I have never been able to master the long tail cast on. I can’t figure out how long to make the tail. And I either end up with not enough or too much left over. So this provisional cast on is great. It is like making a crochet chain over your needle. Here is a video that shows you how.
Tag: tip of the week
Three Yarnie Apps I Really Love
**Disclaimer: I have not received any compensation for this blog. I truly love these apps and use them personally. The opinions are mine alone.
There are 3 yarnie apps on my phone that I simply can not live without. I have to say that these are mostly knitting oriented and so I apologize to my crocheting friends. I simply don’t crochet myself, so I don’t have that frame of reference. I’d love to hear about apps that you use that would be helpful for my readers.
- Stash Bot–This app is a great little reference to have in your pocket at a fiber festival or a yarn store. I will give you the approximate yardage needed for knitted garments. You need to know the size of garment and an approximate gauge of the garment. Then it will dial in the number of yards that you need. I believe that it is a paid app, but it was well worth the money.
- KnitCompanion–This app is a way to see the PDF’s of your patterns without all the paper. I just use the free version and it is amazing!! It will automatically upload the PDF’s of patterns in your Ravelry library. And you can keep track of where you are with the vertical and horizontal lines. It is great to use when reading charts. There are also many stitch and row counters that you can use as well. I love this app!!
- StitchCounter–This app does just that. It will help you count stitches or rows. It is simple to use and so convenient. You always have it in your purse or pocket.
New! Website Page for Free Stuff
I just created a page on the website that is the place to find lots of free stuff. All through the past 2 years and really probably the whole 16 years I’ve been in business, I’ve written and recorded lots of educational content. I have printables and links to the videos of tips of the week. There are book guides too.
And of course, my podcast is free and can be found here on the website OR you can subscribe on iTunes or Spotify.
I also have videos of the tips of the day and podcasts and other learning opportunities on YouTube here or on Vimeo.
I’ll be added more and more to this page weekly. So bookmark the page and come back often to see what’s new!!
TOTW: Up Your Color IQ
I hear crafters talking all the time about having a hard time picking colors for projects. Especially those large multiskein projects with requirements for spreckles and gradients and variegated colors. As usual I’m here to help. At a festival or during our month open studio, I’ll help you pick colors that will make that project really shine. But when you are on your own, I have some suggestions as well.
First of all watch this video. I talk about a sure fire way to up your color IQ. My answer to use Pinterest. Make a color inspiration board and start pinning photos that really excite you. Photos that you love. DO NOT pin yarn. Nope. Pin photos of landscapres or animals or flowers or closeups. Pin 4-6 photos a day for a week or two. This will help you to define your color style.
And if you are interested in learning more about color, listen to my podcasts from Season 2 Episodes 6-9. You can find links here.