Skills Required For the Many Shawl Knitting Patterns Online

Knitting a shawl can be more than a hobby for knitters can be any age from the youngest to the oldest. A shawl is a great accessory worn as a personal touch to your main clothing or to keep warm during the colder weather conditions. They are also recommended as effective lessons; knitting projects because they are easy to describe and learn It is therefore very useful for any person, ladies and gentlemen, to learn to knit.

Many shawl knitting patterns online are different depending on the style and type of shawl. They can be easy and basic for starters or detailed and intricate for the more experienced knitters. In both cases, finding new patterns is now easier than ever with the availability of the many shawl knitting patterns online. There are many websites that provide different kinds of shawl patterns free of charge. They have now become a great resource center for knitters of all levels and ages.

Of all knitting patterns, shawls are the most popular with most readers, thanks to the ease and versatility of the patterns knitting stitches. A shawl is one of the easiest things you can make, A beginner is able to start with simple stitches, and moving on to patterns that are more complicated and lacy as they progress. When searching for shawl knitting patterns online, make sure you settle on a resource site that is clear and precise in its descriptions. Most sites will offer guidelines meant for advanced knitters to starters, thereby scaring away potential learners with the intricate procedures required for complex shawls.

You will therefore need to check your resources well, keeping in mind your level of experience. Shawl knitting patterns have come to the rescue of many a newbie because offline resources such as books and magazines could prove to be expensive. In choosing your patterns, the complexity and design of the pattern will be a major decision to make. There is nothing as frustrating and overwhelming than getting bored with a design halfway through your project.

Most website takes this in consideration by placing the different knitting patterns according to the different skill levels required, thereby helping you make the decision. Most of the knitting patterns are based on the levels for the beginner, intermediate and experienced skill. Also by following similar standards and offering many variations in the patterns.

The beginner level knitting patterns are for first time knitters with only basic skills. They are mostly based on basic knitting and purl stitches and minimal, if any, shaping styles involved. Experienced knitters will find them relaxing and repetitive and can easily work on them with no problems or distractions.

Intermediate knitting patterns use a variety of stitches including laces, simple intarsia and cables. Some will have double pointed needles and only the relatively experienced knitters will be able to use these techniques for shaping and finishing. Beginners will find these patterns very challenging but are encouraged to occasionally try them to improve their skills over time.

Experienced knitters will use advanced stitches and techniques such as Fair Isle, short rows, lace patterns, cables and numerous color interchanges.
All in all the many shawl knitting patterns online will provide a pattern for just about every skill level you may require.

Linda Spangenburg draws on 35 years from her knitting and crochet business experience, both as a teacher and craft business owner. She is the author behind "Looney for Looms" where you will find patterns for loom knitting. We hope you found the information here inspiring enough to try a craft homebased business? You can find more free information about knitting and crochet for profit at http://www.knitting-n-crochet.com/scarf-knitting-patterns.html

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Crochet Fork Or Hairpin Lace Loom - The Larger Hooks Are Needed Today

It used to be a simple crochet hook, yarn and a pattern was your total supplies if you crocheted. Today we have a much larger selection of crocheting equipment and many are great improvements. But some are just new variations of the old equipment.
There is a new crochet fork or as we called it a hairpin lace loom. There are many different brands out today. When I was young we made our own lace loom.
We took a wire clothes hanger apart, using a pair of pliers. This is how we made one; we bent and shaped the hanger into a shape of about 6 X 3 X 6 X 3 inches. That is 6 inches high and 3 inches wide. The bottom 3 inches we would make a bend on the end so it would hook on the other 6 inch rod or long side piece.
It was not as slick as the new ones today, but it served its purpose and I learned to make hairpin lace on it. You would crochet up a piece and open the bottom to take it off the loom.
Another new item today is the larger crochet hooks like the large handled crochet hooks. I think these are long over due and are just about grand. As some folks get older and their hands stiffen a bit with arthritis and such, it becomes more difficult to hold a crochet hook.
In the old days they would have had to give up crocheting. But today there are so many new larger handled crochet hooks made for the less than flexible hands. As some get older they have to give up so much in life that this is just another blow to the ego. But now we can continue to be creative and enjoy our hobby. This is very important to our crocheting friends and family.
These larger handled hooks are not yet out in all the sizes but your choices are expanding every year. The larger sizes from C to J are readily available.
This is wonderful news for a person that has crocheted all his or her life. They can now continue for many more years to come, tanks to these great improvements.
If you are in need of these larger hooks or if you have a family member or friend that loves to crochet but finding it more difficult each day. Do think of getting them some of these larger hooks. They are more expensive than regular hooks but they are the perfect gift for your crafting friends.

