I was featured on the Ahauldri Show!

My first debut! Gosh I was so nervous! Thanks again to "Ace"!

How I got on Ace's Show. I met Anastacia “Ace” Hauldridge on Facebook and she had been following me for some time. She became interested in my work and one day she asked me to appear on her show. I was really honored to be on her show. Many thanks to Ace and her hard work and tireless promotion of business owners.
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Why make a pattern swatch?

 For every knitting project you ever make, you need to do this critical step. Exact gauge is essential for proper size or fit. Before beginning your project, make the sample swatch given in the individual gauge instructions in the yarn, needle, and stitch pattern specified. Never over look this step it's the difference between a masterpiece and a disaster. Those important words follow after the needle size, or the size needed to achieve gauge.

What is a gauge swatch? A gauge swatch is when you take the yarn and needles mentioned in your knitting pattern and make a swatch of the stitches used in the pattern. For example the pattern says:
Gauge 9 stitches = 4 in. (10 cm) in Garter stitch (knit all stitches in every row). Cast on a bunch of stitches. Then knit the garter stitch swatch and bind off your stitches and lay the swatch on a flat surface or fit the swatch is curling or not laying flat you may have to block it.. Then lay a ruler down and count your stitches within 4 inches. What I do is take my stitch count from different places in the swatch. You may notice that your gauge changes slightly if you measure near the cast on and bind off stitches, this can change especially if you're knitting your stitches too tight or too loose. But don't worry you are just concerned with the stitches in the middle of your swatch.


Well I have a little trick you can use to find out how many stitches per 1 inch. Who can keep track of all those stitches for 4 inches? Here's the formula. Yes a little math is involved. Take your pattern gauge which is 9 stitches divide it by 4 inches your answer is 2. 25 stitches per 1 inch. Yes sometimes you get a weird number. In this case we have 2 and 1/4 stitches. Sometimes you measure your swatch and not get a whole stitch but part of one. You cannot knit a partial stitch. Sometimes designers will round up or down the number of stitches. But for beginners just stick to measuring with your ruler and keep trying until you get the gauge.


Things that can effect your gauge. The gauge of a knitted fabric depends on the pattern of stitches in the fabric, the kind of yarn used, the size of knitting needles, and your knitting tension..Certain knitting patterns affect gauge also. Ribbing and cable  patterns tend to "pull in". Even the same stitch produced in two different ways may produce a different gauge; for example, a swatch of stockinette stitch may not have the same gauge as one knit in reverse stockinette stitch.

So now you have a little insight into the mystery of the gauge swatch. I hope this post has given you some helpful information. So if you get the right gauge before you start you'll be a lot happier!

Hate to purl? Try knitting backwards!

When I teach someone to knit they find the purl stitch difficult then they start to hate it. If you really think about it a purl stitch is just a knit stitch but backwards. The knit and purl stitches are the foundation of knitting. Every pattern is either straight knitting, knit and purl stitches, or any combination of the two.

I knit with either hand. I primarily knit with my right hand, that is I 'throw' or loop the yarn around the needle to make the stitch with my right hand. With my left hand I use the 'knit continental' style of knitting, all that means is holding the yarn in your left hand while knitting the stitches from the left needle onto the right needle. Some how that seems more natural to me. Go figure!

If you hate to purl, have you ever tried knitting backwards? Yes, I said backwards! Never to turn your work around to the back again. This is particularly useful when doing Entrelac knitting.

Here's how:

• Cast on some stitches and knit the 1st row. As you normally do.
• Do not switch hands, like you normally would. You should have 1 row of knit stitches on your right needle in your right hand. The left needle is empty. Now this is where the fun part comes in. 

1. Keep the yarn in the back of the work. With the left needle in the left hand put the needle through the back of the first stitch on the right hand needle.

2. With the left hand, loop the yarn up over the needle. You are bring the yarn toward yourself and over the needle. 

3. Pull the yarn through the stitch with the left needle and slide the stitch off the right needle. Now you should have one stitch on your left hand needle. 

4. Repeat steps 1-3 until all your stitches are on the left needle now. 

**Don't switch hands now knit with your right needle as you usually would, for the knit stitch, until all the stitches on the right needle.

Your gauge may change so if you are working check your gauge and see if it changes. I find with this technique my knit stitch is tight and my backwards knit stitch is loose.