Simply Knitting - UK (2019-08)

ASK THE EXPERTS

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HAPPYENDINGS

Q

What’sthecorrectwaytoweave

ina yarnendwhenworking on a

ribbedsection?

MarieBevan,Whitstable

Yo ua r en o ta l o n ei ny o u rq u e s t i o n ,M a r i e.

Whenit comestoweavinginyarnends

someknittersareseam-wigglersand

othersaresticklersforperfectlyhidden

yarnends.If you’vecometodreadthis

stage,thenit’sa goodideatotakea little

timetofocusonyarnendsandhowto

dealwiththem.Whenit comestoribbing

specifically,threadtheyarnvertically

througha columnofstitches.Thiswill

ensuretheribbingdoesnotstretch.As

a generalrule,alwaysleaveyarnends

ofaround15-20cmforbestresults.You

shouldalsostretchthefabrica little

beforetrimmingtheyarnendtoensure

that it’s not woven in too tightly.Kirstie

COOLABOUTCONES

Q

I aminterestedintryingtoknit

fromsomeconedyarnI have.

Doesthisyarnhaveanyadvantagesor

weaknesseswhenusingit toknit with?

Isit a goodideatouseit?

Shirleyviaemail

I amnotfamiliarwithhand-knittingwith

conedyarns,butoneadvantagewould

bethatit meansyoudon’thavetotiein

newballsorsewinendsasconedyarn

tends to be very, very long.Debbie

FELTINGFLUSTERS

Q

I’vetriedfeltingbyusingthewashing

machine,butmycarefullyhand-

knittedbagdidn’tcomeouttheway

I wantedit to.Isthereanother way of

feltingbyhand?

KimWestrup,Brighton

Usingthewashingmachineistheeasiest

waytofelta knitteditem,buttheresults

aren’talwayspredictable.It ispossibleto

feltbyhandand,whileit ismorelabour

intensive,it leavesthecontrolinthehands

ofthepersonwhoisdoingthefelting.There

arevariouswaystohand-felt,butoneofthe

simplestistousea basinofhotwater.Filla

washing-upbowlwithwaterashotasyour

handscantake,adda fewdropsofwool

washthenimmerseyourproject.First,rub

thefabricagainstitselftoagitatethefibres.

Movethepiecearound,makingsureyouare

feltingthepieceevenlyanddon’tforgetthe

inside. Rinse and dry to finish.Sophie

SHORTERSLEEVES

Q

Istherea waytoshortenthe

sleevesona sweaterthatI am

currentlyknitting,throughadusting

thepatternslightly?

MaureenPaul,Hampshire

Youcanmakethesleevesshorterbut

if thesleeveisshapedyouwillneedto

makesureyouhaveenoughrowsto work

allyourincreasesinto.Debbie

Yarnaccentswill

complement knits

Whenyou’reknittinga

complicatedlacepattern,atthe

beginningofeachrepeat,threada

lengthofdentalflossthroughallthe

stitchesontheneedle.If yougo

wrongduringthenextrepeat,you

canfrogbacktotheflossrowto

start again,knowingwhere

you are!

Did you

know...?

DebbieBlisspatterns,booksandyarns

are available fromwww.loveknitting.com

DEBBIE

BLISS...

YOU ASKED

You’llfin dthatcer tain

typesofyarnareeasier

to felt than others

Findthemethodof

hidingyarnendsthat

works for you

MAGICMENDER

Q

I keepseeingdecorativedarningonmyInstagramfeed,canyoutellmewhatit is?

ClaireO’Sullivan,viaemail

Mendinganddarningisusuallyinvisible,butthere’sa growingtrendtobreathenewlifeinto

wornknitswithvisiblemending,ordecorativedarning.It’ssimpletodoandlooksgreat.

Simply pick up unworn stitches around the holey area and darn with a contrast yarn.Kirstie

1 Fastentheendofyour

contrastyarnandpickupthe

loopoutsideofthewornarea,

makinga straightstitchacross

totheoppositeloop.Makea

wide ladder of stitches.

2 Weavetheyarnbackdown

throughthisladder,moving

fromsidetosideandpickingup

everyotherstrand.Keepweaves

closetoensurethedarned

patch is sturdy.

3 Continuetoweaveuntilthe

areaiscompletelycovered.

Securetheyarnatthereverse.

Youdon’tneeda holetouse

thistechnique,youcan‘patch’

existing areas of your sweater.