HINTS AND TIPS

KNITTED CORD. Easy to make. Use wherever you would use bought cord.

Cast on 3 or more stitches depending on how thick you want the cord and simply knit.

Laces, for jacket fastenings, joining seams, shoe laces, scrunchies, hair ties, parcel ties etc.

Drawstrings, for bags, tops of hats, waistlines of skirts and jackets, replacing elastic.

Edgings. for a shawl or blanket. Knit first or last and join as you knit by picking up an edge loop.

Appliqué, form into flower or leaf shapes etc. and sew to garment.

Knitweave, use knitted cord as the weaving yarn.

Jacket bands, plait 3 thick cords and sew to fronts of garment. Buttonholes are "built in".

KNITTING RAGS. Use instead of waste yarn. Re-usable.

Use 4 ply yarn. A corded, mercerised cotton like Yeoman Cannele is ideal but acrylic is OK.

Cast on 200 stitches by any method, knit approx. 40 rows, cast off.

For a waste yarn cast on bring needles fully forward. Push 'rag' onto needles right back to the gate pegs. Close the needle latches. Knit 1 row s-l-o-w-l-y with nylon cord. Continue garment with main yarn. Pull cord out afterwards. Keep 'rag' for next time.

To protect work in holding position, hang 'rag' on holding position needles to stop brushes rubbing fabric. As more stitches are put to hold, hang on more of the rag.

THROW AWAY RAVEL CORD, use leftovers of 4 ply bright acrylic crepe [Bramwell Artistic or similar] or 4 ply corded cotton [Yeoman Cannelé or similar] instead of buying nylon cord. Throw away after use.

To mark a row for picking up later for hems, single bed pin tucks, waistbands etc. Bring alternate needles fully forward. Lay throw away ravel cord across needles. Use weaving brushes and knit 1 row. Pull out marker when finished.

GENERAL HINTS. Instead of taking stitches off on waste yarn at neck, shoulders, top of sleeve etc. use the garter bar.

Extra weights can be made by putting coins or pebbles in a small plastic coin bag. Hang on work with a curtain hook or paper clip etc.

STRANDING TABLE. In Great Britain most yarns are described as "ply" or "ply equivalent" and GB patterns are written for "ply" yarns of specific brands.. This can be confusing in other parts of the world where specific brands of yarn are not available and different names are used for thickness of yarns. The count system appears to be more or less understood worldwide so here is a list of yarn counts and multiple strands to approximate to the GB ply system.

2/32s, 1 end = true 1 ply. 2 ends = true 2ply. 3 ends = true 3 ply. 4 ends = true 4ply.

2/30s 1 end approx 1ply. 2 ends approx 2ply. 3 ends approx 4ply.

2/28s 2 ends approx 2ply. 3 ends approx 4ply.

2/24s 2 ends approx 3ply. 3 ends approx 4ply. 4 ends approx DK [double knitting]

2/20s 1 end approx 2ply. 2 ends approx 4ply. 3 ends approx DK.

2/16s 1 end = true 2ply. 2 ends = true 4ply. 3 ends = true DK.

2/14s 1 end approx 2ply. 2 ends approx 4ply.

2/12s 1 end approx 3ply. 2 ends approx DK.

2/8s to 2/10s 1 end approx 4ply.

You should now be able to work out the thickness of yarn needed for specific patterns.

I hope you find these hints and tips useful. If you do please let me know. maggieandrews@supanet.com

Web page by Maggie