love these hacks! My hack is when you have a large amount of cast on stitches (for example100). Divide the stitches by 10 and set aside a stitch marker for that number, in this case 10. Mark every 10 stitches as you cast on. This way you know exactly how many stitches you already casted on. And by the count of the remaining stitch markers, you know how many more you need to cast on. It makes counting stitches so much easier and accurate.
Hmm, good idea! I've been getting my hubby to count until we both consistently get same number, lol! Doesn't always go down well but that and helping to fold sheets is pay back for holding ladders and pumping brake pedals in cold weather. 😅
I've tried it. It's a pain in the ass. Only do it if the sweater us suuuuper cheap & made of suuuper great material. I don't think it's worth it if it's just wool.
It's really helpful to do a bit more research into this before you go out and start buying thrifted sweaters. I did this when I was in college, and it's important to look for sweaters like what is in the video. If you see seams that have thread running all over it, stay clear. Those sweaters were knit in sheets, cut out and then sewn together. If you don't mind the time it takes to hunt down the right type of sweater and the unraveling processes, it's a great and eco-friendly way to get new, cheap yarn. There is even a group on Ravelry called the Unravelers.
I thrifted a sweater made of silver silk ribbon yarn and undid the whole thing. Made about 6 hats out of it and sold them all. It's time-consuming to take the seams apart but well worth it to turn a $2 thrift sweater into several pricy-looking projects. Great tip!
I use a plastic carrier bag with tiable handles. Not as pretty as a yarn bowl but yarn can't escape, bag is free or very cheap and fits all sizes of ball/skein.
Did you break the lid on a cute teapot? TaDa: You now have a really cute yarn ball holder. Place the yarn ball in the body of the teapot and feed the end through the spout! Pretty good size ball fits too!
... and you can bring your tea pot yarn ball to the tea house for knitting with friends while having tea and crumpets :) that would be something that would bring smiles on people faces :)
It depends on the sweater. Some are constructed from a large piece of knitted fabric and then machine serged together which trims the fabric edges as they being sewn. If you choose a sweater like that, unravelling just leaves you with a ton of short ends.
After teaching myself to knit, I bought every size Clover bamboo straight needles I could. While the size is printed on each needle, it was a pain having to look at each needle until I found a mate. My solution was to put matching stickers on mates, using different stickers for the various sizes. There are probably easier ways, but I have used these so long that I know grabbing blue hearts are my size 7s, pink flowers are my size 4s, etc. 🙃
i regularly thrift sweaters for yarn, and i usually just wash the sweater whole, then unravel, right into my next project - I don't even wind it into balls!
i LOVE the kinks, reminds me of my grandma who would unravel adult jumpers with holes in the elbows and knit stuff for me. as I said its a personal choice thing, Love your videos keep them coming!
You have a point, but with this particular yarn being 100% wool (maybe not superwash) you run the risk of felting the yarn which would make is hard if not impossible to use.
Another thing that can be used to wind the yarn on as you are unraveling is a homemade pvc pipe holder with a length of pvc (one foot), four six inch pieces, four end caps for the pvc and two three way connectors. No, it’s not something most people have around the house but it’s very cheap. You can also wet it on the pvc and let it dry, getting the kinks out, if that’s what you want. Assemble the connectors on each end of the long piece. Put two short pieces in each end, and cap it off. It will resemble a capital H. Or turn each end opposite of each other and you have a (can’t think of the right word here!)
Hi thanks for the video! I am an old lady knitter and hold my needles the way you do, and am amazed, not many people do. I was taught by my mother 64 year ago and am curious to know why you hold your needle like a pen. I would rather hold my needles the continental way and have tried, because I think it is faster, but a habit of 64 years is difficult to change. Just curious and so glad young people are enthusiastic about knitting, very therapeutic in my old age. X
Anita Swart I learned how to knit with the yarn between my thumb and forefinger and I always hated it! A German lady I worked with showed me how to knit Continental. It felt clumsy at first and I was in my fifties. But I’m a crocheter too so that’s how I hold the yarn when I crochet. Anyway you knit is great!
I hold my needles like a pen to and knit English way like in the video... it is way faster and you can knit longer this way... but hey... each their ways... no bad way to knit... or so :)
These are some great tips, thanks! I use large oatmeal containers (tubes) for holding my yarn. It holds a large skein upright when pulling from the end/inside and they don’t tip over. You can cut a hole in the plastic lid for the yarn to flow through or just leave the lid off. Same with empty ice cream buckets - plastic or paper board.
My favorite line marker is two flat magnets, on on the front of the sheet of paper and one on the back. They hold each other in place, you can slide it along the rows as you work and it does not lose its hold like tape or post-it notes eventually do.
Nice hacks and nice video. I wanna share my other hacks that I've been doing as well. 1. Instead of cork for securing dpns when not working, i just use plain rubber bands. 2. Use safety pins as stitch markers. Even just a small rubber loom bands work wonders. 3. If you can't find any yarn projects at a thrift store, which usually happens to me, any old old old crochet or knitted projects works. Which you feel you won't be using for the next 5 years. This was a part of a decluterring technique I apply. 4. Old large ice cream tubs works like magic as a yarn winder, specially large balls of yarns. Just snip a hole on the lid and voila, it works wonders. 5. Fabric glue, this works wonders on synthetic fibers on securing them together instead of a knot or even a loose end. Just a dab of it and it seals and binds the end or 2 strands of yarn. I hope this helps all fiber artists worldwide.
I use a wood salad bowl (garage sale find) attach a office binder clip to run the yarn through. Makes a great yarn bowl for large worsted balls and bulky yarns.
I've been thrifting and knitting and didn't even imagine combining the two, I always go after church with my mom and my sister is going to join us tomorrow. Better believe I'm gonna be on the lookout for anything I can steal yarn from lol
You have some great hacks, I love your videos! Instead of using corks, use wide rubber bands, they're just as effective. That toilet roll hack to make a center pull ball would take forever! I use my hands. I learned how to do it from a UA-cam video years ago. Goes waaaayyyyy faster. And since you're going to be at the thrift store, get a ball winder! I've seen them there for $3.
the image you showed as the yarn ball winder is not a winder. It is a yarn swift, which is for holding your yarn so that you could wind it into a ball from the hank. A yarn ball winder looks more like the reel on a fishing pole. (wink) Also the recycling the yarn from the thrifted sweater there is a very important factor, the seams. There are 2 kinds of seams a serged seam and and rolled seams. the serged looks just like the inside seams of a sweatshirt or t-shirt... this one is bad for recycling. When you unravel this it will give you a bunch of short pieces of yarn because this was cut from a larger piece of knitted fabric. What you want is where you can see two separate "rolls" or it looks like 2 braids laying side by side. This is what you want. this will give you one long strand per a piece unless it gets broken or there are holes in the sweater.
