WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHY BY MARG MCALISTER
Not so long ago, we were sitting at a table outside the Wellshot Hotel at Ilfracombe, watching truckies and caravanners drive by on their way to Longreach. Then a motorhome whizzed past. The navigator glanced over at us, and I could see a flash of white yarn and busy needles clicking.
Ah, I thought, another one who knits her way around Australia!
At the moment, I have two projects on the go. First I have my “car knitting”. This is fairly easy knitting that I can do without looking, so I can take in the scenery and be alert in case the Other Half needs any help driving the car, for example, useful observations like: “There’s a truck coming.”
Second, I have my caravan knitting. This usually has a more complex pattern that needs a fair bit of concentration so I don’t mess it up. Right now, I’m knitting the Great American Aran Afghan as a Christmas present for my daughter-in-law. It’s difficult enough (and gorgeous enough) to be an heirloom piece.
In between I squeeze in other projects: knitted toys, a child’s jumper, a scarf or two for families in Indonesia. I’ve also finished a couple of State of Origin beanies in readiness for the big footy game. My husband’s beanie is resolutely blue. Since we were going to be in Queensland, I thought I’d sit on the fence, so mine has both team colours.
The Knitting Sisterhood
For women, knitting – or indeed, any craft project – is an instant conversation starter, a bit like the female equivalent of “Just wondering if I can ask a couple of questions about your BT50, mate?” For us, it’s “I saw you over here knitting and I just had to come and have a look”, or “I love that, can I have the pattern?” We swap patterns, internet links to good knitting sites, and general tips on knitting. Sometimes, we get a tentative query: “I always thought I’d like to knit – is it hard?”
No, it’s not hard. There’s a learning curve, just as there is for anything new. If you want to learn, just go up to the next knitter you see happily clacking away and ask. Most knitters would be more than happy to whisk you off to the nearest Crazy Clark’s, set you up with a pair of knitting needles and a few balls of yarn, and show you how to knit a plain square. Scarves are popular projects for beginners, but many beginners also start with the simple squares for the Wrapped with Love charity project. You can learn to knit and help a good cause at the same time!
Little by little, you can work your way up to more difficult projects, until one day you’ll have someone wistfully looking at your latest work of art and asking you “Is it hard…?” And so the craft is passed on!
GET CREATIVE!
After you have mastered the basics, you’ll find that you get a lot of satisfaction out of creating your own designs. For example, when my granddaughter asked me to knit her a throw for her bed, I chatted with her to find out what she liked. We spotted a chunky cable-knit rug tossed artfully over a bed in a furniture catalogue, and she decided that was exactly what she wanted. I simply worked out how many stitches I’d need to cast on in a 12-ply wool to get the right width, estimated the number of 200 gram balls I’d need, and created my own pattern using a cable design from another project.
Once you teach yourself to knit Fair Isle designs (coloured patterns or picture knits) you can knit any number of jumpers, scarves, hats and throws with personalized patterns. At the Easter Stone the Crows festival at Wagga Wagga, bush poet Neil Smith delighted everyone with his brightly coloured picture knit sweaters – knitted for him by his sister – featuring his bright yellow caravan. You could showcase different parts of Australia on your creative knits!
One of my grandsons is a keen gymnast. He spends lot of time at competitions sitting around waiting for his turn… and it can get cold! Acting on his request for a blanket, I decided to knit a design of a gymnast on a pommel horse into the centre. I found a good silhouette on Google, enlarged it, and began blocking out the design on graph paper, but it started getting a bit tedious. I was sure there would be knitting software to take care of the task – and indeed there was: I found EnvisioKnit Design Studio. I downloaded the free demo first to make sure it worked, and found that I could import the image and turn it into a pattern in much less time than it would have taken to do it by hand.
What I really like about this software is that you can use it in many different ways. You can create your own picture knits, experiment with different colour combinations, or design patterns with a range of different stitches (including cables). I even found it useful for another unique purpose: the graphs for the individual squares in the pattern book I’m using are black and white, and quite small. I transferred the pattern to the software, colour-coded the various stitches, and printed it out. Now it’s much, much easier to read!
If you’re a keen knitter, and like to create your own patterns, you’ll have fun with this software. Download a trial copy here: www.envisioknit.com
Now it’s time to challenge yourself. Get started learning the basics, or take your knitting to the next level. Whatever you choose, it’s going to be fun!
TIPS FOR BEGINNERS
Most knitting stitches are a variation of the simple knit and purl that everyone learns as a beginner. Just build your skills gradually and you’ll find that you get some very professional-looking results from relatively easy stitch combinations.
Learn good habits to start with – such as looping yarn around your little finger to aid with tension while you knit.
Invest in a book of knitting stitches. You can practice different types of stitches on small squares, and then sew them together into a cot blanket or a throw.
There are hundreds of videos online that show you how to cast on and knit everything from basic stitches to complex techniques.
When you’re not travelling, find a local knitting group and go there to learn more.
Useful Websites, Software and Apps
www.knittinghelp.com Get free patterns, view knitting videos, and access a knitting help forum. For everyone from beginners to advanced knitters.
www.ravelry.com
For both knitting and crochet. Join online groups, find knitting groups near you, and keep a record of your projects.
Knitting Help on Facebook
www.facebook.com/knittinghelp
EnvisioKnit Design Studio
This software is for advanced knitters who would like to create individual designs. Import photos or artwork for Fair Isle and picture knits, or colour-code complex stitches to read at a glance. www.envisioknit.com
GENERAL TIPS
KNITTING NEEDLES
You can buy knitting needles in bamboo, plastic or steel. Try out different needles to see which you prefer to use for your own work.
For knitting on the road, think about buying a set of knitting needles with interchangeable cables. You can use these to knit in the round or for straight knitting; for small projects or large. You’ll always have the right size needles with you, and they pack into a neat zippered case. Just do an internet search for “Knit Pro needles” and you’ll find a range of online distributors. They are also stocked in many knitting stores.
COUNTING ROWS
The most common row counter is one that slides on to the end of a needle, then you turn a dial to record each row completed. These don’t suit needles with interchangeable cables, but you can buy a digital row counter that hangs around your neck.
COUNTING STITCHES
If your knitting project has designs worked in different panels, you can mark these by sliding a plastic loop on to a needle at the end of each panel. I find it easier to keep a contrasting thread running up my work – when I encounter it as I knit, I just flip it over between the stitches.