It’s easy to get so caught up in following pattern instructions that you lose sight of what’s really important: gauge. You’ve probably already purchased the yarn for your project (or decided which of your stash yarns you’d like to use) by the time you sit down to work your gauge swatch, and you’ve probably just…

Intarsia is a color work technique that is used to create individual fields of color in one piece. Yarn is not stranded horizontally (like in Fair Isle knitting); rather, each section of color has its own working yarn that moves vertically. You can usually identify intarsia because the color work does not continue over the…

This past weekend I had the great pleasure of going to Stitches Midwest in Schaumburg, IL.  It was so fun being surrounded by crafters all weekend and seeing knitters everywhere we went.  As I’ve said before, one of my favorite things about going to shows is seeing customer projects.  Some stop by to show off…

New York Magazine‘s fashion blog, The Cut, recently featured a fun slide show of bright, textured, and graphic tights–a trend that seems to be catching on for the fall. (Click here to visit the slide show.) Well, with the introduction of 7 new colors this year to our Sock-Ease line, as well as dozens of…

Like many knitters & crocheters, when August rolls around, I’m already thinking about what to make for fall. Taking a cue from designer/model Mandy Coon–whose fall collection includes oversized, bold, stockinette stitch arm warmers (left) and scarves–I thought it might be fun to make some oversized items that are quick to knit or crochet up!…

Fair Isle knitting, also known as stranded knitting, refers to color work that is a repeating pattern worked over a group of stitches and rows. What separates Fair Isle from intarsia and other color work techniques is the stranding on the back.  Here’s a quick example that I worked up using the houndstooth chart from…

Whenever I start a new garment, I find myself double and triple checking my measurements.  I ask myself, “What was the measurement on that last sweater?” and eventually spend the few seconds it takes to remeasure my bust and waist.  The only trouble is that sometimes it’s awkward to take measurements in public, so I…

I believe that looking at other crafts can really inspire and inform our knitting and crocheting, just as knitting and crochet inspire other crafts. When you look at traditional lace-making, you may be inspired to replicate some of that look with filet crochet. Sewing might inform us of a certain way to construct a knitted…

Recently, I shared the fun news that I’ll be leading 3 knit-alongs on Knitting Daily TV this season, focused on fun projects that introduce you to new skills — we’re happy to announce that these segments will be available to watch on the Lion Brand YouTube channel! The first one is the Fallen Leaves Scarf,…

The very first thing I ever knitted besides a swatch was an oversized black lace mohair sweater. I was so incredibly proud that I was able to make these giant pieces of lacy fabric…until I went to put them together and discovered that one piece was almost twice as wide as the other piece. I…