The Gift Of Knitting

Knitting Tutorial – How To Seam Ribbing Impeccably

August 16, 2017 by Alina 7 comments

During the last months I receive quiet a lot of emails from you with different questions – helping with deciphering the pattern instructions, technical things, stitch pattern explanations, etc. I try my best to answer as detailed as possible, but after receiving several quiet similar questions, I thought that maybe I should start collecting them and later put the tutorials together, so I can refer you to them when you are missing this information.

So, if you have some knitting emergencies happening, please, feel free to contact me at alina@giftofknitting.com – I’ll try my best to help and if it is quiet a general question, I’ll create a visual tutorial for more people to use it. I usually answer during 3-4 days.

One of the recent questions that repeated itself over several emails was “How To Seam Ribbing Impeccably”?

In some patterns you will find instruction to seam shoulders using an invisible horizontal seam. The horizontal seam works great for the stockinette stitch, for example; but if you are trying to put together the ribbing the seam isn’t invisible anymore – you will end up with this “jog”:

As you can see the stitch columns are not perfectly aligned, they are slightly unbalanced. On one hand – who will notice that at the shoulder seam?! But if you are a perfectionist and this “hiccup” is bothering you, there are some ways to fix it.

First, you can ignore the knitting pattern instructions to bind off the shoulders and then seam them together. But instead place the shoulder stitches on the stitch holder and then use three-needle bind off. This way the stitch columns will be perfectly aligned. There are numerous tutorials out there that walk you through three-needle bind off, so I won’t cover it here.
There is one more way that you can use, especially if you want to have a pretty sturdy seam. Instead of horizontal seam, you will use crochet slip chain that will align the stitches perfectly.

Let me walk you through the latter.

How to Seam Ribbing in Knitting

If you need to see a bigger image, open it in the new tab.

And here is 2×2 rib fabric – both right and wrong sides. You can see how the jog completely disappeared and your perfectionist self can be happy now 🙂

I’m always happy to see my tutorials on your Pinterest board, if you like it, of course!

Thank you for your questions that inspired this tutorial – feel free to send more 🙂

Have a wonderful day!

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Inspiration, Knitting

Non-Knitting Related Knitting Inspiration

August 9, 2017 by Alina 7 comments

Happy Wednesday! Today I would like to share with you slightly different from what I usually do. Apart from a day job and my family, my mind revolves around knitting almost 24 hours a day (honestly, I even dream of it!). I love scrolling through knitwear photography, reading about new designers, creating inspiring mood boards, etc. But at some point I realized how important it is to zone out a little bit and look around you and see the world through different angles and filters. And it’s amazing how much more inspired I am right now to knit and come up with ideas! So, I would like to share with you today my favorite profiles that have absolutely nothing to do with knitting, but that give me ideas, put me in a certain mood and just inspire to knit!

Here are my favorite knitting inspiring non-knitting related profiles:

@nasa

Dancing magnetic sun fields, distant galaxies shots and views of our little blue planet make me wonder and gasp in awe. And in contrast with all this grand mind-blowing drama going on up there, my knitting feels so familiar and cozy…

@viktoria.dahlberg

Viktoria created such a cozy home in a small apartment in NY – full of light, plants and cute little interior details. Every time I visit her profile, I want to throw on a cotton sweater, grab needles, turn on music, find a cozy corner in my room and knit away!

@ritchieollie

This young and very talented self-taught photographer and film maker is just one more prove that today you can learn whatever you want and be good at it. The way he “sees” people, nature and cities is so enticing. I don’t know why and how, but after watching his mini-movies, I always feel inspired to pick up my yarn, try, experiment and enjoy every single stitch.

@linda_lomelino

It is so interesting that I keep coming back to this profile when I need a sparkle of inspiration for my knits – I am not that much into cooking and elaborate desserts, but every time I want to create a new visual yarn story, I come here for inspiration. Maybe it’s the styling, or neutral shades or just because these photos show how much Linda loves what she does keep bringing me back here.

