Awhile back, I did a course at the lovely Make Lounge in Islington. I made a great pair of wrist warmers which I’ve actually used. In my quest to be more interesting, one of the things on the list was to make something, so I thought it was high time I put the skills I’d learnt to use.

I was wondering along Broadway Market last week and thought I would take a look in Fabrications, a small store which stocks yarns and knitting needles. I picked up some bigger knitting needles (8mm) and some green yarn to make myself a scarf (Twilleys of Stamford Freedom Wool in Olive Green). 

As it’s been some time since I’ve done the course, I needed a few refreshers…

The Slip Knot

Not the band but the first knot you tie on your knitting needle. The example at the start of this video is super easy to follow. The video does go on to show how to cast on but I found a different example easier to follow.

Casting On

You’ll also need to get stitches on your knitting needle. I’ve got 30 stitches for my scarf but how many you have will depend on a number of things. Here is a slow version of casting on which I used.

Knitting Stitches

This for me is the easiest part, I’m just doing your standard stitch but next time I’m going to branch out and do some purl stitches. 

Frogging

After a lovely meal at Le Gavroche last night — 10 course tasting menu plus matching wines — I thought it was a good idea to do some knitting. It really wasn’t a good idea at all, friends don’t let friends drunk knit is all I’ll say. The husband is under strict instructions to take my knitting off me next time this happens. Knitty.com says the following about frogging:

In the knitting world, however, frogs say “rip it, rip it.” And that’s the reason knitters use the term “frogging” as they merrily unravel their hours worth of knitting.

The term frogging gives the impression of a rather exuberant ripping out of knitted stitches. But undoing your knitting stitch by stitch - technically known as tink-ing [that’s “knit” spelled backwards] - can also be a useful trick to master. It’s quite easy to be knitting along and realize you’ve gotten your ribbing off one stitch during the particularly exciting bit of that movie you’re watching on television. If you catch the error while you’re still on the same row…

So this morning, I had to master the art of frogging, removing several rows of knitting at once. This article saved my scarf!

I’ve still got a long way to go before I’ve finished but I’ll be posting a picture once the scarf is done.