Linda Spangenburg draws on 35+ years from her knitting and crochet business experience, both as a teacher and craft business owner. She is the author behind "Looney for Looms" where you will find patterns for loom knitting. We hope you found the information here inspiring enough to try a craft homebased business? You can find more free information about knitting and crochet for profit at http://www.knitting-n-crochet.com

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Free Knitting Scarf Patterns - Detailed Instruction on How to Create a Beautiful Scarf

There are thousands of free scarf knitting patterns online, and to list them all here would take a month. So ask family and friends if they have some or go to charity stores, they may have loads that they can't get rid of or even the library have knitting books.

Naturally selecting the best scarf for your wishes is an individual thing, but you will find the following Footy Headscarf a good way to start your knitting project.

FREE Easy Footy Headscarf Pattern
Measurements - The scarf will be roughly three feet long and 12cm in width with a fringe, in its rested state.
Depending on the quantity of colors you need to insert into your scarf, you'll use between 4 and 5 balls of wool.
Needles and Accessories - One pair of 6mm single pointed needles, or whatever sixe is needed to provide your strain level.
Stress For the Footy Headscarf - the strain is thirty stitches and twenty-one rows for each 10cm square section. The strain is measured in the scarf's resting state as the pattern is predicated on 2x2 rib design.
Knitting Instructions
Cast on 34 stitches
First Row will be : *K2, P2, repeat from * to last 2 stitches, K2. 2nd Row will be : K1, P1, *K2, P2, repeat from * to last two stitches, P1, K1. All you do is repeat these 2 rows, incorporating your stripe till your scarf measures 210cm in length, then cast off.
Color Patterns
Using your most important color choice, knit twenty-four rows in 2x2 rib.
Change to first contrast color and knit six rows.
Change to 2nd contrast color and knit twelve rows.
Change back to first contrast color and knit six more rows. Repeat from * seven times.
Change to main color, knit twenty-four rows in 2x2 rib.
Cast Off
Finishing Your Headscarf

When you're content that your scarf is just the way you would like it to be, you are done! However if you want to add a fringe as a special touch do the following;

Cut sixteen pieces of wool of each color, and about 12cm in length.
To form one piece of the fringe, take one strand of each color ; fold them in half to form a loop.
Then employing a crochet hook, draw the loop through the knitted fabric, and draw the ends through the loop. Pull the knot tight.

Space eight of these fringe knots uniformly across the width of both ends of your scarf, and that is all there is to it.

Kelly Boger is a knitting expert. Learn How To Create Outstanding Knitting Craft, From Home, With No Experience Needed! Discover more information about Free Knitting Scarf Patterns, visit http://www.enjoyknitting.com.

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8 Tips For Painting With Acrylics

1. Be sure not to mix too much water with acrylics, otherwise they'll lose their thick texture and other apparent qualities. This applies both when mixing paints and when applying the paint to the surface you're painting on

2. Because acrylics dry really fast, it's important for you to work fast. Do this and you should be able to effectively produce the painting you want without running into any problems. If you think you'll need more time, add a retarder to the paint to slow its drying time, thereby giving you more time to work on your painting

3. It's also important to consider the paint on your palette. Every so often, give this paint a light spray of water with a spray bottle or a mister to keep the paint from drying out before you've had a chance to use it

4. If you want to mix your paints, again this is something you'll have to do quite quickly before the paint dries out. If you happen to be mixing your paints on paper, a good trick is to dampen the paper; this will give you a bit more time to work as it will make the paints stay wet for longer

5. When you've finished painting, it's important to ensure you get all of the paint off your paintbrush. Give it a good wash with some warm water first, then use a mild soap to try and get all of the paint out of the paintbrush's bristles. Don't try solvents or anything like that: when cleaning acrylics, all you need is soap and water