Sometimes the "good" type will also look like there's a crochet chain running alongside the seam. You see that on old vintage handmade sweaters sometimes.
YOU taught me how to knit!! I'd been trying to learn for a while; I'd read several "how to knit for children" books, hoping they'd be simple enough to follow. It wasn't until I found YOUR tutorials that everything finally clicked! THANK YOU!!!!!
I have been experimenting since I saw this vid, I have successfully used an empty tissue box as a yarn ball holder, paper clips as stitch markers and stitch holders, and pencil erasers instead of corks.
In terms of keeping your yarn clean, I've found that putting a ball of yarn inside a ziplock baggie works very well. If you have a multi-color project, a separate baggie for each color works very nicely. If you have more than one project in your knitting bag, then you can separate them by putting the yarn ball/baggies and project into a larger qt. or 1/2 gal. or gallon baggie. This is nice as you may have instructions and just pop them in there too. Yarn bowls are neat to look at but I find they are not for me. I knit in several places or in the car often and a more portable approach when you don't risk breaking a yarn bowl, is for me.
courag1 Excellent advice! I also use baggies. For yarn bowls, I just use a dollar store soft plastic bucket/bowl type at home that is wide enough to hold my projects!
I just leave 1 corner of the baggie unzipped, to run the thread through. I will also pin the baggie to the wrong side of my knitting, a few cm below the knitting needle - mainly for multi colour work. I have had 6 colours in use at a time. No point in getting yarn tangles.
I’m so glad I found an Asian UA-camr that does knitting videos!!! Seeing someone that looks like me, and that does the things I like to do really means a lot.
i do the spit thing but after I unwind the ends of the yarn I cut out half of the strands on each side so that when the edges are joined - the yarn is all the same thickness - without a fat part...
if you do a blanket and need to remember to turn a corner i say use twist ties like the ones from the loafs of bread. they are reuseable as many times as you like.
Got the biggest kick this morning that you used my tip for stitch markers. The video segment made it look so cool. Thanks for all your great tips and your excellent videos.
Thank you for the thrift store tutorial. Many years ago i saw a documentary on a man who would knit things for donations and his source of yarn was thrift store sweaters but he never showed how he did it.
I need noise in the background at work so I have been playing your videos, absorbing by osmosis and taking a quick note here and there. Just made a note for this one. You're wonderful!
Great hacks, I especially loved the toothpick as a cable needle replacement. Thank you. Here a a couple of mine: 1. As for Yarn-Bowl replacement. My hack is a very simple one, and is suitable for every size of yarn ball, small or huge. I take a zip-lock plastic back in a size that would fit my ball. Using a paper hole punch (or a pointy screwdriver, or a knitting needle) I puncture a hole on the side of the to of the plastic bag under the zip closure. All is left is to place the ball of yarn in the bag, thread the yarn through the hole, and zip close tightly the bag. Now the yarn can roll freely on the floor without tangling, or accumulate dust and dirt, and you have a smooth constant supply of clean untangled yarn. 2. Another great helper is those small row counters. When ever I need to cast on ore that 20 stiches I use one to mark every 10 stiches: 30,40,50,....If I need more than a hundred stiches, I mark 00 for 100, and 10 for 110, 20 for 120 and so on. Looking at the amount of stiches on the needle it is clear that the 20 represents 120. The reason I do it every 10 stiches is to make sure I know where I am even if I am interrupted with a phone call, one of the children, the door, etc. It also saves me the need to count again all the stiches once I am finished casting them on. Hope my hacks will be helpful.
Love the coffee cup yarn bowl and straw stitch holders! That's awesome! True story, I used some bamboo kitchen skewers as my very first knitting needles. They were super rough so I had to smooth them down, and they were really small, maybe size 1, but they worked!
You are my favorite!! I am new and was finishing a hat. I did not have stoppers on the dpns😢 Everything fell off. I pulled everything back pretty far and saw all kinds of errors. I decided to diligently think back until there were none. Then I saw your lifeline video. Thank you so much! After reworking, I put one in and then replaced it later with a new lifeline. Now, when I go dpn it will not be so traumatic. I literally put this thing down for 2 months until I got brave again. Thank you. You are awesome!!!
I use an clean plastic ice cream container with a binder clip on the edge to hold my ball of yarn and keep the yarn fed through the clip. The best part is the binder clip which you can attach to just about any container to hold ur yarn!
Nice video. I always use page protectors and a dry erase marker works great to mark off lines or rows. When I spit felt yarn and it is not a single-ply I cut off half the strands on each side before spit felting. This way you end up with the same thickness as the rest of the yarn. The popcorn backing that comes in things can be used for the ends of needles.
I've used spit splicing more times than I can count. Another type of yarn that a spit splice won't work on: superwash wool. A spit splice works on any animal fiber that will felt. Superwash wool has had that ability removed from it. If a spit splice doesn't work, try making a Russian join.
If you're working with more yarn in different colors the best yarn bowl is a colander. It surprised the heck out of me when I tried it and it worked beautifully. Thought I add this hack also to your list. Ü
I’ve got lots of sweaters that I’ve taken apart from thrift stores and re-purposed the yarn. Like you I always wash it and I’ve never been dissatisfied with any I’ve gotten. After it’s dried I use my ball winder to wind it into a cake.
Hack #3!! I have so many old sweaters that I haven't worn in years or just... er... um... don't fit anymore. So many beautiful colors and I never thought to re-use them in this way. Thank you!!
January Gem I was thinking this too!! I have a bunch of vintage sweaters that are just collecting dust. Think I’ll just wash it beforehand though, might be easier.
I use a double ended needle just slightly larger than my working needles to do my cabling. Pass the stitches on one end, slide them to the middle, hold in front/behind, slide them to the off load side, knit the stitches off the other end instead of putting them back on the working needle.
I use those tiny rubber bands that girls used to make bracelets out of (think rainbow loom) or tiny clear hair elastics for stitch markers and use them to stop stitches from falling off dpn. Just wrap two, three times and they wont fall off. Way easier than trying to find and push needles through a cork.