@russianexplorers

The community of travel photographers inspired by Russian nature. I lived all my life in a city I’ve never seen that side of my home country before. The photos make me look around, find beauty in small things and be grateful for the nature I am blessed to be around with right now. And nature and knitting go hand in hand for me.

@iwantthatwall

Sarah Curtin collects wall images in her profile and it is absolutely fascinating – shapes, textures and colors are so inspiring. I often use it as a mood board when I want to come up with something interesting in my knitting projects.

I am always happy to hear where you draw your inspiration for your craft!

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Gifts Of Life

Gifts Of Life. At Dawn

August 6, 2017 by Alina 16 comments

I love routine. Love waking up at the same time every morning while it is still dark, lit up a candle, stretch, knit, go to work… Love this familiar rhythm of days filled with simple little things that warm your heart. But sometimes there is nothing better than to wake up on your day off and decide to chase a sun. Jump in the car, turn on your favorite music and climb in the darkness up the hills to meet a new day, be in awe with nature and infinitely grateful…

I hope you enjoyed this little walk and it brightened up your Sunday 🙂

Have a wonderful day today!

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Yarn

Magliamania. Precious Fibers.

July 30, 2017 by Alina 16 comments

Happy Sunday! When a friend comes all the away across the ocean and asks what to bring, you say “Yarn, please!”, right? Switzerland always fascinated me with its grand nature and trying some of their local yarns was my little knitting dream. As my own trip there is not happening any time soon, you can only imagine how excited and grateful I was to our dear friend and his wife, who took time out of her busy schedule and chose the most beautiful skeins for me!

The yarn comes from Magliamania Yarns shop, located in Bern. The shop carries handdyed skeins in dreamy fibers – silk, baby camel, merino, baby alpaca, cashmere… Most of the yarns are produced in Switzerland and each skein is dyed individually with the utmost care in shop’s studio; the result – unique deep colors and beautiful shine.

My little treasures:

Handdyed Silk/Baby Camel. I’ve never put my hands on Baby Camel fiber and what can I say… It’s so so so dreamy; if you are a knitter, you just have to treat yourself to this magical fiber at least once! Its soft golden color enhanced by silk’s natural sheen reflects light beautifully.

Premium Merino/Silk blend is one more handdyed golden beauty. Love subtle variations of color – they will give such a depth to the fabric.
White Cashmere/Silk blend in my favorite silver grey shade. This is the first time for me to work with this fiber blend and I cannot express how much I love its softness – it feels like I am holding a cloud in my hands; soft and weightless.
Royal alpaca in forest green shade. Unbelievably soft and light. Just holding it in my hands seems good enough – I can only imagine how wonderful it will be to knit with it.

I put the skeins in a special place and I end up touching them every single day. I am postponing a moment of winding them up and casting on – they are so precious, that even just looking at them is enough to be inspired!

If you live in Switzerland or will be traveling there, you should definitely visit this shop – those yarns are meant to join your collection. I wish I could go there myself!

Address:

Magliamania Yarns
Babette Eymann
Länggassstrasse 28
3012 Bern

Dear Rudolf and Klara, thank you for this amazing gift! I so so appreciate it!

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Free Patterns and Tutorials, Knitting, Pattern, Tutorial

How To Knit A Crop Top. Free Knitting Pattern.

July 26, 2017 by Alina 11 comments

Today I would like to share with you a free pattern that I put together for my California Crop Top. It’s a pretty straightforward knit that can become the perfect vacation project, as it doesn’t require much yarn, knits up fast and it’s very easy to make.

In the simple knit piece as this one, yarn will play the main role. I love the ribbon yarn for this project, because the thread is wide, which is very fast to knit, but because of the nature of the thread, it is very light. Plus, it creates a textured surface, even when used with the simplest stitch patterns.

As you can see in my previous post, I chose “purl” side as the right side of the fabric, but if you feel like it you can definitely use it as a reversible top and wear it with any side facing up – so many designers use the visible seam as the decorative element now. And at the end of a day, it is a casual crop summer top, it doesn’t have to be perfect 🙂

To see the fit of the top, check my modeled post here – The Gift Of Knitting – California Crop WATG Top.

