Woolly Mammoth Knits

Here you will find some random assorted tips for knitters. Some are taken from my own experience, some are words and purls of wisdom from the great and grand of the knitting world, and some are tips from other knitters and visitors to the site. I hope this tip list will continue to grow, and if you have any random assorted tips you would like to add, please drop me a line!

The many uses of scrap yarn

Even the smallest bit of scrap yarn can be useful! Instead of throwing away pieces of scrap yarn, collect them in a bag and keep them until you have a use for them. Here are some of the things that I have found scrap yarn can be used for:

1. Instead of using stitch markers, tie together pieces of scrap yarn to form loops and use these instead. This option comes in especially handy when you have no stitch markers lying around, or don't have enough, and need a couple of extra ones fast. If you use scraps of different yarns in different colors, it looks cute to boot. Cotton and wool are great for this because they slide on and off the needle easily, 100% mohair scraps might be less suitable.

2. Instead of using stitch holders, thread a piece of scrap yarn through live stitches that need to be held. When knitting in the round and wanting to try on your piece, it's much more flexible than a regular stitch holder, too.

3. Knit somewhat longer pieces of scrap yarn up into Berry Trapezoid earrings! Berry Trapezoid is a free Woolly Mammoth Knits pattern that can be found by clicking here.

4. Vicki at Simple Knits has compiled a list with over 500 knitting projects that take anywhere from 1-3 yards to 285 yards per project. It is a fantastic list and when you're in search for a scrap or leftover yarn project you are sure to find more than you could knit here. This is the link: 500 patterns to knit with 1-285 yards of yarn!

Knitting in the round: little purl of wisdom

This tip comes from Elizabeth Zimmerman, via her book "Knitting Without Tears". It's a small thing that has spared me much frustration, so I thought I'd share it here for those who might get the same satisfaction from it. When knitting in the round, after the first row, when you join the ends together, knit the first (or first 2, as I always do myself) stitches of the next row with both the regular yarn and the yarn tail that is left from casting on, together. This will make the joining stitches tight and will prevent a gap appearing where the knitting was joined.

Making your own stitch markers is easy

If you want to use something more sturdy and decorative for stitch markers than pieces of scrap yarn, there is an excellent tutorial online on making your own stitch markers using the toggles for making necklaces. It can be found here: http://www.wormspit.com/stitchmarkers.htm.
I used this tutorial to make my own, using wire from a roll instead of the wire pieces pictured in the tutorial and several different colored beads. This is the result:

Free vintage knitting patterns

For those who love vintage fashion, there are some fantastic free vintage knitting patterns available online. Some of the websites that advertise with free patterns really sell most of their patterns, but a few sites are real gems and offer tons of free patterns. One such site is Vintage Purls. Patterns include 1950s women's sweaters and cardigans, intarsia mittens, men's sweaters and a knitted men's bathing costume (!), garments for babies and children, knitted placemats and a delicious-looking tea cosy. The vintage yarn called for is fairly easy to substitute, and although many of the patterns call for smaller needles and gauge than most of us are used to nowadays for garments, if you have the patience you could re-create a real piece of fashion history with these patterns.

pictures courtesey of Vintage Purls