Knitting Inspiration from Pinterest

DIY mania is currently taking the world by storm. People, squeezed by financial pressures, are turning to learning, using new DIY skills to save money and create their own goodies. For years now knitters have been doing the same. They haven’t because of financial pressures though, but because of the love of creating something special and unique with their bare hands. It’s this idea of uniqueness coupled with a close knit community (no pun intended!) that drives knitters to continuously be more daring in their designs.

Below are a few examples of some fabulous things people are knitting right now, being shared across social media from knitter to knitter!

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Modern Aran

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When you think of Aran knitting, it probably brings to mind images of the 1970s, folk singers and heavy, cream coloured sweaters with lots of cables and bobbles. It’s fair to say that there is still a lot of these sorts of garments around today, and they’re not exactly straight off the catwalk. Following an Aran pattern is challenging for all levels of knitters, but there’s no point in making something that nobody wants to be seen dead in. Thankfully, there is a more modern approach to this traditional technique. Continue reading

Why Tension is So Important

Most knitters pick up their needles to relieve their tension rather than create it, but if you don’t understand the basic concept of tension, then your knitting project could end up being too big or too small. On every knitting pattern or ball of yarn there is a diagram showing you what the tension should be, but if you’re anything like most knitters, you’ll completely ignore it and skip straight to casting on your stitches. This is however, sometimes a recipe for disaster. Continue reading

Hobbies – World Record Breaking Knitting

Knitters are a sociable bunch, and they love nothing better than getting together with fellow knitters to have a chat and knit at the same time. The world record for the number of knitters all clicking away simultaneously is 3,010 and is held by a group in America. However, there is a British attempt to break this record and everyone is welcome to get involved.

Big Knit

The record attempt is part of the Big Knit, which is a successful campaign which has been running for several years with Age Concern and Innocent Smoothies. Before the Big Knit period, knitters all over the UK are asked to make little bobble hats to fit on top of a smoothie bottle. The bottles with the bobble hats are then sold in store, and for every bottle sold a donation is made to Age Concern. The Big Knit has been running for over 10 years and has raised over £1 million for charity. Continue reading