Looooove the tips!!!! I just thought of one... I'm new to knitting and trying to find inexpensive needles to try... a cheap idea is use bamboo chopsticks...I used an Emory board to file down the tips into pointing tips. And using corks on both ends so my yarn doesn't slide off.
This is a great idea! I just recently got into both knitting and crocheting at the same time a couple of weeks ago and before I could get any knitting needles all I had was metal chopsticks lol then I switched to some wooden ones I found hidden in a drawer and whittled the ends down with a kitchen knife to get them pointed LOL they weren't the greatest but they did okay for the time being.
I've been knitting since I was 10yo. But never really learned anything but the basics. Having recently retired, I have more time to dedicate to my knitting! Just came upon your channel and I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE IT !!! Your explanations, demonstrations, techniques, "hacks", and of course, sense of humor are wonderful! I'm so glad I found you! Thank you, I'm such a fan.
1. Easiest "yarn bowl" is probably just closing the flaps of a cardboard box with the yarn inside. 2. The spitjoin works through the felting process, and therefore only on feltable fibers, and water should work fine.
Do some research first. If you see a sweater that has machine serged edges avoid it because the serging process trims the seam and all you will end up with is a bunch of short yarn pieces.
A tip for straightening yarn that my mum uses for about 30 years now and it works wonders. A bit dangerous too, but we had only one accident with it and it was the cat's fault, not any careful human. So basicaly, she washes a sweater as she would normally do, unravells yarn, makes a ball. She puts a ball in a pot, threads the yarn through one handle (just like with the mug hack). She puts a pot of water on the stove on small heat, threads the yarn through both handles. Steam straightens the yarn as she pulls and makes a new ball of yarn. Yarn needs to be wrapped really loosely after that or IT will get stiff. You get perfectly straight and soft yarn this way
Yes, it should simmer so it produces more steam :) I also put the pot lid on top, so it creates a little tension on the thread (sorry if I use inaccurate words, English is my second language and I can't name some objects)
That naked umbrella thing is called a swift and it is for holding hanks of yarn while winding into cakes on a ball winder. It spins as the yarn is being pulled into the winder.
2:15 MIND BLOWN I thought these were purpose-built as stich markers. These "bulb pins" are the only stitch markers I like to have and I really love them in a variety of colors.
The Russian join gets rid of the bump in the spit join. Cut 1/2 of each end of frayed ends, reducing the bulk and then overlap to make it the regular diameter and go ahead and spit, etc...
It's hard to Russian join into certain yarns, for example very small weights or a ply that is braided. A spit splice will work every time....but I do prefer to use Russian whenever possible~
Seeing the video, I remembered some soup bowls that turned out to be unpractical in the kitchen but guess what? I checked and they are ideal to hold a ball of yarn... Also, a pringles can can hold a 100 gr skein of sock yarn and your sock under construction on the go
liked the toilet paper roll to create a center pull yarn ball. I used to have a yarn winder (did machine knitting) that I sold with my knitting machine and soon wished I had kept it. Since I am mostly handknitting again, those yarn remnants would be so much tidier wound into balls. Thanks for the great tip!
I just love your energy. I’ve used toilet paper rolls to ball yarn from a rip out, but I didn’t know there was a way to make it into a center pull ball - awesome!
Bulb pins are my new favourite type of marker. I started using them before I watched this (literally bought some advertised as markers) and didn’t realise they had other implied uses.
I have always used a large zip lock bag to hold my yarn balls-they roll everywhere and the bag never opens--whick results in clean yarn in case it falls on the floor--
Aquila Clark and they come in a plethora of sizes to fit every project, are waterproof and are flexible enough to stuff into the most crowded tote! My faves are the Jumbo 2+ gallon size (Target’s Up& Up are good) which hold everything up to a bulky ski sweater!
I put patterns in plastic sheet covers so that I can mark with dry erase markers when doing fair isle or graph type knitting and crochet. I like to X the squares as I go ever time I change color, helps me keep count, but want to be able to reuse the pattern without wasting paper.
Finally - a hack film that really has hacks - it is brilliant! Ok I knew a couple of them but maybe 7 or 8 of them I was ... why have I never thought of that! So obvious! And the very best one - how to join two balls of wool. Surprised it doesn't work on cotton or linen though.
Linen and cotton won’t felt together the way animal fivers do because animal fibers on a microscopic level have small “scales” that interlock when agitated with moisture and friction.
I use small elastic bands to go around the needles to stop projects falling off, I also use a large pop bottle cut in half and if it’s needed to be weighted I will pop rice in a bag in the bottom and then slide the wool through the bottle top and slide the top of the bottle over the bottom, can make the cut bottle edges smooth by quickly running an iron over the bottom, this is the easiest way I found when using multiple threads, also paper straws. Etc loads of little hacks
- yarn bowl: either center pull or for mohair or cones, use a hanging kitchen towel holder. Much cleaner. - row markers as stitch markers : I do this all the time. I honestly dont understand why something with less complexity and material costs more (with the stitch markers) - 3rd sweater : unrelated, but I really liked the top design and was sad to see it unravel. Also for those that dont have babies, if you're going to buy something anyway make it fabric softener. Works better plus you'll keep using it anyway. It also helps to make the hank around a chair instead of a book and drying it around the chair. If the yarn isn't acrylic, you can use a hair dryer to improve the straightening plus reduce time. Leave the yarn on the chair back when you roll it into a ball. Spinny office chairs are a dream to do this on - cable hack with toothpick : the chunky yarn cable with a pencil is great ; for 7mm and under, use dpns that you'll buy anyway - better to maintain gauge in the cabled bits. I'd even go up a dpn size to prevent holes and the cables warping if you're a tight knitter - yarn joining: only works on animal fibers. Plus water works fine and much more sanitary. If skeptical, add a very small amount of wool shampoo - center pull yarn: those 'umbrellas' are hank makers. Ball winders are completely different. Besides the pictures, we call them cakes.. never heard of them being called 'center pull balls'. - the cork stopper trick is great. I'll try that
Something to think about with yarn from thrift stores, or sweaters, are little pests. Like carpet beetles. I’ve never personally had issues, but I’ve heard HORROR stories about yarn bought at like the goodwill or whatever, that had larvae in it, and then the hatched, and they literally, EAT natural fibers. The channel “watch Barbara Knits” has a video about yarn storage, I think the recommends putting it in the freezer for 24 hours, taking it out for 24, and putting it back in the freezer for 24 hours. To get rid of any possible pests.