6. A rather simple one, but an important one nonetheless: always keep your paint tube covers screwed on when you're not painting. You want to keep all paint exposed to the air in the room or outside for as little time as possible

7. Squeeze out the right amount of paint. Don't bother squeezing all of the paint out on to your palette because there's a high chance some of it will have dried before you come round to using it. Only squeeze out a little bit of paint at a time so you don't end up with a load of paint on your palette that will end up going unused

8. When it comes to priming your canvas, only used an acrylic-based primer. Using an oil-based primer with acrylic paint will affect the paint and can change the way it looks, whereas using acrylic-based primer will have very minimal effects on the final look of the paint

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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The Secrets To Developing Your Own Style

1. Start with what you love
You don't just choose your style; your style is something that comes to you as you create art. The best way to go about developing your style is to start with what you love and go from there. If you've been creating art and you know what you love, simply go for that. If you're not too sure, simply create lots of art and experiment in lots of different ways. Being versatile in your art is a good way of helping you realise what particular type of art you love above all others. If you create lots of different types of art, you should sooner or later come across something that you find really appealing.

2. Create lots of art
What your love is the basis for developing your style. Once you've got this, you can go about exploring and developing your style. Work as much as you can and create as many pieces as you can. The more you create, the more your style will develop, evolve and grow. It's worth bearing in mind that it can take a long time for you to develop a unique style. Many artists spend years creating art in order to find their unique style - finding your style can be a long process and can therefore require a lot of your time and patience.

3. Think about what sets you apart from others
Pick an artist and look at their works to gain an idea of what their style is. What sets this artist apart from others? What's unique about this artist's style? Is there something common to all this artist's pieces? Ask yourself these questions to give yourself an idea of how artists make themselves stand out. Then ask yourself these questions about your own works: what sets you apart from others? What's unique about your style? Is there something common to your pieces?

4. Be prepared for your style to change
If you know what your style is and you're confident it makes you stand out from the crowd, great. What you have to be prepared for is for your style to change and evolve over time. Some artists are happy to find their style and work with it for the rest of their careers. For others, sticking to one way of creating isn't enough to satisfy their creative needs; they feel the need to always push their creativity and experiment with new styles. Even if you're happy to stick with one style, you should be prepared for change, as changes may eventually show themselves in your works.

Joanne Perkins is a Berkshire-based artist with a BA (Hons) in Fine Art. She specialises in painting Berkshire landscapes and loves capturing the natural beauty of her local countryside. She is happy to accept all queries and questions. For more information about Joanne, her work and her current projects visit: http://joannesberkshirescenes.com/default.aspx Joanne can be found on Facebook

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Painting: A Hobby Seniors Can Take Up to Remain Creative

Standing at the dawn of your youth, a bandana covering the forehead, staring at the sunset with a paint brush in your hand, an easel in front of you, and the canvas stretched out neatly, making that first stroke, watching the colour spread out one thick stroke at a time. We have all had this lush imagery in our daydreams at least once in our lives.

What stopped us half the time were thoughts such as 'Me and painting, oh come on!' and 'I have never even tried doodling!' or the '... maybe later, when I am away from all the stress' ones. Well, what's keeping you now? You have retired from your life of stress and deadlines, your days and nights are filled with time and lots of free time. This is the perfect time to pursue that hobby you have wished to try on since forever, or brush up that old pastime you kept away for fear it might eat into your work schedule. It is important to have a creative hobby as you age for it will rejuvenate your brain and in the course, freshen up your thought process.

Start simple, no need to get expensive paints or fancy easel in the beginning. Get yourself a sketch book, some HB pencils, a beginner's kit of watercolours. Now start with something simple, draw those tiny houses with hills in the background, a rising sun, a flock of 'r' shaped birds. Remember how it felt when you were a kid, drawing them on the back of your notebooks and along the borders of your textbooks. It is the same, creativity has no age limit. Free your mind from prejudices, nobody is expecting you to be a Van Gogh or Picasso. Make every stroke to feed your creative inner child. Now mix up those watercolours, forget getting the precise shades for now, just have fun. Paint as much as you can, fill the frame, make it vibrant.

