Knit Savvy

We’ve got some great news!

Enrollment for our Slouchy Beanie Course is open again for now.

The course covers everything you need to know to make a custom fit beanie hat from scratch using your own measurements and any yarn of your choice.

We provide regular support through the course platform and the private facebook group three times a week and we are there to answer any questions and to check your calculations if you need it. You can also connect with other students in the group and share your progress :)

It’s a great little course not only for creating a bespoke hat but also as an introduction to creating a knitted item simply using your own measurements and some clever calculations.

Find the link to the course in our bio and we hope to meet you in the group!

WIP Wednesday!

It’s Wednesday again! What a week we’re having in London, such glorious weather! ☀️

I’ve not had much time to knit this week as I’ve been busy chasing children around the park, but what a joy to be out and about in the sunshine 🌞

So here’s the progress on my baby sweater. As I’m choosing to work the whole thing in the round instead of pieces, I’ll have no seams to sew up!😅

Once the yoke is finished there’ll be just a few ends to sew in and I’m considering adding a front pocket in grey. What do you think? 🤔

What makes a good pattern ‘part two’! 

Following on from our post last Saturday here are a few more considerations when choosing a pattern…🤓

✴ Pattern format: A well written pattern will present information in more than one way so that you can constantly check that you’re working the pattern correctly and avoid making mistakes that require unravelling and redoing! 

For example, when the pattern includes a lace, cable or colour work section it's best to have both written instructions and a chart.✔
You can then choose to follow whichever format you prefer but you also have a way to double check your progress. 

✴ Technique illustrations:
If the pattern specifies a particular way to decrease, create short rows, cast on etc, then illustrations as well as written instructions are really helpful to show how to do this and what the end result should look like. The best patterns will even give links to a picture or video tutorial demonstrating a new technique.

A ‘great’ pattern will expand your knitting knowledge and even give you an extra technique or two to add to your knitting arsenal! 😉🧡

WIP Wednesday! 🧶

Hi, Maria here! 👋

This week I would like to share one of my current summer projects with you.

I'm working on a button-up vest with an all over lace pattern.
The plan is to give it an I-cord finishing along all edges including straps. 👌

I'm knitting it bottom up, which not my usual construction style but with all-over pattern items I find it to be the easiest.

The yarn is Safran from and I'm using 3 mm needles, which means I'll consider myself lucky if I'm able to wear it before this summer is over! 🙈

Are making anything summery?
Share in the comments! We'd love to cone over and give your projects some ❤❤❤.

Ps, watch out for stories where I'll share more tips on this WIP! 😘

WIP Wednesday! 🧶

We’ve decided to share our current knitting projects each week to show you what we’re working on personally.

This week I (Eliza) am knitting up a baby sweater, a quick present for a friend who’s just popped!

The pattern is knit from the bottom up in pieces but I’m adapting it to knit-in-the-round.

To start I cast-on the back and front stitches all together, subtracting 4 stitches that would have gone into the side seams.

Then I knit the body in rounds and I’ll stop at the armholes and put those stitches on hold whilst I knit the sleeves. Then I can join the sleeves as I knit the yoke, all in one piece!

Using a baby pattern when you’re venturing into adapting patterns is a great place to start because everything is on a much smaller scale and is less of a time comittent if it doesn’t work out as planned!

I look forward to sharing the finished project with you soon 😊

Despite the wind and the rain today in London 🥶 we are determined to feel summery here at Knit Savvy!🌞

And with that in mind we are trying out some cotton based yarns for some cool, Summery knits. 🧶

In our next newsletter we'll be talking about summer yarns in greater detail but here are a few things to consider..

✅ Cotton, linen, silk and other cooler yarns behave very differently to wool which can put some people off working with them

✅ The fibres are generally heavier than wool and have little to no natural stretch

✅Blended summer yarns are often softer and therefore easier to work with, especially with a bit of manmade fibre in.

✅SWATCHING is a must when working with these yarns as knowing how they are going to behave once knit up and washed will help you plan your project and have happier results!