How To Knit A Crop Top

SIZE:

32 (36, 40)” [81.5 (91.5, 101.5) cm]

FINISHED MEASUREMENTS:

Finished bust circumference: 34 (38, 42)” [86.5 (96.5, 106.5) cm].

Finished length from the armhole: approx 7 (7 1/4, 7 3/4)” [17.8 (18.4, 19.5) cm].

MATERIALS:

Yarn

3 (4, 4) skeins of Wool and the Gang, Stone Washed, 100% cotton. 1.8 oz. (50 g), 82 yds. (75 m).

Please, keep in mind that the yardage recommended is approximate.

Needles. 5.5 mm (US 9)

GAUGE

4″ (10 cm) = 12 sts. The row gauge is not essential in this project.

Note: When using instructions, you can click on each bullet point to mark it as done. This will help you to keep track of your progress.

INSTRUCTIONS

BACK

CO 51 (57, 63) sts, using a long tail cast on method.
*K1, p1; rep from * to last st, k1.
Repeat the last row 4 more times.
Next Row (RS): Purl.
Next Row (WS): Knit.
Repeat the last 2 rows until the piece measures approximately 7 (7 1/4, 7 3/4)” [17.8 (18.4, 19.5) cm], finishing after WS row.
Next Row (RS): Bind off 7 (9, 11) sts purlwise; purl to end – 44 (48, 52) sts.
Next Row (WS): Bind off 7 (9, 11) sts knitwise; knit to end – 37 (39, 41) sts.
Next Row (RS): K1, purl to last st, k1.
Next Row (RS): K1, knit to last st, k1.
Repeat the last 2 rows until the piece measures approximately 7 1/2 (7 1/2, 7 3/4)” [19 (19, 19.5) cm], finishing after RS row.
Bind off all 37 (39, 41) sts knitwise.

FRONT

Make identical to the BACK.

FINISHING

Block the pieces.
Seam shoulders: Place the pieces flat, with bind off edges facing each other, RS of the fabric (in this case, purl side) facing up. Using a horizontal seam, sew shoulders together (each shoulder is approximately 1 1/2 – 1 3/4″ wide).
Seam FRONT and BACK: Place the pieces flat, RS of the fabric (in this case, purl side) facing up, side edges next to each other. Make sure to align the pieces, with armhole edges being on the same level. Using a mattress stitch, sew edges together on both sides.
Weave in the ends.

Note: As you can see, I chose “purl” side as the right side of the fabric, but you can flip it over and stay with the classic stockinette stitch – just seam the pieces on reverse, with knit side facing up.

Note: This is a free pattern. It wasn’t test knitted or tech edited. I tried my best to avoid any mistakes, but if you find one, please, let me know in the comments below.

I hope you will use this pattern this summer and create your own simple Crop Top. If you liked the pattern, please, share it on your Pinterest board, I would really appreciate it!.

Have a wonderful day today!

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The Gift Of Knitting – California Crop WATG Top

July 23, 2017 by Alina 12 comments

Happy Sunday! This weekend I finally had a chance to take photos of my California crop top I made with ribbon cotton yarn Stone Washed by Wool and the Gang. Summer crop top was on my must-knit list for ages, but for some reason I kept postponing it, maybe because my stash yarn didn’t sparkle the imagination – nothing felt as the perfect match for this kind of project. But when you find the right yarn, you have to go for it!

Ribbon yarn creates a very interesting fabric that has some structure to it, without losing its drape. It worked perfectly for the loose cropped shape of the top – it keeps its form, without being too stiff.

I improvised the pattern, but kept my notes. I will post the instructions for it and all the FO details next week, so if you feel like it, you can repeat it for yourself or your dear ones. It is a very quick and relaxing project to work on, I’m sure you will like it! I used only three skeins of Stone Washed for it. This is a great project to take with you on your summer vacation – you don’t need to pack lots of yarn, the process is pretty simple and straightforward and as it’s short and sleeveless, you’ll be able to finish it in several afternoons.

California crop top is for hot summer days; for unplanned road trips with dear friends; for signing along Pink Floyd way too loud in the car; for messy hair and sun burned skin…