Outspoken and evidence-based. For a better knitting experience. A 2023 knitting blog.
Because what’s written on your knitting needle might not be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. I own a perfectly fine pair of 3.5 mm circular needles. Conveniently, the size is carved right into them—and it’s a good carving, too, having survived multiple sweaters unscathed. Only problem? The actual size is … Continue reading Knitting Advice Nr. 23: Measure your needles with a knitting needle gauge.
Do you know how a custom-fitted garment is made? By a process of trial and error. Usually, this involves using loads of pins to connect the different parts of the not-yet-entirely-sewed-up piece. But you can't do that with knitted fabric because pins tend to fall off. So, what do you do? You use locking stitch … Continue reading Knitting advice Nr. 21 : Use stitch markers to hold the fabric into place (you need to check the fit before any sewing takes place).
Hobbii is out of 34 of their 56 colours for their Friends Wool Medium It's been so for weeks and they don't even have basic neutrals such as white or navy left. I looked up how much wool I would need for a weight 3 wool here. Based upon this, I thought I was being … Continue reading Out of yarn and patience with Hobbii (things aren’t going too well with my red sweater)
Exposing Temu Yarn : Join me in decoding the misleading labyrinth of fake reviews and uncovering the fraudulent yarn descriptions. Or why skepticism is your best knitting companion, especially if you're on a tight budget.
I followed through with my plan of experimenting knitting with inexpensive non superwash wool. I waited for black Friday to get a deal, but having visited Hobbii's website more often, I realise I needn't have bothered. This wool is almost always on some sort of sale, especially when you are buying pullover quantities. As of … Continue reading Knitting with cheap wool: evaluation of Friends Wool Medium from Hobbii
That’s it. That’s the advice. Don’t buy superwash. It’s bad for the environment, it’s bad for people living near the plants that scour and superwash wool. This post is part of a serie of posts where I give you a detailed account of what superwash wool is , how it is created and what are … Continue reading Knitting advice Nr. 11: Don’t buy superwash wool (part 3)
That's it. That's the advice. Don't buy superwash. It's bad for the environment, it's bad for people living near the plants that scour and superwash wool. I am aware that these posts about superwash are likely to be the most unwanted and contentious ones I will ever write on this blog. But I have to. … Continue reading Knitting advice Nr.11: Don’t buy superwash wool (part 1)
In my city, local yarn shops are quietly disappearing. We used to have about six of them, plus several department stores selling yarn. Now we're down to only two yarn shops and two department stores offering (a little, and mostly low quality) yarn. This, I guess, might be why I tend to get overly sentimental … Continue reading Knitting Advice Nr. 8: Your local yarn shop is in the business of selling you stuff, actually (note to self, mainly)
Unsolicited Knitting Advice 