Add your own Hints and Tips

Just email me and I can put them on this page when I update it.

When starting a new ball of wool/cotton etc., don't use the outside end to begin but pull a few strands from the inside of the ball to find the 'inside end'...if you start with this end, it stops the ball from rolling around the living room while you try to stitch.
Wytchie in Wales, UK

 I also photocopy patterns I am using (this is totally legal as long as the copy is for your own use and you have the original pattern) so that I can mark where I am up to and how many repeats of things I have done etc without spoiling my original pattern...sounds daft probably but there have been too many times when I have been in the middle of a high number of repeats and got distracted by something (usually the kids lol) and totally lost count.
Wytchie in Wales, UK

One tip which might prove useful to others, when I was crocheting the Safari Afghan out of Homespun and using a regular Plastic Boye Hook, I couldn't get it in the stitch, even after I found it.  So I switched to my Brittany Walnut Hook in a corresponding size and it worked just fine.  Also works well with the Fun Fur too, since it was put in the afghan as a stripe alongside the Homespun and not carried with the homespun (if that makes any sense).  So anyone having trouble with Homespun, Boucle or any of the bulky yarns might try using a wooden hook and see if it helps them.
Joyce in KY

I place my balls of yarn in a 3 lb. butter bowl.  Perfect size, sits on the floor near my chair and my yarn doesn't roll all over the floor.
Linda M in SC

ONE. I often use yarn I have made up from cones, putting several  strands together to make either my own colour blend or just to get the thickness  I want in one colour. I prefer to hand wind these, especially as I often just want a small  amount.
I find that they run all over the place so -  TWO  I put them inside one of those little balls that the  children buy in the local family pub. I don't know if you've seen them but they  are a ball about half as big again as a tennis ball with one side clear plastic  and the other side coloured. They split in two and come with toys in for a pound  each. One side has a slot so they can be reused for a money box and the other  has a little round hole in, just right for wool. The kids often leave them  laying around on the pub floor when they go home. So they are FREE. My favourite price. lol They don't tend to roll around at all and the wool keeps nice and clean, also you can slip them in a pocket or bag and use them on the move  because the wool is running freely inside the ball.
Suzy Nash in Northamptonshire, UK

When crocheting with fluffy yarns or dark colours, I use a white plastic curtain hook (the ones shaped like a number 9) for a row/stitch marker.
Anne from Timperley in Cheshire

Designed by Enfys
Content © Helen Free, Enfys and Rainbow Valley 2003-2012
Last Updated: May 03, 2012

Site Map