@@sheepandstitch me either!!! I was just knitting along one day, watching youtube, and her video about yarn storage was next. I think she lives in the South somewhere, I live in the South SF Bay Area, so I was like "I've never heard of a carpet beetle!" They must not be here or in the North East, where I'm from originally. A couple days later I was scrolling thru next-door and what was someone dealing with....CARPET BEETLES!! I was itching for days, and spent a lot of time getting my stash and finished projects, I sell my stuff, bug proofed. I've never seen one, but I've heard they can do massive amount of damage, to natural animal fibers. Horrifying! Makes me itchy thinking about it. :P
Hack number 8 - I just use two needles together to cast on. If you're using circulars, you can even lock the stitches in by removing a needle and starting again with casting on (I usually do 50 at a time). Great for keeping track of lots of stitches and getting a loose cast on without extra needles.
For double point knitting sock protection - if you buy those plastic/rubbery needle stoppers, sometimes they are shaped like gummy bears or socks. You make a hole in the end, thread some elastic through and put a knot in it, then do the same with the 2nd one. Then you slip one stopper on one end of the 4 needles and stretch it to the other end and hey presto your work wont slip off in your bag when traveling.
Forgive this post if someone else has already mentioned it. When you are talking about winding a centre pull ball of yarn , you showed a photo of a swift - not a ball winder (mark 12:55-12:03). Please correct the photo, so as not to lead to confusion and the unintentional spread of disinformation.
![12 FRUGAL knitting hacks [using inexpensive house hold items]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/EvL41Pj9n3E/mqdefault.jpg)
love these hacks! My hack is when you have a large amount of cast on stitches (for example100). Divide the stitches by 10 and set aside a stitch marker for that number, in this case 10. Mark every 10 stitches as you cast on. This way you know exactly how many stitches you already casted on. And by the count of the remaining stitch markers, you know how many more you need to cast on. It makes counting stitches so much easier and accurate.
I always do this!!! Only, I do every 20.
Genius idea! Thank you for the tip!
Hmm, good idea! I've been getting my hubby to count until we both consistently get same number, lol!
Doesn't always go down well but that and helping to fold sheets is pay back for holding ladders and pumping brake pedals in cold weather. 😅
Omg! Nice idea,hon! Wait a second… I did it!! It really helps!
Ps I did this with my dad account cuz my iPad crashed so the name…
Thrifting a sweater and unraveling the yarn to repurpose is honestly one of the most genius hacks I've ever heard 😭💖
and sustainable!!
I've tried it. It's a pain in the ass. Only do it if the sweater us suuuuper cheap & made of suuuper great material. I don't think it's worth it if it's just wool.
L R exactly. A skein isn’t that expensive
It's really helpful to do a bit more research into this before you go out and start buying thrifted sweaters. I did this when I was in college, and it's important to look for sweaters like what is in the video. If you see seams that have thread running all over it, stay clear. Those sweaters were knit in sheets, cut out and then sewn together.
If you don't mind the time it takes to hunt down the right type of sweater and the unraveling processes, it's a great and eco-friendly way to get new, cheap yarn. There is even a group on Ravelry called the Unravelers.
I love that idea, but I’d only do it if the yarn was really nice and more than I could afford to buy from a shop
I thrifted a sweater made of silver silk ribbon yarn and undid the whole thing. Made about 6 hats out of it and sold them all. It's time-consuming to take the seams apart but well worth it to turn a $2 thrift sweater into several pricy-looking projects. Great tip!
Elaine Liner off
Wow so wise
I use a ziplock Bag with a hole in the corner to feed my yarn through and it works beautifully as a yarn bowl on the go!
Great idea!!!
That is smart! Never thought of that. Thanks!
I also use a ziplock baggie too but I don't close the zipper all the way. I close each end and leave a small opening in the middle for the yarn feed.
I use a plastic carrier bag with tiable handles. Not as pretty as a yarn bowl but yarn can't escape, bag is free or very cheap and fits all sizes of ball/skein.
Omg 👍 works so well! Thank you!
I was taught to cast on over *both needles*, then pull one out. That makes the cast-on nicely loose even though I do it super tight... :D
That’s a great tip!
yeah I love this tip because then you don't have to transfer the stitches but just slip out the extra needle!
That’s what I was taught too
Yes!! Me too!!
Samee ❤️
Did you break the lid on a cute teapot? TaDa: You now have a really cute yarn ball holder. Place the yarn ball in the body of the teapot and feed the end through the spout! Pretty good size ball fits too!
... and you can bring your tea pot yarn ball to the tea house for knitting with friends while having tea and crumpets :) that would be something that would bring smiles on people faces :)
@@amyahdocq8835 Perfect! xo
Brilliant! Love it!
🙂
Thank You Very Much ❤️
Balling a used sweater.. my jaw is on the floor!!! BRILLIANT hack. 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏 Seriously.. I will never donate a sweater again!
I laughed and then realized how brilliant YOU are. I have sweaters that I'm happy to unravel. Wow!!!
It depends on the sweater. Some are constructed from a large piece of knitted fabric and then machine serged together which trims the fabric edges as they being sewn. If you choose a sweater like that, unravelling just leaves you with a ton of short ends.
I always do this
I love to knit
After teaching myself to knit, I bought every size Clover bamboo straight needles I could. While the size is printed on each needle, it was a pain having to look at each needle until I found a mate. My solution was to put matching stickers on mates, using different stickers for the various sizes. There are probably easier ways, but I have used these so long that I know grabbing blue hearts are my size 7s, pink flowers are my size 4s, etc. 🙃
Oh this is absolutely brilliant!
The reason I love knitter's pride zing and melody
i regularly thrift sweaters for yarn, and i usually just wash the sweater whole, then unravel, right into my next project - I don't even wind it into balls!
I use empty cleaning wipe containers to hold skeins of yarn. Many are tall enough I can shove a crochet hook in them, or short needles.
Wash the sweater AND THEN unravel it. it's much easier! Though, you are right about it being easier to use if it's less kinked. Personal choice here
Yeah, gotta unravel and then wash if you want to get rid of the kinks! A bit more work, but I love a straight yarn!
i LOVE the kinks, reminds me of my grandma who would unravel adult jumpers with holes in the elbows and knit stuff for me. as I said its a personal choice thing, Love your videos keep them coming!
