knitting starts with yarn, two needles, and some gumption
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When it comes to winter weather, the most energy efficient way of staying warm is to put on a sweater and a pair of socks. The great thing about this is you can create your own warm winter wear by taking up an age-old craft: knitting.
If you haven't knit before, it might seem frustrating and confusing. But after you complete your first project and slip on the new sweater that you crafted yourself, you'll be warm, full of pride, and reduce your global impact by consuming less energy and less store-bought clothing.
To get you started, here are a list of the must-know tricks and resources for knitters, as well as 5 essential patterns to get you the warm clothing you need for winter weather.
Top Tricks for Knitting on the Cheap and Green
Cat Bordhi is a knitting genius when it comes to socks. She has taken the basic construction of a sock and revamped it so it is ridiculously fast and easy for knitters to create pairs of socks in a flash. Typically, a knitter knits one sock at a time using 4 to 5 double-pointed needles. It's easy once you get the hang of it, but for new knitters, it looks like nothing more than the fastest way to put your eye out. Using two circular needles can be both a speedier way to knit and less intimidating. If you want to keep your feet toasty this winter and don't want to spend too much time cranking out socks, you'll want to know how to knit two socks simultaneously using two circular needles.
2. Scoring Cheap Yarn - Deconstructing Thrift Store Sweaters
The best way to score really cheap yarn is to look at things that have already been knitted up. If you take some time at the thrift store, you'll hopefully find sweaters just begging to be torn apart and knit into something new. If you're really lucky, you'll find a men's extra-large cable knit sweater which can yield well over a thousand yards of yarn...for maybe $5 or $10. Score! But you have to know what to look for, and how to take the sweater apart once you get it home. Here is an excellent tutorial, and you can get loads of tips and advice by doing a quick Google search.
To knit sweaters quickly and easily, you'll want to know how to knit from the top down. For my first sweater, I picked a pattern that featured four pieces to be seamed together, and included argyle on the front which means working with about ten bobbins of yarn while keeping them all untangled. So speaking from experience, start with top down sweaters and move on from there. Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Without Tears will walk you through some basic sweater knitting techniques, including top-down sweaters. You'll be happily knitting through the winter! 4. Finding Eco-Friendly Yarn Finding yarn at a thrift store as mentioned above is definitely green. But if you want to buy your yarn brand new, we have a list of resources for finding eco-friendly and organic yarns. You can find both animal and non-animal fibers that are eco-friendly - from organically raised sheep to recycled silk from saris. Any type of yarn you need, you can find a green version if you look hard enough. Top Patterns for Winter Weather Wear 5. 9-5 Socks They're easy but beautiful, and fit anyone perfectly. They hardly take any time to knit up, and you can make them more masculine or feminine based on yarn choice alone. You just can't go wrong with them! The pattern is available for free online, with a downloadable PDF at Ravelry.com, and the blog post featuring the pattern even has a video to help you out with the stitch pattern. 6. EPS Sweater The EPS sweater from Knitting Around by knitting icon Elizabeth Zimmerman is a staple for easy, fast sweater knitting with whatever you have on hand. Knit the exact sized sweater you want with any needles and any yarn you have on hand. No special gauge swatching, no calculations that drive you nuts, and no difficult seaming. Knitting sweaters couldn't be easier or more customizable with zero headache than with Zimmerman's "Easy Percentage System" sweater. It's a great way to get started on sweater knitting. Zimmermann's books sporting this and other basic patterns can be found at any library. 7. Warmest Mittens This pattern for basic mittens is endlessly modifiable with different colors, yarn choices, and sizes. It is part of a pattern book called Knitting Pretty from Chronicle Books. If you're interested in trying your hand at gloves instead of mittens, I recommend starting out with Knucks, a free and incredibly popular tipless glove pattern on Knitty.com. 8. Sockhead Hat Hats come in so many styles that it can be hard to pick where to get started. But if you're new to knitting and want something basic but fashionable and easily created for men, women or kids, go with the Sockhead Hat and move on from there. This one is basic, incredibly fast and easy, yet has a fun style. 9. Diagonal Lace Scarf Scarves can be super basic or really tough all depending on your pattern choice. Here is one that is easy even for beginners, yet looks a little on the fancy side. Depending on your yarn choice, it can be made for men or women. The pattern is easy to memorize, and you can customize the length and width to suit your taste. Top Resources for Painless Knitting 10. Ravelry This is thee resource for knitters. It's a community, pattern browser, knitter's organizer... it has everything, and I mean everything, that a knitter could want or need to keep their yarn stash and projects straight, get answers to pattern questions, find just the pattern or book they're looking for, and talk with other knitters. Join up - it's free. And you can find me on there as well - I'm happy to help you out with your first project. 11. Knitty This free online magazine, has articles, tips, tricks, and most importantly, free patterns. It's one of the most popular sites on the web for great information and patterns. WATCH VIDEO: How Fleece is Made 12. Knitting Help Videos. Enough said! If you start to get stuck on which needle goes where or what in the world a mattress stitch is, let alone how to do it, check out Knitting Help. You'll get to see - not just read - exactly how to work through your knitting conundrum. 13. Twist Collective Find incredibly stylish knitting patterns and learn a wide range of facts about knitting with this free online magazine. While they have a lot of ads, they're actually helpful ads, leading you to great yarn sources including organic and recycled yarns for your next project. 14. Knitters Review Get help understanding and choosing the best yarn and needles for your different projects. You'll learn a ton about choosing yarns based on what's contained in the reviews, and you'll be lead to excellent books you can find in your local library. 15. Men Who Knit Yes, men knit and they do a darn good job of it. If you or someone you love needs a support network so they can take pride in their knitting prowess while maintaining their masculinity, check out Men Who Knit.
