Lessons
Class Introduction
01:12 2What You Need To Get Started
11:48 3The Yarn Label and What is Gauge?
10:23 4How to Cast On
08:15 5How to Knit Stitch
06:09 6How to Purl Stitch
05:14 7How to Rib Stitch
05:02 8How to Seed Stitch
05:00Lesson Info
Adding a New Ball or Color
Alright, we've learned all of the basic stitches so far but what we haven't talked about is what happens when you've run out of yarn and you need to join a new ball or if you're working on a striped pattern. So, let's deal with this as if we're doing stripes because that's more fun than just plain old we need to join a ball of yarn. So we're gonna be looking at these striped swatches here. Here's just a couple, this one has some ribbing, you know just at the bottom. I actually was swatching, I saw the cover of I think of Vogue magazine with Angelina Jolie and she was wearing this really like hot black and white sweater, so I immediately went home and swatched this cause I'm a knitting nerd and that's what we do. So this is just black and white stripes. Black and white, huge trend right now, even in baby wear. Little bonus for you (laughs) right there. But these are the colors that we're gonna be working with. Colors don't matter necessarily. This is a stockinette swatch. The edges are ...
curling, as I told you earlier they might, but I did do a little border here and that keeps it from curling up. So, even though we're talking about joining yarn just a little side note is that if you're working on a swatch and you don't want the pieces to curl, just add some garter stitch, knit every row on the sides. And you can also do that on the bottom or the top. You can also do that along the sides if you want. But enough about that, cause we need to talk about joining in the yarn. Alright, so I'm gonna move this stuff out of the way. So, since we were working on stripes we know that I just happen to pick a six-row stripe pattern. So that means that every six rows, I'm changing colors. Now, if you were working in, let's say like a two-row color pattern, you could simply join the yarn and carry it up the side and I'll show you that in a second. But to join... For this particular wide stripe pattern I would cut it every time and rejoin there. But let's talk about just joining in general. So this is the same method that you would use if you, I don't know what that little guy is, if you had just run out of yarn and you needed to join, these are in my way I'm ditching them, if you just needed to join a new ball of yarn. You wanna always do it at the beginning of the row. If you run out of yarn midway through the row, don't join at the yarn there. Just unknit those stitches and start again. You'll end up probably having a big hole or if you're washing it, even if you've done a really good job of weaving at ends, if you're washing it it could pull out and become a hole. It's just messy, so I always suggest, and if you can do it on a right-side row, not dire, just a preference. Alright so we've got our color that we were working, this pink, and I'm ready to introduce green. So I'm gonna go ahead and insert my needle as if I were knitting just like I have been before. But instead of picking up this pink, I'm going to pull in the green. I want to make sure that there's a tail, I don't want to grab it right here, there's not going to be enough to weave in. Remember you always leave a long enough tail to weave in so that through wear or washing or whatever your piece doesn't unravel. Cause that would be heartbreaking after you've put all of this work into it. So you want a little bit of a tail, you know, at least six inches, and you're just going to lay that across the back needle. And I kind of pinch it together just so it's kind of a loop, just my method. And then you wanna take it, so that's gonna be the loop that goes on your right-hand needle, you're gonna dip again, see that's the new stitch, and let the pink one fall off. Now look at how big and sort of like unsightly that is. You're just going to take the tail of the other color or the old ball, and pull it, not so it's tight but so it's firm. Okay, and then from there you would just continue knitting as normal, ditching the other color. So you just let that go. Now you have an option. Some people, and sometimes I do, if you're having a hard time, this actually worked out pretty well, it looks pretty even, but if you're having a hard time and you find that it's like, lemme see if I can pull this, if it seems like it's a little bit loose and it kinda bugs you that it looks that way, sometimes what I'll do is I'll just tie a very loose, not even a knot, just like one time. You're not going to leave it like that when you weave in ends, you'll untie it, but it at least kind of keeps it in place. That's just a tip, you don't have to do it that way, but I kind of like that it keeps it kinda closed. And then we're just gonna keep knitting with the new color leaving the old one. So I wanted to show you kind of something that might be interesting for striping. So for this pattern I would cut this and I would then weave it in, and I'm going to show you how to weave in ends later. But if I were working, let's just pretend, let's pretend that I've worked the whole row to the end. Just ignore all of these stitches right here. I just wanna show you a quick tip for carrying yarn. If I were working just two by two stripes, meaning two rows of every color, I wouldn't have to cut the yarn and rejoin at all. What I could do is I could just grab that other color that I hadn't cut, and I could carry it up the side, which just means let the other one drop and work with it. Again that doesn't work for anything over like a two by two rib without it getting pucker-y and looking kind of gross, for lack of a better term. But that is an option. But otherwise you're going to want to cut it and rejoin it just as I just showed you every time. Alright so now you know if you run out of yarn how to join a new one, or if you want to go crazy in stripes you know how to do that too. So let's see what else we can do.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Claudia Quinonez
I have to say that I am a fan of Vickie Howell and I absolutely love the way she teaches this class. The way she teaches this class is so easy to follow and understand. I am a beginner and was having a hard time with adding a new ball and decreases and this course has helped improve my knitting skills.
Ashley Sarikaya
Very helpful class! Vickie Howell is engaging and easy to follow. Excited to be taking more of her classes :)
E.L. Bl/Du
Vicky, WHERE have you been? You are missed on PBS show. VERY much looking fwd to this class. Vicky is one of the BEST knitting/Crochet instructors I have EVER watched. You are guaranteed to learn how to knit easily with her easy to follow instructions. Her own knitting is the most beautiful Ive seen. She tells you how to choose yarn, needles and how to follow patterns. Your set with this class. Even a seasoned pro will learn something.
Student Work
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