As you start feeling like you are getting a hang of the strokes, start looking up references. Famous paintings and portraits, trace over them or give it a freehand try. They might not look similar, but hey it will be something unique that you create. The happiness that sprouts from watching a handmade work of yours; that is the best feeling you can get at any age in your life. Show them to your grandchildren, for they will relate to it much better. As them for suggestions and themes and draw them the picture of that 'leopard eating grapes on a paddy field'. Gift them the neatly framed painting on their next birthday and watch them go "WOAH!". The art of painting dates back to the stone-ages, but don't feel like it is out dated or out of fashion, for all that creativity impulses inside you has to come out in one way or other. Painting is a good mental exercise as well as one for your wrists as it puts every single nerve in your hands to good use to make sure that you get that perfect stroke. Wait no longer, get out there, and go paint the city red!

Mahdi ul Baasit (or MuB, as he is often called) is a writer by nature. Presently he works for SeniorWorld, an Indian company which is dedicated to enable Indian seniors to live a more fulfilling life.

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Easy Slipper Knitting Patterns Are Great For Beginners

Choose easy slipper knitting patterns, they are great for a beginner to learn how to knit. The only stitches required are knit and purl. You can use the shorter needles and this will help you to get use to handling them. With short needles you do not have all that extra length to deal with.

Tips for knitting slippers

First: Choose a simple pattern. Slippers are small so you will finish quickly and have a real sense of accomplishment.

Second: Choose shorter needles. You do not need long needles for slippers. The shorter needles are much easier to handle. Sizes 8 through 10 all are good to learn with.

Third: Choose a yarn that is thick or bulky. I like working with thick yarn when I want a quick project.

Forth: Use the smallest size the pattern says if you are using one with size choices. This way you will not be trying to figure out where you are in the pattern. You will always know the stitches are the first set.

When we first begin to knit we all tend to pull our stitches too tight. That is why I suggest the larger short needles and thicker yarn. You do not need worry about size of slipper to begin with.

My first project was a huge beautiful shawl. I messed it up terribly and did not try to knit again for a long time. I felt like a failure. Had I chose a smaller and easier project to start with this would never have happened. Of course I did eventually get back to knitting but I choose a much smaller project this time.

Knitting pattern, slipper
Slippers are a great gift. Perfect for stoking stuffers, for the new mother or your friend at the office. With knit slippers the size dose not have to be exact for a great fit.
Free slipper knitting patterns can be found easily online. I have a few on my site that would be great for a beginner to get started, they are knit flat so this makes it very easy handling. One pattern is knit on needles and the other pattern is knit on a knitting loom. They are basic patterns and there is a chart to help the beginner to see how to knit them.

Do not forget the charities as they can use slippers also. So if your not sure what size you want to make or the color somebody likes use what you have on hand. There will always be somebody that would love to have a pair of snuggly slippers to warm their feet.

Linda Spangenburg draws on 35+ years from her knitting and crochet business experience, both as a teacher and craft business owner. She is the author behind "Looney for Looms" where you will find patterns for loom knitting. We hope you found the information here inspiring enough to try a craft homebased business? You can find more free information about knitting and crochet for profit at http://www.knitting-n-crochet.com

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Knitting Techniques and the Ways We Knit

If you're a knitter, you are either a hobby knitter, making a hat or blanket here and there for gifts, or you knit for the challenge of advancing your skills with every new item. The advanced knitters are interested in learning different skills and are always looking for patterns, charts and techniques. They have their patterns, stash of yarn and supplies neatly organized and ready for action. They frequently have two or more works in progress (WIPs) and find it impossible to be monogamous to one project.
Knitters can create items using various techniques, such as those described below. It is not uncommon to combine methods of knitting, such as constructing the body of a sweater on a machine and then applying a fancy rib by hand.

Hand knitting: When most people think of knitting, they think of the traditional way of knitting with two needles and a ball of yarn. This remains a very popular and common way to knit. Ways to hand knit include using the garter stitch for fast and easy items, as well as using intricate cables, lace pattens, textured stitches and color changes to create cherished heirlooms.

