All that glitters is not gold..

..Some of it is very woolly too!

We had so much fun with the golden rules that so many of you sent in last week, we thought we’d share some of our favourites with everyone!

On Being a Knitter..

Don’t stay up till 1am to do the tricky part so you can knit the easy bit on the way to work the next day and then put your knitting in your work bag. If your house gets burgled overnight, and the robbers take your bag, let it be without the knitting in it. Leave your knitting on the sofa just in case.
(editor’s note: only works if the robbers are not also knitters)

If you are not enjoying the knitting pause and come back later. Or just undo and knit something different.

Knitting and deadlines – nah ah. Do it at your own pace when you’re in the mood for it.

Starting a new project is always fun and exciting. Finishing it takes a bunch of yarn and inclination. Make sure you have both before setting off.

On Making Mistakes..

If you notice after a while that you’ve made a mistake and you’re fine with it, leave it. But if it bugs you stop there and do what you need to do to fix it even if that means ripping back. Don’t knit another 20 rows while you’re thinking about how it’s driving you nuts.

Don’t start buttonholes when you’re tired.

If you’ve made a mistake way back and only just noticed it and you can neither bear the mistake, nor the thought of ripping back to fix it, put the knitting away. Multiple studies show that ripping back is less traumatic if you wait a month and come back to do it then.

On Equipment..

Never start knitting without a crochet hook to hand and always have a pencil handy to mark your place on the pattern if you are called away from your knitting.

On Techniques..

If you’re knitting something in garter stitch, be sure to fix a fastening stitch marker to the right side of the fabric at the beginning so that you know which side is which.

If you’ve sewn in a tail and trimmed it to Anna’s no more than 10cm length, tie a knot at the end, so you know which tails are secured and which are not.

Wash and block your swatches.  Yarn with silk behaves differently than wool.  Ditto for cotton.   Hitting gauge before washing, doesn’t mean you’ll still have it afterwards.

If you’re going top-down and have past the sleeve separation, keep both the sleeve and the body stitches on needles at the same time so you have options and can knit the bit you’re most in the mood for.

For anything that needs regular decreases, and especially tapered sleeves, put a locking stitch marker through a stitch on every decrease round so you can easily see where your last decrease was, and how many times you’ve done them.

On Patterns..

Your pattern’s finished garment photograph is your friend and can hold the answers to solving pattern puzzles whilst you’re knitting. Keep it with your pattern.

Beware of patterns on Ravelry with very few completed projects. Remember ravelry has no editorial control. If no one is knitting and finishing it, there’s probably a good reason for that.

Other colours and yarns are available. You don’t have to use the ones in the pattern.

If you have any more Golden Rules, please keep sending them into goldenrules@wildandwoollyshop.co.uk