You have a point, but with this particular yarn being 100% wool (maybe not superwash) you run the risk of felting the yarn which would make is hard if not impossible to use.
Another thing that can be used to wind the yarn on as you are unraveling is a homemade pvc pipe holder with a length of pvc (one foot), four six inch pieces, four end caps for the pvc and two three way connectors. No, it’s not something most people have around the house but it’s very cheap. You can also wet it on the pvc and let it dry, getting the kinks out, if that’s what you want. Assemble the connectors on each end of the long piece. Put two short pieces in each end, and cap it off. It will resemble a capital H. Or turn each end opposite of each other and you have a (can’t think of the right word here!)
Hand washing, right?
I always wash with a mashing and it matts it up. Even if it's in a protective mesh bag.
Hi thanks for the video! I am an old lady knitter and hold my needles the way you do, and am amazed, not many people do. I was taught by my mother 64 year ago and am curious to know why you hold your needle like a pen.
I would rather hold my needles the continental way and have tried, because I think it is faster, but a habit of 64 years is difficult to change.
Just curious and so glad young people are enthusiastic about knitting, very therapeutic in my old age. X
Anita Swart I learned how to knit with the yarn between my thumb and forefinger and I always hated it! A German lady I worked with showed me how to knit Continental. It felt clumsy at first and I was in my fifties. But I’m a crocheter too so that’s how I hold the yarn when I crochet.
Anyway you knit is great!
I hold my needles like a pen to and knit English way like in the video... it is way faster and you can knit longer this way... but hey... each their ways... no bad way to knit... or so :)
@@amyahdocq8835 💕💕
I agree with you. I am 69 years old and teaching myself to knit the continental way.
I’ve heard it’s easier for a crochet her to do it that way but I’ve net the English way so long I don’t know if I can master it.
I repurposed an old plastic colander as a yarn bowl! It doubles as a semi-neat container for the work in progress.
That's super creative & pragmatic! 😍
These are some great tips, thanks!
I use large oatmeal containers (tubes) for holding my yarn.
It holds a large skein upright when pulling from the end/inside and they don’t tip over.
You can cut a hole in the plastic lid for the yarn to flow through or just leave the lid off.
Same with empty ice cream buckets - plastic or paper board.
My favorite line marker is two flat magnets, on on the front of the sheet of paper and one on the back. They hold each other in place, you can slide it along the rows as you work and it does not lose its hold like tape or post-it notes eventually do.
Nice hacks and nice video. I wanna share my other hacks that I've been doing as well.
1. Instead of cork for securing dpns when not working, i just use plain rubber bands.
2. Use safety pins as stitch markers. Even just a small rubber loom bands work wonders.
3. If you can't find any yarn projects at a thrift store, which usually happens to me, any old old old crochet or knitted projects works. Which you feel you won't be using for the next 5 years. This was a part of a decluterring technique I apply.
4. Old large ice cream tubs works like magic as a yarn winder, specially large balls of yarns. Just snip a hole on the lid and voila, it works wonders.
5. Fabric glue, this works wonders on synthetic fibers on securing them together instead of a knot or even a loose end. Just a dab of it and it seals and binds the end or 2 strands of yarn.
I hope this helps all fiber artists worldwide.
Thanks for these tips! They sound awesome!
So much to read so much to learn😲😳 this actually helped and was so smart thanks 😌😊
I use a wood salad bowl (garage sale find) attach a office binder clip to run the yarn through. Makes a great yarn bowl for large worsted balls and bulky yarns.
I've been thrifting and knitting and didn't even imagine combining the two, I always go after church with my mom and my sister is going to join us tomorrow. Better believe I'm gonna be on the lookout for anything I can steal yarn from lol
You have some great hacks, I love your videos! Instead of using corks, use wide rubber bands, they're just as effective. That toilet roll hack to make a center pull ball would take forever! I use my hands. I learned how to do it from a UA-cam video years ago. Goes waaaayyyyy faster. And since you're going to be at the thrift store, get a ball winder! I've seen them there for $3.
the image you showed as the yarn ball winder is not a winder. It is a yarn swift, which is for holding your yarn so that you could wind it into a ball from the hank. A yarn ball winder looks more like the reel on a fishing pole. (wink)
Also the recycling the yarn from the thrifted sweater there is a very important factor, the seams. There are 2 kinds of seams a serged seam and and rolled seams. the serged looks just like the inside seams of a sweatshirt or t-shirt... this one is bad for recycling. When you unravel this it will give you a bunch of short pieces of yarn because this was cut from a larger piece of knitted fabric. What you want is where you can see two separate "rolls" or it looks like 2 braids laying side by side. This is what you want. this will give you one long strand per a piece unless it gets broken or there are holes in the sweater.
...it's not a "peace sign." It's a Mercedes Benz symbol.
Sometimes the "good" type will also look like there's a crochet chain running alongside the seam. You see that on old vintage handmade sweaters sometimes.
I was thinking the same thing like um.... that's a swift....
@@chriscode6431 Same, lol
Fully agree.
YOU taught me how to knit!! I'd been trying to learn for a while; I'd read several "how to knit for children" books, hoping they'd be simple enough to follow. It wasn't until I found YOUR tutorials that everything finally clicked! THANK YOU!!!!!
Love your energy and enthusiasm!! Learning to knit at 60, me!! And appreciate all these hacks...repurpose and reuse!! Subscribed!!
I been learning knitting fer two days. I been wanting to learn for years Now I am able to thank you
I have been experimenting since I saw this vid, I have successfully used an empty tissue box as a yarn ball holder, paper clips as stitch markers and stitch holders, and pencil erasers instead of corks.
In terms of keeping your yarn clean, I've found that putting a ball of yarn inside a ziplock baggie works very well. If you have a multi-color project, a separate baggie for each color works very nicely. If you have more than one project in your knitting bag, then you can separate them by putting the yarn ball/baggies and project into a larger qt. or 1/2 gal. or gallon baggie. This is nice as you may have instructions and just pop them in there too.
Yarn bowls are neat to look at but I find they are not for me. I knit in several places or in the car often and a more portable approach when you don't risk breaking a yarn bowl, is for me.
courag1
Excellent advice! I also use baggies. For yarn bowls, I just use a dollar store soft plastic bucket/bowl type at home that is wide enough to hold my projects!
