboard, plastic or wood
designed to hold a small
amount of yarn. They’re
mostly used for colourwork,
when you need to knit with
more than two shades, but
by no means do you have
to use them – it’s simply
a preference. As they’re
smaller and lighter
than a full ball of
yarn, you can carry
them across the
Q
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my granddaughter. The
pattern says to block it but
I’m not sure how.
Eva Greenhall, SurreyA
Angela says: Blocking
is the process of
wetting your knitting so that
it can dry into the desired
shape or size. It allows
your stitches to sit better
and will give you a neater
fabric. Soak your jumper in
room-temperature water for
about half an hour. Then,
gently press the water out,
and roll and press in a towel
to remove the excess. To
dry, pin it to a set of foam
mats or a folded towel.If you’re going to be doing
a lot of blocking, you could
invest in a set of mats like
these KnitPro Blocking
Mats (£23.99 from http://www.
back of your knitting without woolwarehouse.co.uk).
your yarns getting tangled.
LoveCrafts stocks some easy-
to-use Pony Yarn Bobbins
(£ 1 .35 for a pack of ten, http://www.
lovecrafts.com). To use them,
simply wind a small amount
of yarn around the bobbin,
tucking the end into the slit
as you wind, snip your yarn
and then you’re ready to knit
straight from the bobbin!GET TOGETHER
Q
Since my knitting friend
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thinking of joining a local
group. I haven’t seen any in
my town and I’m not sure
where to start searching.
Kelly Armington, YorkA
Joanna says:
Joining a knitting
club is a great idea.
And the best place to
start is your local library
or community centre. If
you have no luck there, then
I recommend visiting the
Knitting Groups section on
http://www.ukhandknitting.com.
You can use the interactive
map or drop-down list thereXSƤRHKVSYTWMR]SYVEVIEFINISHING
TOUCHQ
My friend showed me
her latest knit the other
day – a cabled scarf – and
for the life of me I couldn’t tell
where she’d sewn her ends in!
How do I make my weaving-in
neat like that?
Toby Richards, CornwallA
Lou says: It’s easier than
you might think, Toby!
The trick is to follow the
path of your stitches
as you sew in your
tails, like you do with
duplicate stitch – a
way of adding areas of
colour to your knitting.
If you’re sewing in your
ends on the reverse
of stocking stitch,
for example, then
you’ll be following the
path of the ‘bumps’.
Think of them as being rows
of n-shaped bumps and
u-shaped bumps. Stretch yourknitting slightly and you’ll see
that an n-shaped bump leads
into the u-shaped bumps
one-down from it on either
side. This is the path you’ll
want to follow. You can see
here, in a contrasting yarn, that
you’ll end up with new bumps
sitting on top of the old ones.
The same applies to the front
of stocking stitch, but with
v- and n-shaped loops instead.
Follow this method and you’ll
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become a thing of the past!Blocking is an important
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when weaving in ends, as with
HYTPMGEXIWXMXGLKing Cole has a range
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the whole family