5 Things About Knitting You May Not Have Known

Guest blog By Kath

Knitting, once associated with only older people used to making their own clothes and embarrassing jumpers made by well-meaning Grandmas, is on the up.  Crafts are increasingly popular amongst the young, and sewing and knitting your own clothes in a struggling economy is now not only sensible but also seen as a great way of making your clothes unique to you.

Are you thinking about taking up knitting and are curious to know more?  Here are 5 things about knitting you may not have known.

• The number of celebrities that have taken up knitting.  There are some celebrities that you might associate with knitting but there is a wide range of glamorous women that look to work their needles.  This includes Uma Therman, Debra Messing, Scarlet Johansson, Sarah Jessica Parker and supermodel Kate Moss.

• How old knitting is.  The earliest examples of knitting have been found in Egypt and include a wide range of items, including indigo blue and white cotton stockings, which have been dated between the 11th and 14th centuries CE.

• How important the kind of yarn you use is to the finished product.  Patterns will often come measured in stitches as opposed to being measured by size. This means that the kind of knitting yarns you use could mean the difference between it being fit for purpose or not.  Make sure that you choose the weight that they suggest to avoid problems in the future.  There are around 6 standard weights; super fine, fine, light, medium, bulky and super bulky.

• How important the needle you use is.  This is for the same reason as the kind of yarn you use is important.  Bigger needles do bigger stitches.  This doesn’t mean you need a load of needles, you can just buy them as you need them, or there are a lot of starter kits out there that give you a range of needles in the most commonly used sizes.

• Knitting is for more than just clothes.  There are even some people allergic to wool, so if you enjoy knitting this doesn’t mean that you have to get used to the idea of wearing wool if you don’t want to or sending knitted clothes to anyone you know.  There are crafts you can do; household items, decorations etc.  These are also good for novices and those that only know a limited number of stitches.  They are also good for those looking to learn new stitches.

If you’d like to know more about knitting there are loads of websites and books dedicated to this up and coming craft, so you can make the most of and develop your skills to become a proficient knitter.

If you you’d like to try knitting check out this beginner video series!