I like it! I like it! Thanks.
The baggies work great! I put a very small slit in the bottom of the baggie so I can thread the yarn through it and zip up the bag.
I just leave 1 corner of the baggie unzipped, to run the thread through.
I will also pin the baggie to the wrong side of my knitting, a few cm below the knitting needle - mainly for multi colour work. I have had 6 colours in use at a time. No point in getting yarn tangles.
@@yliberal6355 Ice cream bucket works well also.
I’m so glad I found an Asian UA-camr that does knitting videos!!! Seeing someone that looks like me, and that does the things I like to do really means a lot.
Awesome! Thanks for watching! 💕
The owners of my yarn store are asian... wonderful ladies...
For a yarn bowl I use one of my tea kettles. Pull yarn end through the spout. Taa-daa! Works great.
I love her videos. She's cheerful, funny, and explains everything in great detail.
When you said to unravel an old sweater or a thrift store sweater I looked straight to my hand me down in my closet XD
i do the spit thing but after I unwind the ends of the yarn I cut out half of the strands on each side so that when the edges are joined - the yarn is all the same thickness - without a fat part...
if you do a blanket and need to remember to turn a corner i say use twist ties like the ones from the loafs of bread. they are reuseable as many times as you like.
Got the biggest kick this morning that you used my tip for stitch markers. The video segment made it look so cool. Thanks for all your great tips and your excellent videos.
Spitting in your yarn takes to expression : "blood, sweat & tears (& now spit)" to an entire new level
Thank you for the thrift store tutorial. Many years ago i saw a documentary on a man who would knit things for donations and his source of yarn was thrift store sweaters but he never showed how he did it.
Saw him too... he was also knitting tons of tuques for homeless and poor people... he was quite a knitter
Old screens make amazing drying racks for faster dryoing.
Glad I'm not the only one who gets excited about those safety pins on the clothing tags. Free stitch markers!
Haha yesss! Love seeing those little bulb pins!
I use small, colored paper clips.
I crochet but I find some of these hacks super helpful, I love your video! I never watched you before but I like your content.
Thanks for watching!
When she took those needles out of that circular work it frightened me on a deep level lol
I need noise in the background at work so I have been playing your videos, absorbing by osmosis and taking a quick note here and there. Just made a note for this one. You're wonderful!
Great hacks, I especially loved the toothpick as a cable needle replacement. Thank you.
Here a a couple of mine:
1. As for Yarn-Bowl replacement. My hack is a very simple one, and is suitable for every size of yarn ball, small or huge. I take a zip-lock plastic back in a size that would fit my ball. Using a paper hole punch (or a pointy screwdriver, or a knitting needle) I puncture a hole on the side of the to of the plastic bag under the zip closure. All is left is to place the ball of yarn in the bag, thread the yarn through the hole, and zip close tightly the bag. Now the yarn can roll freely on the floor without tangling, or accumulate dust and dirt, and you have a smooth constant supply of clean untangled yarn.
2. Another great helper is those small row counters. When ever I need to cast on ore that 20 stiches I use one to mark every 10 stiches: 30,40,50,....If I need more than a hundred stiches, I mark 00 for 100, and 10 for 110, 20 for 120 and so on. Looking at the amount of stiches on the needle it is clear that the 20 represents 120. The reason I do it every 10 stiches is to make sure I know where I am even if I am interrupted with a phone call, one of the children, the door, etc. It also saves me the need to count again all the stiches once I am finished casting them on.
Hope my hacks will be helpful.
The amount of effort in these videos does not go unnoticed!! Thanks for the tips :) From a new knitter
Thank you for your kind words 🤗
Love the coffee cup yarn bowl and straw stitch holders! That's awesome!
True story, I used some bamboo kitchen skewers as my very first knitting needles. They were super rough so I had to smooth them down, and they were really small, maybe size 1, but they worked!
I made my first DPNs out of sanded chopsticks 😆
You are my favorite!! I am new and was finishing a hat. I did not have stoppers on the dpns😢 Everything fell off. I pulled everything back pretty far and saw all kinds of errors. I decided to diligently think back until there were none. Then I saw your lifeline video. Thank you so much! After reworking, I put one in and then replaced it later with a new lifeline. Now, when I go dpn it will not be so traumatic. I literally put this thing down for 2 months until I got brave again. Thank you. You are awesome!!!
I use an clean plastic ice cream container with a binder clip on the edge to hold my ball of yarn and keep the yarn fed through the clip. The best part is the binder clip which you can attach to just about any container to hold ur yarn!
To block my projects I bought the rubber floor mats that connect together. I block larger objects easily and T pins work great on them.
I do that too... so easy ...
I absolutely love your quirky personality and your videos. Such a joy to watch your videos
Aww thanks so much! I appreciate that a lot 🥰
Me too!
Love the hacks. I actually use the yarn ball that I’m working with to stab the needles in instead of the corks. It’s easy and handy haha
Nice video. I always use page protectors and a dry erase marker works great to mark off lines or rows. When I spit felt yarn and it is not a single-ply I cut off half the strands on each side before spit felting. This way you end up with the same thickness as the rest of the yarn. The popcorn backing that comes in things can be used for the ends of needles.
I've used spit splicing more times than I can count. Another type of yarn that a spit splice won't work on: superwash wool. A spit splice works on any animal fiber that will felt. Superwash wool has had that ability removed from it. If a spit splice doesn't work, try making a Russian join.
Dang, that sweater was cute! :(
It was cute, but it was also way too small for me!
If you're working with more yarn in different colors the best yarn bowl is a colander. It surprised the heck out of me when I tried it and it worked beautifully. Thought I add this hack also to your list. Ü
I’ve got lots of sweaters that I’ve taken apart from thrift stores and re-purposed the yarn. Like you I always wash it and I’ve never been dissatisfied with any I’ve gotten. After it’s dried I use my ball winder to wind it into a cake.
Hack #3!! I have so many old sweaters that I haven't worn in years or just... er... um... don't fit anymore. So many beautiful colors and I never thought to re-use them in this way. Thank you!!
January Gem I was thinking this too!! I have a bunch of vintage sweaters that are just collecting dust. Think I’ll just wash it beforehand though, might be easier.
Yes! I’m thinking of repurposing an old sweater too! I can imagine a second life as a scarf!
Yes washing it beforehand is a great idea!