Make sure you're signed up to our newsletter for the full post on summer yarn! Link in bio ☝️

Happy Saturday! 🤗

We hope you’re getting some knitting time in this weekend! 🧶

May has been a strange month so far, here in London and we still feel like curling up indoors with a hot cuppa☕ and our winter wooly knits.🧣🧦

But we are longing for some warmer weather to get inspired to cast on something light and summery! 🌞

How about you? What’s on your needles at the moment? 🧡

We’ve been chatting amongst a few knitterly friends recently and realised that many of us make most knitting decisions on autopilot. 🛫

And we don't mean the autopilot of the meditative, calming bliss of some mindless stocking stitch. 🧘🏻‍♀️

But the process of choosing and making of garments that all too often don’t meet our expectations when finished. 😑

Probably because we’ve based our expectations on an aspirational image of a beautiful person in a beautiful hand-knitted sweater and not stopped to think, ‘Will that even suit me?’, let alone ‘fit right’.🤔

So we’d like to introduce the concept of ‘Intentional knitting’. 💫
Asking yourself the question why? At every stage of the knitting process to ensure a garment that you will love wearing. 💗

To ensure a successful outcome of your knitting projects there are two stages of decision making to consider. 🤓
Preparation  - choosing what to knit, based on what suits you and goes with the rest of your wardrobe, size, yarn and needle choices and such like.
And knitting itself  - the technical side from cast-ons and shapings to embellishments and finishings.

With this in mind we plan to have Intentional Knitting posts twice a week. The first post of the week will be about ‘what’ to knit and the second post will be all about the ‘how’. ✅

Adding a bit of intentionality to your knitting choices is a great way to elevate your craft, ultimately making it more joyful! 🧡🧡🧡

When we ran our first live Saturday Surgery last week we learnt a few things! 😊
🔹️Firstly, doing something that terrifies you can actually be a good thing and even kind of fun.😏

🔹️Secondly, foundation goes a long way to cover up blushing.😅

🔹️Thirdly, filming and doing a demo live can be a bit messy and isn't the best resource for learning a new technique. 😑

And that last thing led us to realise that it may not be the best format for supporting you guys.

So we’ve decided to change the format! We will still be running the surgery every other Saturday and asking for your knitting questions and dilemmas at the beginning of the week. But instead of going live we'll then make a video tutorial for one selected topic and post on the following Saturday.👍

We'd like to come back to the live format at some point but we feel we need to grow a bit more first for it to be worthwhile for everyone.

 
So submit your questions for this Saturday Surgery in the comments below or via DM. 😉

And if you missed our last surgery, you can check out Maria's foolproof technique for avoiding pesky underarm holes in our TIPS highlights or on igtv. 🧡🧡🧡

Please allow us to share with you some lovely feedback from a few of our course participants! 🧡🧡🧡

Swipe the images to read them all. 👆

A gentle reminder, the enrolment closes tomorrow!
Link to join is in the profile. 🤗

Dear friends,

The time has arrived!😃

Enrolment for our brand new course is now open! 🎉🎉🎉

🔹️Our Slouchy Beanie Course covers everything you need to know in order to make a custom fit beanie from start to finish. The process is laid out in clear logical steps, with video demonstrations for all the techniques you’ll be learning. 

🔹️Enrolment will be open for 3 days and you will have access to the course for 3 months after.

🔹️You’ll be able to follow the course at your own pace with two weeks of daily support and encouragement from us via the platform, as well as in a private FB group where you can connect and share your progress with fellow students. 

🔹️But of course, if you need further support after the two weeks we are always happy to help, simply get in touch.

🔹️The skills you learn here you can take forward into your other knitting projects and it will give you a great introduction to creating your own garments from measurements and calculations rather than a pattern. 

Make this your first step towards your ultimate knitting freedom! 💫

The enrolment link is in the bio. 👆
We hope to see you there! 🧡

How often do you find yourself slipping down an internet rabbit hole in search of just the right demonstration, photo tutorial, or book that covers all the techniques you need for the particular project you’re knitting, or to move your knitting forward in general? 🕳

Sometimes we can spend hours looking for the exact information we need delivered in a way that we find easy to follow or use.🥴

One of the best things about our courses is that
✔ all the information is in one place, ✔organised in clear logical steps, ✔with easy to follow video demonstrations and instructions.

We also provide great support throughout the course and we are there to answer your questions and iron out any problems you might be facing along the way. 👋

You'll get the knowledge not only specific to what you are making during the course but skills that you can take away and apply to all of your projects. 💯

Our first course is a short and sweet introduction to the concept and the process of creating a custom fit hat from scratch. Why not give it a try and see if this way of knitting/creating is for you?!

Doors open on Friday! 🤗🧡