Check out my my Youtube channel for more video tutorials in knitting, crochet, and sewing.

Increases in knitting. I show KFB (knit front & back), which is the increase I use when working the gusset portion of the Butt Knits longies & shorties patterns. I also show how to work a right leg increase, a left increase, and the backward loop.

Decreases: I show K2TOG (knit 2 together) and SSK (slip, slip, knit).

Additional picture tutorials can be found here on the blog, and also on ButtKnits.com. Patterns are available in my Etsy shop & there are free patterns available here.

I managed a little bit of quiet time here at the micro-farm and have added a few new video tutorials to my Youtube channel.

The long tail cast on is probably the most common cast on method in knitting. It is the cast on method I use for all of my Butt Knits patterns except for the Traditional Wool Soaker.  Here is how I knit the long tail cast on.

The knitted cast on is a nice one to know if you are casting on with the long tail method but have underestimated your yarn tail length. This cast on also stands on its own and is an Elizabeth Zimmermann favorite.

Additional picture tutorials can be found here on the blog, and also on ButtKnits.com. Patterns are available in my Etsy shop & there are free patterns available here.

When I saw these on Ravelry I just had to share! Jessica (naturallyknitty on Ravelry) did a fantastic job combining the Butt Knits Basic Longies pattern with the chart from the free HP House Fair Isle Pouch Bags pattern. The bag pattern includes charts for all four Hogwarts houses. Great job Jessica and thank you for sharing!

Make your own pair by knitting up a pair of Butt Knits longies or shorties and then using duplicate stitch to add the house design of your choosing. You can see more pics of Jessica’s longies here.

Every now and then the desire to dye wool yarn hits me. So far I have not invested in professional dyes. I use food coloring and/or unsweetened drink mix (ie: Kool-Aid).

This time I used 5 packets of Kool-Aid pink lemonade and 2 packets of cherry flavor. I dyed a hank of Knit Picks Bare Wool of The Andeas.

I don’t really have a recipe for dying wool. I just do what works for me. I start by making sure that the hank is tied in enough places to keep it from becoming tangled during the dying. If you want to have the wool dye solid or semi-solid then tie it loosely. If you want to have some relief (undyed areas), then tie it very tightly with acrylic yarn. The acrylic yarn will not take the dye so it keeps the wool undyed in those areas.  This was my first time doing this. I wanted just a little bit of patterning.

I soak the undyed wool in a bath of lukewarm water and a good “glug” of distilled vinegar. Maybe about 1/2 cup of vinegar. While the wool is soaking I get the dye ready. In a large stainless steel pot I mix my Kool-Aid and more vinegar. Maybe about 3/4 cup.  I dip test pieces of wool yarn in to see if I’m liking the color. The water is lukewarm.

After about 30 minutes or so I transfer the yarn to the dye pot and turn the stove to low or medium low. You want the water hot enough to set the dye but not so hot that you begin to felt the yarn. Never boil yarn when dying it. When the water is clear (all of the dye has gone into the yarn), I remove the pot from the heat and let it cool. Then rinse the yarn in cool water and allow to dry.  Easy peasy!

Tip: For brighter colors add a some neon food coloring. You can find it in the baking section of most grocery stores.

When I’m working on a cable insertion I can, at times, lose my place in the cable. Having five young children and homeschooling, etc, I often have to work on my knitting in spurts of just a few minutes. If I’m working on a complex cable pattern, then I use a chart keeper and a pen to keep my place. When the cable is simple and easy to memorize then I don’t use a chart. The only trouble is was I on round 3 or round 4?

The solution is removable markers. I place the marker in a stitch of the cable as soon as the chosen stitch is on the right needle. (In this picture I’ve worked my way around and am almost back to the cable section.)

I continue knitting (in this case, in the round) and even if I’ve had to set the knitting down several times or it’s been days, weeks, or months since I’ve worked on it – I know exactly where in the cable pattern I am.

*This post taken from my old blog. Original writing July 2008.

Sometimes during those first few rounds or rows of knitting on a new project it can be confusing which yarn is the working yarn and which yarn is the tail yarn. I find it helpful to use one of the plastic bread bag clasps to wind the tail yarn onto.

This way you’re sure not to accidentally begin knitting with the wrong strand.

*This post taken from my old blog. Original writing July 2008.

You know that really ugly tie you wish your main man didn’t have? Well here’s an excellent way to put it to good use while ensuring that he will not be wearing it ever again.

OK, seriously, you can use any tie. Even a nice one. You can go to the thrift store and find one that’s got some personality.

I was looking for a quick way to get my circular knitting needles organized and this tie in my husbands closet caught my eye (how could it not right?). I sewed straight across the the tie (the front and the back together) several times about 1″ apart. Viola! No hemming, no cutting, not even any pinning. You could get fancy and embroider the needle sizes on the front if you want to. One could even snip the tie at the top and make a button hole and add a button if you needed it to come apart. Or you could add hook & loop (Velcro).

Here’s the back

Handy?

*This post taken from my old blog. Original writing August 2008.

I thought I would share with you how I tackle the dreaded frogging. Frogging of course is when you realize that something in your project has gone so horribly wrong that the only thing you can do to fix it is to rip it all out. My husband just can not understand this. He cringes every time I do it. The term frogging I have heard comes from the sound that is made as you pull the yarn and the stitches are popping out. Sort of a “ribbit” sound. You know, like a frog. Apparently ribbit is not a real word. Or at least Firefox is telling me it’s not.

Anyway. Recently I had to frog a pair of shorties I am working on for my son. I pulled the stitching out all the way back to about 1 row after the ribbing. Then, rather than trying to manage getting a knitting needle into those little stitches without causing more of them to disappear, I like to use a long piece of yarn threaded on a tapestry needle.

I carefully go in the back of each stitch all the way around. When I’m finished it looks like this

Now it is a little safer should it come into contact with my children. And I can easily re-thread my knitting needle back into the stitches without worrying that I may cause a few to drop further down. After all, who wants to go back and pick up dropped stitches after the trauma of frogging.