Alpaca Direct Blog

We are excited to be carrying the Karbonz circular needles made by Knitter's Pride.

I am using sock yarn,  Karbonz circular needles in size US #1 40 inch, and a pattern called Isabella D’Este found in The Knitter’s Book of Socks which I have checked out from our local library.

That's great you are interested in learning to knit. If you like to learn by watching videos, be sure to check out our quick How To Knit videos here.

Why Learn To Knit?

There's a host of reason but here are few! 

• Knitting is relaxing and relieves stress
• Knitting is a social activity you can enjoy with others
• Knitting allows you to user your brain and could help in the prevention of alzheimer's and dementia
• Knitting allows you to be creative

Gorgeous colorwork knitting is all over Ravelry these days. From intricate Fair Isle projects to simple stripes, it's easy to fall in love with color.

I thought I'd take a walk though the patterns we offer and find my top five. I also have a great stranded-knitting tip for you: how to get even floats!

Garter tabs are used to knit shawls when you want your garter stitch edge to be continuous.  You start at the center of the shawl and you knit the garter stitch edge in both directions.  

Using the method in this video, I used the Judy's Magic Cast On then flipped my work over so that my purl bumps were showing, then began to knit flat on one side back and forth to create the garter stitch edge.