Let’s just take a moment to gaze upon this beautiful baby.
Such peace.
Such a nap.
Such a blanket.
Such joy!
August brings a new project for A Year of Techniques. This beautiful combination of ease and cleverness is the Little Tern Blanket by Tin Can Knits, a brand-new pattern from the inventive design team of Emily Wessel and Alexa Ludeman.
It’s a modern, beautiful blanket for the modern, beautiful baby.
OK, here’s another peek at this modern, beautiful baby.
Such a doll.
The technique at the forefront this month is the provisional cast on—that bit of magic that allows us to take up knitting in a new direction, with no visible seams.
Jen Arnall-Culliford, as ever, is our guide, leading us through not one but two different provisional cast ons. The crochet provisional cast on is up top; below is a second cast on, the amazing Judy’s Magic Cast On. If you’ve tried this cast on using double-pointed needles, you’ll welcome this tutorial that shows how to do it using circular needles—much less awkward.
This cast-on tutorial is one of those moments in my knitting life that changed everything. I don’t even want to talk about how I’ve been making my crochet provisional cast on. Let’s just say that I have been doing it so wrong that there’s not even a word for how wrong I’ve been.
Wrahong.
Ultrawrong.
Wrongily wrong.
Thank you, Jen, for explaining the One True Way to get a crochet provisional cast on to behave!
And of course, Jen reminds us that in the knitting world, anything can be a wrap.
Just saying.
Mind Blown . . . . This is not how I was taught to do provisional cast on . . . This method is soooooooo much easier!!!! Thanks 🙂
Oh that precious sweaty nap head! (Still waiting for grandbabies…)
Two really helpful tutorials! I’ve done both methods before (and, by all accounts, I’ve done them correctly) but Jen makes things super clear. It’s helpful that she speaks slowly and is so methodical. Since I don’t do these cast-ons routinely, I always revisit a tutorial before I start a pattern that requires either. Next time, I’m going to visit Jen’s! Thanks.
Love Jen’s tutorials! She always explains things so clearly. I always hated doing provisional cast ons, but now I know two easier ways. Thank you.
OK, you finally got me. I was intrigued by the helical stripes, but the provisional cast on and a lovely blankie–I’m in. This Year of Techniques is brilliant. It may take me a while to knit all of the projects (I’m currently working on a Stopover) so please keep the videos up for 20 years or so 🙂
Thanks for that request. I’m going to need at least 20 years.
At first I wrote 10 years. Then I revised.
I love the colours that you have. I do alot of knitting for people and family.
love your website but how about a post on how-to-use-leftover-yarn-for-projects? I am a disabled senior on a fixed income. I have lots of leftover yarns As you may or may not be aware, the world population in 2020 will be predominately seniors. Senior-friendly projects would be a smart retail move.
I love Jane’s videos. I recommend her to all my knitting students. Her provisional cast-on tutorial is the best around. Thank you for making my job as a knitting instructor even more fun!