Knitting is creative, healing and basically a secret of wellbeing. It is a harmonious relationship between you and your knitting needles. While working on easy patterns and projects, makes your craft soothing, oftentimes complex knitting patterns make you overwhelmed, you are at your wit’s end understanding those abbreviations, the steps and the result is not what you imagined them to be. To continue a mindful relationship between knitting and you, you require more. So, here we are with a few tricks and tips shared by knitting experts in our community.
Before You Begin Knitting
Complex knitting patterns are nothing but a challenge that time to time you must face. Devoting time is important, and it is just as necessary to knit without distractions. Music certainly helps to set the mood, so get a playlist ready before you begin. You must also find a comfortable seat, most probably with lots of light. Below, we have a few things to keep in mind.
1. Invest in Quality Knitting Needles
We always prefer our old and trusted knitting needles over others, but sometimes switching tools or in fact, expanding your collection helps with challenging knitting patterns.
The single-pointed needles are perfect for a classic flat knit. Circular knitting needles are great for both flat and round projects. Interchangeable needles are a worthwhile investment, as one set offers multiple options. Double-pointed needles are quite effective to knit in the round, even with the smallest circumferences. Working with stainless steel needles is a delight, the material is eco-friendly with almost zero carbon emissions.
You can also go for needle sets to have multiple knitting needle sizes and needful accessories.
2. Choose the right Yarn
Most knitting patterns instruct you about the yarn weight and material. Even then, you must not just be totally dependent on the pattern designer’s instructions, you must decide if the yarn works for your project. You must start with knitting a gauge swatch. This will give an idea of how many stitches you have (less or more than mentioned in the gauge), how the yarn works with the needles and also how the yarn fabric looks.
If you have different results than the pattern, you need to explore options in similar yarn weights or even use different needle sizes to get the right gauge.
3. Keep sharp scissors, a blunt darning needle and many stitch markers
Besides needles, knitting accessories are absolutely essential whether it is a simple or complex pattern. Sharp scissors are a must as are a round tip darning needle. And, we cannot help but mention that you must have stitch markers to mark important points of the pattern.
While Knitting
1. Get comfortable.
Knitting is more fun if you are comfortable and when you are up working on a challenging pattern, you need to be seated comfortably since to need to focus on everything you do with the knitting needles. Many knitters find it easy to sit cross-legged with lots of room on either side for moving elbows, while some prefer a comfortable rocking chair or chairs without side arms which allow your elbows to move freely. Experiment and see what works best for you. Be sure to take breaks, and stretch your hands.
2. Knit Looser and use a lifeline
Knitting looser stitches allows you to insert the needle into the stitch smoothly and there will be less resistance when pulling the yarn through. It’s recommended you experiment with different tensioning methods. Another great way to take on a challenging knitting pattern is to use a lifeline.
A lifeline is a thread that runs through all the stitches. In case you need to correct a mistake, you can choose that particular awry stitch rather than disturbing all stitches. Interchangeable circular needles of the Mindful Collection have a hole in their cable connector where you can thread the lifeline.
3. Keep your Knitting Tools & projects organized
Mindful knitting means enjoying every moment of knitting. While at work and at rest. If you are keeping your project, secure with stitch markers and needle stoppers. Stitches can easily slip off the needles leading to dropped stitches, knitting gets snagged and, the yarn can get tangled up. However, using knitting bags keeps your project neat and tangle-free. A knitting tote bag provides portability and organized storage while needle cases are also perfect to keep your tools in pristine condition. You will also get comfortable taking your knitting projects while travelling, knitting outdoors and wherever you wish!
Hopefully, you will try out the above tricks to work on complex knitting patterns. The Mindful knitting collection reinforces the meditative qualities of the knitting craft. The needles are crafted from quality stainless steel. The range focuses on inspiring knitters with inspiring words such as dream, breathe, create, etc.