The history of hand knitting dates back to before the 1600s, although this only represents the recording of the art of knitting. There is much controversy about descriptions of items found at archeological sites and in literature about whether they were woven or knit. I am reading A History of Hand Knitting by Richard Rutt. The book does a great job of chronicling the art of knitting and goes in to great detail about the earliest writings and samples of knitted items. The first described hand knit items seem to be stockings made of cotton and silk.

Machine Knitting: Industrial knitting machines seem to have been introduced around 1600 for the purpose of making knitted items faster and more efficiently. The machines were not well received initially because it was thought they would harm the livelihood of poor people who depended on the money they received knitting items at home.

In the early stages of machine knitting, it was apparent that hand knitters had the advantage over machine knitters because hand knitting could more easily change designs with fashion changes. Also, hand knitters could work anywhere at any time. Machine knitters were confined to work only during the daylight hours and had to be in the spot where their machine was.

When those of us who knit hear the word "machine knitting" we think of using either a hobby knitting machine such as the Bond Ultimate Sweater Machine or a more advanced machine such a Brother or Passap to create knitted items. When discussion of machine knitting versus hand knitting arise, there is always someone who mentions their belief that items knitted on a machine are not hand made. Machine knitters are quick to point out that creating an item with a knitting machine most certainly involves setting up the bed of stitches, manipulating stitches for shaping and finishing the items by hand, thus qualifying their items as hand made.

Loom Knitting: Loom knitting appears to be a newer concept, mostly because of the recent development of brightly colored plastic looms found in craft stores and the versatile patterns available to make with looms. However, loom knitting has been around since before the original knitting machines.

Knitting looms were originally known as peg frames. The earliest mention of the peg frame was in 1535. A peg frame is described as a range of pegs on a fixed base arranged in a row or a ring. Stitches are made by treating each peg as a stitch on the needles. Stitches are knitted by winding the yarn twice around the pegs and lifting the bottom loop over the top loop. Stitches can also be knit on a base with the pegs arranged in rows, also known as a knitting board. This creates a fabric that is double sided.

Knitting has a rich and long history. Knitting is still a very popular craft today with various methods of knitting to match the mood and goals of individual knitters.

Melissa Bailey shares her love of all things knitting at http://essentialdogclothing.com and http://knittedgiftideas.com

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Round Kitting Looms

If you would love to create your own homemade items from yarn, but never learned how to knit or crochet, you should check out round knitting looms. They will enable you to knit delightful items simply by wrapping yarn around the loom. Lifting a stitch over the wrapped yarn, using a small pick-up tool, is all it takes to get started and complete your first project.

Loom knitting can be dated back as far as the Middle Ages. Although it eventually fell out of popularity, it has once again become a popular past-time. Today, modern round knitting looms are widely available at many craft stores. They come in different colors for different sizes of finished projects.

You can even make your own knitting loom. Take a piece of board about 12" wide and cut it into a round shape. Cut a large circle out of the center of the board. Drive nails evenly spaced, about a 1/2" apart, around the top of the outside edge of the board. This makes the knitting surface. You can use something as simple as a crochet hook or large sewing needle as the pick-up tool. Before I decided to invest in the more costly manufactured looms, I made my own round loom and practiced with it.

The simplest items knitted on a round loom are hats and socks. They may be simple to make, but it doesn't take away from their usefulness. You can be quite creative and achieve any look you want simply by using different colors of yarn. Just tie a new color to the yarn you are already working with any time you like. This will create a totally unique look.

Although I recommend you start learning how to loom knit by making a hat, there are many other items that can be made using a round loom. You can make scarves, pillow tops, dish cloths and even afghans. The list doesn't stop there, either. Try searching for "round knitting looms" on the internet and you will find many different patterns available, along with detailed instructions on how to make them.

If you buy a round knitting loom kit, it will come with instructions on how to make a basic hat. After you make your first one, you will be hooked. Once you tire of hats, be sure to do a search so you can add to your list of things to make.

K. Hupp enjoys cooking, gardening and unique collectibles. Visit the new Cheapest Airline Tickets [http://cheapestairlineticketshq.com] website to find real bargains on the cheapest airline tickets available.

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