@@phoebedenton123 Great idea. It definitely would be much easier.
I use a double ended needle just slightly larger than my working needles to do my cabling. Pass the stitches on one end, slide them to the middle, hold in front/behind, slide them to the off load side, knit the stitches off the other end instead of putting them back on the working needle.
Cabling without a needle would blow your mind lol. It's a game changer
@@chriscode6431 I'm not cabling a 10CF without a cable needle, my dude. Lol I use the non-needle method, but only for one to two stitch cables....
@@firegodessreiko you're just not that adventurous 😂. A 10, yeah maybe I'd a cn. But most patterns don't call for tens.
I cant cable to save myself LOL I keep dropping the cable needle and losing my stitches
@@karenm2293 lol you gotta practice, practice, and practice some more.
I love that second hand store yarn 🧶 hack 😉🙌🏽 great way to get some bougie ass yarn 🤣🙌🏽🤗
I use those tiny rubber bands that girls used to make bracelets out of (think rainbow loom) or tiny clear hair elastics for stitch markers and use them to stop stitches from falling off dpn. Just wrap two, three times and they wont fall off. Way easier than trying to find and push needles through a cork.
Looooove the tips!!!! I just thought of one... I'm new to knitting and trying to find inexpensive needles to try... a cheap idea is use bamboo chopsticks...I used an Emory board to file down the tips into pointing tips. And using corks on both ends so my yarn doesn't slide off.
This is a great idea! I just recently got into both knitting and crocheting at the same time a couple of weeks ago and before I could get any knitting needles all I had was metal chopsticks lol then I switched to some wooden ones I found hidden in a drawer and whittled the ends down with a kitchen knife to get them pointed LOL they weren't the greatest but they did okay for the time being.
Bamboo food skewers work as well...already pointed!...
Thanks! Great ideas. No more rolling my leftover yarn without the center pull winding hack.. Awesome!😊
Never seen such high-energy video for knitting, it's refreshing 😂 love all the tips, just feel sorry for unraveling a sweater!
I've been knitting since I was 10yo. But never really learned anything but the basics. Having recently retired, I have more time to dedicate to my knitting! Just came upon your channel and I ABSOLUTLEY LOVE IT !!! Your explanations, demonstrations, techniques, "hacks", and of course, sense of humor are wonderful! I'm so glad I found you! Thank you, I'm such a fan.
My mother taught me to use a large coffee can for my yarn bowl. Thought I'd share.
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the tip! I've got a bunch of lidded coffee cans in my daughter's maker station that can now be put to use. :)
@@jennifermoran2873 😆👍
1. Easiest "yarn bowl" is probably just closing the flaps of a cardboard box with the yarn inside. 2. The spitjoin works through the felting process, and therefore only on feltable fibers, and water should work fine.
Omg. Unraveling a sweater for yarn is sooooo freaking BRILLIANT
Edit: with the page protectors, you can also use a dry erase marker on it!!
Do some research first. If you see a sweater that has machine serged edges avoid it because the serging process trims the seam and all you will end up with is a bunch of short yarn pieces.
That sweater hack is so clever, as a knitter I should’ve thought of that before!
For straightening out long circular needles, I stretch the cord in the steam from my tea kettle. A couple passes through, and you're good to go.
A tip for straightening yarn that my mum uses for about 30 years now and it works wonders. A bit dangerous too, but we had only one accident with it and it was the cat's fault, not any careful human. So basicaly, she washes a sweater as she would normally do, unravells yarn, makes a ball. She puts a ball in a pot, threads the yarn through one handle (just like with the mug hack). She puts a pot of water on the stove on small heat, threads the yarn through both handles. Steam straightens the yarn as she pulls and makes a new ball of yarn. Yarn needs to be wrapped really loosely after that or IT will get stiff. You get perfectly straight and soft yarn this way
Veeeeery interesting! So the pot of water would need to be simmering during the whole unwinding process? I’m intrigued! Thank you for sharing!
Yes, it should simmer so it produces more steam :) I also put the pot lid on top, so it creates a little tension on the thread (sorry if I use inaccurate words, English is my second language and I can't name some objects)
@@weronikagdaniec7621 Awesome! Thank you for the extra details! :D
That naked umbrella thing is called a swift and it is for holding hanks of yarn while winding into cakes on a ball winder. It spins as the yarn is being pulled into the winder.
2:15 MIND BLOWN I thought these were purpose-built as stich markers. These "bulb pins" are the only stitch markers I like to have and I really love them in a variety of colors.
The Russian join gets rid of the bump in the spit join. Cut 1/2 of each end of frayed ends, reducing the bulk and then overlap to make it the regular diameter and go ahead and spit, etc...
It's hard to Russian join into certain yarns, for example very small weights or a ply that is braided. A spit splice will work every time....but I do prefer to use Russian whenever possible~
Doris Cote
I always use the Russian join, it's so nice & neat!!
@@yliberal6355 me too. Split 'em, snip 'em and spit on 'em!
Seeing the video, I remembered some soup bowls that turned out to be unpractical in the kitchen but guess what? I checked and they are ideal to hold a ball of yarn... Also, a pringles can can hold a 100 gr skein of sock yarn and your sock under construction on the go
liked the toilet paper roll to create a center pull yarn ball. I used to have a yarn winder (did machine knitting) that I sold with my knitting machine and soon wished I had kept it. Since I am mostly handknitting again, those yarn remnants would be so much tidier wound into balls. Thanks for the great tip!
I do the spit trick when I spin yarn, I just lick my palm instead of the yarn
Me too.
I just love your energy. I’ve used toilet paper rolls to ball yarn from a rip out, but I didn’t know there was a way to make it into a center pull ball - awesome!
Thank you! And yeah, the center pull ball hack is definitely one of my favourites!
👍,love that you reapplied a Rothko book!
Bulb pins are my new favourite type of marker. I started using them before I watched this (literally bought some advertised as markers) and didn’t realise they had other implied uses.
Long time since I heard so many usefull hacks! Thank you !!
I have always used a large zip lock bag to hold my yarn balls-they roll everywhere and the bag never opens--whick results in clean yarn in case it falls on the floor--
Aquila Clark and they come in a plethora of sizes to fit every project, are waterproof and are flexible enough to stuff into the most crowded tote! My faves are the Jumbo 2+ gallon size (Target’s Up& Up are good) which hold everything up to a bulky ski sweater!
i love using safety pins as stitch markers, super easy to move around or put into a previous row
I use a salad spinner to get the water out of yarn or knitted projects. It is awesome.
