Cast on

How to Knit – Casting On from Penny Dablin – www.TheKnittingSite.com

Very clear instruction, assumes no prior knowledge and is has a good visual everything’s done very slowly, even so I had to replay the video a few times before I got it (and have gone back to it for every new project since!)

• I found on some other videos the hands sometimes masked what what was happening a little or it was done a it quicker maybe?

Apparently there are two methods to casting on and according to this article the thumb method, shown in the video above, gives a less firm edge to your knitting. Maybe it would be worth trying to learn the other method – which uses two needles, but I didn’t find a video I could follow using that method – if you know of one please post a link in the comments!

Knitting

How to Knit for Beginners : How to Make the Basic Knit Stitch, Expert Village.com

Now I had had previous instruction in the knitting part, so just needed to find a reminder but this video is really clear and I’m sure will make it easy for someone who’s never seen it (sorry the permissions for embedding this were disabled, but it’s a really good vid).

Casting off

I like this video – especially the size of the needles used.

Threadheads have a clip, which joins all of these together which is a good refresher if you know the basics but need a reminder:

Next steps

This glossary of knitting terminology might come in useful once we get onto using patterns.

My next project is going to be a shrug – my mum’s tested the patten, her dog (Buddy) ate a chunk of it, the lady in John Lewis helped me find the right wool and needles.

So far I’ve just asked which needles I will need as I buy the wool but this video explains the different types of needles and the different materials they can be made from.

So there you go – using those videos you should be able to wow your friends with your scarves

I got my first commission last week, a friend received an ipod touch for his birthday, and wanted a sock to help keep the ipod looking new and shiny.

The embroidery is the Distilled logo. The time spent on the embroidery for the logo really makes the sock special. Adding a bit of embellishment quickly turns a fairly simple design into something unique.

With Christmas coming up this would make a great gift to go with an ipod. The sock itself is quite simple to make. No matter what size of ipod you have you can follow the same plan. I’ve designed this tutorial to help you size the sock to fit your own MP3 player..

1. Cut out a piece of material that wraps around your ipod – leave plenty of extra material around the ipod as we’ll trim the excess later. I used denim for this one and a piece of stiff waterproof material for the example above. If you have it, try to find a relatively stiff piece of material, as this will keep its shape much better.

2. Either hem the top of the material or trim with ribbon. Trimming with ribbon is a great way to add a bit more style and enables you to come up with some creative designs. Try keeping the sock a plain material and adding a thin strip of your favourite material.

If you’re going to add some embroidery, do it at this point before sewing up the sock – be sure to mark the bottom and sides of the ipod with pins so you know how much space you have to work in.

3. Place the ipod on the material and mark the edges with pins. Machine or hand stitch the bottom and side to make a snug fit.

4. Make sure the ipod fits in OK and adjust the sides if necessary (!) Once you’re happy with the fit, trim any excess material.

5. Turn sock the right way round and enjoy!

This is one I added embroidery to, quite a simple design can have a great effect – I’m really pleased with it!

Let me know how you get on and send me a link to any photos!