Washing Acrylic Yarn and Knitting a Spiral Beanie

A chunky, marled acrylic yarn holds up well to hand washing and the machine alike. Its texture plays beautifully in colorwork and cables. This post covers how washing and blocking change the yarn’s texture. It also covers a few project types worth knitting with it, a hat pattern built around…

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Chevrons, Stitch Definition, and the Magic Loop

A chevron ripple throw shows off crisp color transitions and a satisfying center double decrease. This post covers knitting that chevron pattern, then digs into stitch definition as a technique on its own. It also covers trying simple colorwork on a snowflake hat. Switching to the magic loop method finishes…

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Knitting Tools of the Trade

Every knitting project starts with gathering the right tools first! A big, cozy poncho is a great fall knitting project, and this one is easy and a lot of fun. Let’s gather the right tools first. This post covers choosing yarn, a pattern holder, and a project bag. It also…

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Knitting a No-Count Cable Chemo Cap

A soft cotton and cashmere blend makes a clever cabled chemo cap. This post covers finding the right needle size and trying a textured dress scarf and an openwork lace panel. It also covers knitting a soft cap with a cable trick that skips row-counting entirely. Meet the yarn This…

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Three Ways to Dye Wool Yarn

Hand-dyeing wool yarn opens up a whole world of color, and there’s more than one way to do it. This post covers three approachable techniques. A snow-dyeing method gives a variegated, random look. Warp painting creates graduated stripes, and kettle dyeing produces smooth, even color. It also covers the basic…

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Knitting an Intarsia Argyle Vest

A pair of superwash yarns gets put through their paces in this week-long project. This post covers what makes superwash yarn special and why swatching matters more than the ball band suggests. It also covers choosing colors with intention and picking up a few tricks for intarsia knitting along the…

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Converting a Pullover into a Cardigan

A self-striping cotton yarn turns a winter pullover pattern into a breezy cardigan in this five-part conversion project. This post covers picking the right base pattern and swatching for fit and washability. It also covers matching stripes across new balls of yarn, then joining the pieces with a three-needle bind-off.…

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