Every once in a while, someone will post a question on one of the knitting groups and I end up responding with a book-length answer. Since I usually get a response back from the OP indicating that it helped, I decided it's time to formalize the process a little bit. It will take a while to sort through the topics that seem to pop up over and over, but my goal is to fill this page with all sorts of good information on basic -- but very critical -- knitting concepts.

Gauge trouble?

So you have a pattern, you have some really yummy yarn that you know would just look fabulous... but no matter how hard you try, you just can't match the gauge in the pattern.

Or... you found the most wonderful pattern for a hand-knit sweater that you want to make on your knitting machine where even trying to match the HK gauge is probably a waste of time.

These can be very frustrating circumstances, but they're easily overcome if you understand gauge and the very simple math involved in redrafting a pattern to work with your yarn and your style of knitting. The Knitting Gauge Tutorial explains the importance of doing swatches and illustrates how you can use your swatch to make a pattern work with your yarn.

Yarn Size Demystified

Remember the first time you wanted to substitute one yarn for another but didn't have a clue of where to start?

The Yarn Size Tutorial explains the yarn count system, the meaning of yards per pound, how you compute WPI (wraps per inch) and how you can use this information to your advantage.

Fibonacci

Designing stripes and plaids might seem like such a simple thing until you actually sit down to do it. The world's great tartan designers even had rules about the optimal number of colors, the number of threads in a stripe and the size of a stripe with respect to the size of those on either side.

Having read about the history of tartans shortly after I learned to weave, I wasn't all that surprised when I ran across an article that suggested using the Fibonacci number sequence to design more visually appealing stripes and plaids. The design I did shortly after that has become one of my favorites, so written a brief explanation of how to use Fibonacci numbers in weaving and knitting designs.

Copyright 2004, Brenda A. Bell Unless otherwise stated the content of this web site, including text, graphics and downloads, is the property of Brenda A. Bell and is protected by current copyright laws. It may be reproduced and redistributed free of charge in electronic or printed form provided that this copyright notice is included exactly as written. The content of this web site may not be sold, nor may it be included in any for-sale publication or product without the express permission of the author. All inquiries regarding copyright restrictions should be submitted via email to the author. The "cat" graphic appearing at the top of all pages is owned by Microsoft Corporation and available for download from Microsoft Office Online.
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