Stitch Markers: A Knitters Best Friend (by Whitnee Humphrey)

I got a phone call the other day from my best friend. She asked if I could talk and that she needed help. I said sure and the first words out of her mouth were “my son has a giant head”. Naturally the first thing that goes through my mind is that this sweet little three year old has gotten his head stuck somewhere and she needs someone to calm her down while help arrives. Luckily this was not the case. It turns out she is knitting him a cute little hat and the pattern is too small for his giant head. My best friend has fairly recently begun to knit and has only done basic projects so she needs help modifying the hat. I whipped out the laptop, read through the pattern and told her exactly what she needed to do to make the hat larger. As I was reading through the pattern, I noticed that there was a pattern repeat. I explained that it would be wise to learn to use stitch markers for this pattern or she might just end up with a few gray hairs!

Stitch markers are a wonderful invention. They have kept me sane through a few projects, as well as made them fly by that much faster. Before the phone call from my best friend, I had never really thought about people not knowing what stitch markers were used for. I taught myself to knit from a book and they were discussed in there. I have taught several people to knit and I don’t believe I have ever once covered stitch markers in any of my lessons. Now I realize this was terrible of me!

Are all stitch markers created equal? No! There is the obvious difference between larger and smaller markers. Larger markers fit on larger needles. And yes you can use the larger markers on smaller needles, but be careful as big markers on small needles with small yarn can equal a big gap in the knitting.  A friend of mine, who used to own a yarn shop, taught me something wonderful to use for stitch markers: baby hair bands. These look like those rubber bands that you use on braces. They are multicolored and I believe they can be found in the toddler area, with the rest of the little girl hair accessories. The bands that I bought came separated by color in a plastic container. They are not sticky feeling like regular rubber bands so they don’t get stuck in the yarn. These do not create holes at all. I do find though that when I am working with a heavier yarn, I like a thicker marker.  There are also split markers which can be used like a regular marker but they can also be used to mark a stitch in the actual body of whatever you are knitting.

Stitch markers do not have to be used only when the pattern calls for them. You can use them any time you want to mark a stitch or a group of stitches.  The times that I most commonly use them are:

• Any time there is a large number of stitches. You can break down that 400 stitch count into a smaller, more manageable number. This comes in handy when casting on or when you are KIPing and that wonderful friend of yours decides to count by tens while you are trying to double check your stitch count causing you to have to start over again and again.
• Pattern repeats. *K1, P4 , K1* Repeat across row. By marking each repeat, you don’t have to wait till the end of the row to realize that you are one stitch off at the very beginning of the row. Tink, tink, tink. When you get to the end of that particular repeat, you should know that you are off. I found this saved me from pulling my hair out when knitting lace.
• Places you want to keep an eye on. For me this is usually the borders. I am knitting a scarf for my mother right now that has a 4 stitch seed stitch border on each side. If I don’t mark the stitch, sometimes I will get going and not realize that the first stitch needs to be a purl instead of a knit. It may be only one little stitch, but it still takes time to tink and then correct.
• Measuring length. Knit 4 inches ST st, increasing on each side on even rows. Then knit another 4 rows of ST st with no increasing. Where do you measure from? Sometimes it is hard to tell which row to measure from. If you mark that with a split marker in the middle of the row, it will be much easier to measure from.

So why use stitch markers? Because they can save you a lot of time in your knitting and keep you sane!

You’ll find colored rubber stitch markers (pictured above) in the ACCESSORIES section of the KNIT SHOPPE under the NAUGHTY STUFF page!

Knitting A Baby Sweater – Part One (by Robyn Devine)

Ok, you’ve been knitting for a bit now.  So far you have tackled making scarves and dish cloths.   You’re ready to move onto something a bit more challenging. You’re not sure about hats.  You know someone who is going to have a baby soon.  You’re thinking, ”Why not try to knit a baby sweater”?

Wait a minute.  Let’s give a baby sweater a little more thought.  Maybe you’re thinking a baby sweater would be too hard. Don’t let the thought of sleeves get you nervous.  Baby sweaters can be the easiest thing to knit. With a good pattern like the Five-Hour Baby Sweater to start you off right you’ll do fine.  You shouldn’t let your beginning knitter status sway you away from attempting a baby sweater.

That’s not to say there won’t be a few tricks which is why I’m here to help you out! The Five Hour Baby Sweater For Boys is one of my favorite items to knit.  I’ve been taking pictures and devising a tutorial to get you through the tricky parts.  Grab some size 10 needles and some worsted weight yarn and let’s get you knitting baby sweaters!

Step one: The cast on.  While this part of the project is something you may already have down, I wanted to take some time to talk about various cast on methods. The pattern in question calls for a knitted cast on. In this, you basically knit each stitch onto the needles.

For a sweater I like to use a long-tail cast on method (see the video for instructions if you need to here). It gives a firmer edge and as this is the edge closest to the baby’s face you’ll want to be sure it looks well constructed.

  

 

 

Step two: Work the collar.  This is the easiest part of the sweater – just a few rows of garter stitch (knitting every row).  Your sweater is starting to take shape. Are you getting excited?! Increases are next!

 

Step three: Increases for the yoke.  This tends to be where people start to freak out a bit. Beginner knitters may not know how to increase by knitting into both the front and the back of a stitch.  I’ve taken a few pictures to help explain it.

Photo one shows the needle ready to knit into the front of the stitch.  This is done like a regular knit stitch.  Before you drop the left-hand stitch off the needle pull your right-hand needle back into the stitch as shown in photo two. Then knit that stitch as well and you’ve increased one!  Continue following the pattern increasing like this through the five sets of yoke increases. You’re almost done with the top half of the sweater.

 

 Step four: Final increases.  Once those five sets of increases are done you’ve got just a few more rows to go before you can divide for the sleeves. First you need to add in your stitch markers and this row gets a bit tricky. The pattern has you both adding stitch markers and adding in a large set of increases at the same time.  Don’t get nervous – you can do it!

For this set of increases you’ll be using the *M1* increase in which you make one stitch. Instead of increasing into an already-established stitch, you’ll be making a stitch in between two already established stitches. The following photos illustrate how.

For each place you see a M1 note in the pattern simply make a loop on your right finger and transfer it to the right needle. Easy-peasy and you’ve made a stitch! Continue following the pattern adding stitch markers and making stitches through the row.

Finally, you’ll have to add a few more rows of *make one,  front and back* increases to finish off the yoke.  Since you’ve had so much practice at it you should fly right through it.

 

 Now step back and enjoy your work – you’ve officially knit half a baby sweater!

Up next in Part Two – Dividing for the arms, stitching those arms up (seems harder than it is!) and finishing off your sweater!

 

Robyn is a 30-something newlywed who has focused her life on craft, sustainability, and changing the planet for good. Having been a crafter most of her life, it wasn’t until recently she discovered she could meld her love of handmades with her passion to help the world become a better place for all humans, instead of a place that seemed to work only for a privileged few.

She divides her free time between knitting and scrapbooking most days, is in a constant battle with all the clutter threatening to take over her house, and truly believes that with a bit of compassion, some wool, and a slice of pizza, the world could be a happier place for all!
 
Visit Robyn’s blog: http://robyndevine.typepad.com