Knitting tutorials, knitting techniques, knitting tips and our well-loved Know Your Sheep series.
Fleece – or wool – varies from one breed of sheep to another, carrying specific structural elements that impact the softness, strength and drape of the yarn. Knowing about the fleece produced by different breeds of sheep is a good way to understand what to look for when buying wool for a new project. Depending Read the full article…
As time goes on natural dyes have grown more and more in popularity. They offer a environmentally friendly alternative to synthetic pigments. They give dyers the possibility to create beautiful colours using readily available ingredients and age-old recipes. Like any trend, it comes with its lot of controversies and misconceptions. Today we’re going to debunk Read the full article…
Knitting is a great past-time activity when you are travelling. Unfortunately, you do hear terrible stories from knitters who have had their needles taken away or they had to show the security they actually could knit when going through the airport. When I visit my parents in the South of France, a two hour plane Read the full article…
Last week we taught you the importance of swatching. We explained that in most cases if your gauge is off you should go up or down a needle size to get the right stitch count. Sometime however you might find that even if the gauge is right, the fabric feels a little bit too stiff Read the full article…
When you are new to knitting finding the right yarn for a project may seem complicated. Especially if you are still unfamiliar with the jargon. With so many yarns and patterns now available, understanding how to substitute one yarn for another is very useful. It helps you planning ahead for future projects and gives you Read the full article…
Who knew cleaning could be so fun. At the beginning of the year the YAK team all set out knitting resolutions for ourselves. Amy’s was to knit herself her first jumper. Elodie’s was to knit her first cable project and mine was to put all of my yarn stash on to Ravelry to make the Read the full article…
In our previous Spring Clean article we’ve established that keeping your woollies clean is a key step in preventing moth infestation. Many washing machines today come with a gentle wool cycle which typically features low temperature washing with low speed tumbling and spinning. Low temperatures will protect your knitwear from felting while low speed spinning Read the full article…
It is interesting how with the advent of Spring comes a definite wish to clear things up in your life. Literally and metaphorically. It is not something I used to do much when I was younger. Back then I proceeded to declutter my flat randomly though the year whenever it felt necessary. But there’s something Read the full article…
Nettle fibres have been labelled the material of the future, being ecologically friendly, sustainable and a much needed alternative to plastic fibres. We thought we would delve into the history of nettle fibres, how they are made and the properties and benefits that have given them this lofty title. HistoryThe use of nettle fibre for Read the full article…
Knitting patterns are usually written with a certain type of yarn in mind, meaning that the designer has put lots of thought into the characteristics of their chosen yarn as this will impact the finished piece of knitwear considerably. Therefore when choosing yarn for a pattern, it is good to understand the yarn characteristics of the Read the full article…
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