Excellent hacks!! I would love for you to do a cabling tutorial! Your videos are fantastic😍
Whenever I get a new skein I take a stick like one of those blinds rods and put it in my stepdads drill and use that to wind it all up
😂 truly one of a kind knitting project. Great video and funny!
I put patterns in plastic sheet covers so that I can mark with dry erase markers when doing fair isle or graph type knitting and crochet. I like to X the squares as I go ever time I change color, helps me keep count, but want to be able to reuse the pattern without wasting paper.
I just learned that you can actually knit with pencils!
Finally - a hack film that really has hacks - it is brilliant! Ok I knew a couple of them but maybe 7 or 8 of them I was ... why have I never thought of that! So obvious!
And the very best one - how to join two balls of wool. Surprised it doesn't work on cotton or linen though.
Linen and cotton won’t felt together the way animal fivers do because animal fibers on a microscopic level have small “scales” that interlock when agitated with moisture and friction.
Great tip about using bigger needles for casting on and off. Thank you!
I use small elastic bands to go around the needles to stop projects falling off,
I also use a large pop bottle cut in half and if it’s needed to be weighted I will pop rice in a bag in the bottom and then slide the wool through the bottle top and slide the top of the bottle over the bottom, can make the cut bottle edges smooth by quickly running an iron over the bottom, this is the easiest way I found when using multiple threads, also paper straws. Etc loads of little hacks
Wow, such a great video!!! Thanks!!!
Thanks for watching!
Ive also knitted with pencils...just cause
Never thought about this! I've used chopsticks before, but pointy pencils might be easier to use lol
Tyna Stevens Cool! How did you find the experience?
I almost couldnt tell i was using pencils. But i dont recommend using pencils for knitting with very thin yarn.
@@sheepandstitch 9
@@olivialopez8763 I also knit with my fingers, and do arm knitting as well--
- yarn bowl: either center pull or for mohair or cones, use a hanging kitchen towel holder. Much cleaner.
- row markers as stitch markers : I do this all the time. I honestly dont understand why something with less complexity and material costs more (with the stitch markers)
- 3rd sweater : unrelated, but I really liked the top design and was sad to see it unravel. Also for those that dont have babies, if you're going to buy something anyway make it fabric softener. Works better plus you'll keep using it anyway. It also helps to make the hank around a chair instead of a book and drying it around the chair. If the yarn isn't acrylic, you can use a hair dryer to improve the straightening plus reduce time. Leave the yarn on the chair back when you roll it into a ball. Spinny office chairs are a dream to do this on
- cable hack with toothpick : the chunky yarn cable with a pencil is great ; for 7mm and under, use dpns that you'll buy anyway - better to maintain gauge in the cabled bits. I'd even go up a dpn size to prevent holes and the cables warping if you're a tight knitter
- yarn joining: only works on animal fibers. Plus water works fine and much more sanitary. If skeptical, add a very small amount of wool shampoo
- center pull yarn: those 'umbrellas' are hank makers. Ball winders are completely different. Besides the pictures, we call them cakes.. never heard of them being called 'center pull balls'.
- the cork stopper trick is great. I'll try that
My mother used to thrift old sweaters , mix and match the yarn and we had lot s of new unique sweaters every year in winter .
Something to think about with yarn from thrift stores, or sweaters, are little pests. Like carpet beetles. I’ve never personally had issues, but I’ve heard HORROR stories about yarn bought at like the goodwill or whatever, that had larvae in it, and then the hatched, and they literally, EAT natural fibers. The channel “watch Barbara Knits” has a video about yarn storage, I think the recommends putting it in the freezer for 24 hours, taking it out for 24, and putting it back in the freezer for 24 hours. To get rid of any possible pests.
Oohhh this is a danger I didn’t even think of! Thanks for sharing!
@@sheepandstitch me either!!! I was just knitting along one day, watching youtube, and her video about yarn storage was next. I think she lives in the South somewhere, I live in the South SF Bay Area, so I was like "I've never heard of a carpet beetle!" They must not be here or in the North East, where I'm from originally. A couple days later I was scrolling thru next-door and what was someone dealing with....CARPET BEETLES!! I was itching for days, and spent a lot of time getting my stash and finished projects, I sell my stuff, bug proofed. I've never seen one, but I've heard they can do massive amount of damage, to natural animal fibers. Horrifying! Makes me itchy thinking about it. :P
@@laurenbeckerle7977 Omg what are the odds?! It's great you got your stuff bug-proofed. Yikes!
To bug proof your stash, put bay leaves in your closed containers. They work well.
I bake my yarn in the oven at 175 degrees for half hour....done. not in and out like the freezer
These are great hacks. Thanks for posting this.
You’re very welcome! It was a blast making this video!
Dish soap and water with felt the animal fibers together. That’s how wet felting works.
I love your videos, I’ll definitely be using some of these.
Hack number 8 - I just use two needles together to cast on. If you're using circulars, you can even lock the stitches in by removing a needle and starting again with casting on (I usually do 50 at a time). Great for keeping track of lots of stitches and getting a loose cast on without extra needles.
I'm a brand new knitter; can you please explain what you mean by locking the stitches in, etc? I use circulars and would like to understand this tip.
Why don't you wash the garment first, then steam the hank to straighten it? Seems much less trouble to me.
Steaming wool can cause the fibres to shorten. Best to soak in tepid water with baby shampoo or wool wash of you can find it.
I would like to know how to read a pattern for knitting .
For double point knitting sock protection - if you buy those plastic/rubbery needle stoppers, sometimes they are shaped like gummy bears or socks. You make a hole in the end, thread some elastic through and put a knot in it, then do the same with the 2nd one. Then you slip one stopper on one end of the 4 needles and stretch it to the other end and hey presto your work wont slip off in your bag when traveling.
zomg a lesson on how to make a center pull ball! THANK YOUUUUUUUUUUU
Forgive this post if someone else has already mentioned it. When you are talking about winding a centre pull ball of yarn , you showed a photo of a swift - not a ball winder (mark 12:55-12:03). Please correct the photo, so as not to lead to confusion and the unintentional spread of disinformation.
Thank you! This is what I said.
Lynn Poling doesn't matter what the picture is or isn't, 'cos you don't need to get one!