17 Crochet and Knitting Tips and Tricks

Whether you knit or crochet with a passion or just occasionally, here are a series of useful tips picked up over a lifetime of crafting that should help most any needleworker.

• Gauge Check- Mark the end of your knitting needle or crochet hook 1 inch from the end for a quick gauge check.
• Sticky or Sweaty Hands - Sprinkle a small amount of baby powder on your hands before knitting or crocheting to help the yarn draw smoothly through your fingers and also prevent your hands from perspiring and sticking.
• Blocking - Do not use an iron on knit or crocheted articles as it can permanently flatten and damage the stitches. Block it instead by gently washing and airdrying as follows. Pin the item out to desired shape and size with rust proof T-pins.Rustproof pins can be very hard to find. Even if you find rust proof pins, the finish may eventually wear off and they will rust. T-pins cost a little more initially but they will keep rust marks from ruining your projects. Let dry. Crochet thread items may be sprayed with spray starch or dipped in a starch solution before being shaped.
• Casting On - For quick counting of stitches, slip a circular stitch marker onto your knitting needle every 5 or 10 stitches as you cast on and then you just count the markers. Looseleaf binder paper reinforcement tabs make inexpensive and disposable stitch markers, easily removed when no longer needed.
• Uneven Foundation - The foundation chain and first row of an afghan or other pattern should be made with a hook one size larger than the size needed for the gauge. This prevents the afghan from getting wider as it goes along.
• Stitch Markers - Use a scrap of contrasting yarn between the first and last stitches of each row in a round to mark the ends of the round.
• Tension on Fingers - To prevent the thread or yarn from cutting into your finders as you work, particularly with tight tension, crochet a finger "thimble" for yourself out of soft cotton to protect the fingers the yarn wraps around.
• Loose Ends - Sew loose ends in well. When working with yarn, leave a long end (about 6") on starting chain and on cut ends. Use a large yarn needle to sew ends in. Weave between the stitches being careful to avoid running long stitches on either front or back.
• Stuffing Showing - To keep fiberfill from showing through crocheted animals or dolls, use left over scraps of yarn for stuffing crocheted toys. This really helps when you can see the stuffing through the stitches. If the yarn scrap stuffing matches the stitches you are not as likely to see them. Another alternative is tostuff the piece first to determine how much fiberfill will be needed. Then remove the fiberfill and stuff it into a piece of pantyhose nylons. Use a color that matches the toy if possible. Re-stuff the toy with the fiberfill - filled nylon. It even remains washable.
• No More Wasted Time - Keep a totebag with a portable crochet project by the front door or in the car. Whether you have to run an errand, have a doctor's appointment, get an oil change or stand in line at the DMV, grab your tote bag so you'll have something to do while you're waiting. Good portable projects are motif based items or small projects but avoid white projects that have to be kept clean at all costs as you never know where you might end up.
• Colors Tangling - To keep yarn from tangling when working with more than one color at a time, place the balls of yarn inside a mesh laundry bag. Thread the yarn through the holes in the bag and they will stay tangle free while you work.
• Hands Free Patterns - Use a music stand to hold your instructions while working. Easily adjusts to the proper height for hands free pattern reading. Also if you place the pattern inside a plastic sheet protector, you can use a sharpie or dry erase marker to keep track of your place in the pattern without damaging the original. The sheet protector can easily be wiped off with a wet towel or rubbing alcohol and the pattern is ready for the next use.
• Runaway Yarn - Throughly wash and remove the label from a 2 liter plastic soda pop bottle. Cut off the bottom half. Thread the leading edge of the yarn skein through the neck opening and place the skein inside. Replace the top part of the bottle back into the bottom half. You can cut some small slits in the bottom to adjust the fit if necessary. Tape closed withh masking tape. Use one-liter bottles for smaller skeins or balls of yarn.This will keep them from tangling or rolling around on the floor as you pull on them.
• Choosing Colors - When choosing yarn colors for a new project, try to compare the different colors in the project side-by-side. in direct sunlight if possible, to get a better sense of how the colors will actually look once put together.
• Hook and Needle Holders - For a cheap container to hold your hooks, needles and other yarn supplies, try the new mini M&M plastic tubes. Short ones hold accessories such as yarn needles, stitch holders and stitch markers. Large ones work well to hold both steel and aluminum crochet hooks and smaller knitting needles.
• Embroidering Details - When embroidering facial features or other design details on a knitted or crocheted piece, cut a piece of felt the same size, shape and color as the embroidery and glue it on where the embroidery should go. Embroider directly over the felt, using it as a guide to keep your stitches nice and even. The felt will also hide any small gaps in your stitching.
• Keeping Whites White - To keep white linens or crochet thread white, store them in a piece of blue fabric.

Don't forget to check out my eBay Store "Allyssabeth's Hidden Treasures" for those hard-to-find knit and crochet patterns and other helpful crafting information.

Happy Needlework,

Allyssabeth