It was really horrible to knit with! This knitting sat in the naughty corner for at least a year... (intro)
Hi and welcome to Knit with Hannah. I'm Hannah. I'm here with knitting natter to help you learn to knit the
easy way. This is what I want for you today, is to make it easier. I had a comment on
one of my videos recently and I give her full credit. Louise has carried on with the jumper and
is continuing really well. However her comment was "I hate hate hate the yarn". So what do you do when
you come across this kind of dilemma? I came across a yarn and a pattern and I was all ready to knit
it. It was a beautiful pattern. I was so thrilled. nick loves shawl neck jumpers. I thought "I'm going
to knit this for him. It's going to be brilliant", and we both went out together to pick the yarn.
I said "Right i want to knit this. I want you to wear it so you're helping me choose the colour."
So we went into the yarn shop together. He stood there and looked at the yarn and we chose the
colour together, started knitting it. It was really horrible to knit with! Let's just put it that
simply. My hand was was getting really itchy. I'm not allergic to wool, but if it's all I wear next
to my skin I can get a bit sensitive, so knitting with it is fine, but this yarn was so irritable,
it was so scratchy that I just couldn't carry on knitting with it, and i think that's an extreme
thing. It's "oh my goodness I really don't like this colour. Am I ever going to use it?" It might
be just that it's a little bit too bubbly and the texture is a bit too much so you just make
a few mistakes as you're going through the yarn. Those things can be rectified as you're knitting
but if it does feel a bit irritable or very irritable then there are other things you could
do instead.What is the decision that you make if you hate, hate, hate the yarn as well? I've got three
options for you today and I'm just going to help you do this because I want knitting to be easier
for you and if you want to carry on with these projects then I'm going to help you make it easier.
OK. So yes of course the first option is to give up. I will say that 100%. That's exactly what I did.
I put this knitting in a bag and it sat in the naughty corner for at least a year possibly two
because I just thought "well I've bought all this yarn. I really want Nick to have this jumper.
Surely I'll be able to finish it one day?" and I was actually sorting out with my mum.
She was helping me just tidy up the house a little bit and we came across this and she said "look are
you ever going to knit it again? Do you want to knit it again?" "Yeah I really do. I really love
the jumper." "Well don't knit it with this. Just chuck it out." You're allowed to say no. She was,
she's really good at making decisions and she just helped me, just pushed me into "OK
I'm not the only one who thinks that this is ridiculous that i want to carry on knitting it!"
So yes you're allowed to give up. If you want to, keep the pattern. Find a different yarn
that actually feels really nice or is a better colour or is just something about it that
makes it OK, or just say "right I've got far too many memories, far too many blocks around this pattern. I
need to completely give up, not using the pattern, not using the yarn, giving it all away." That's it.
Done. And you that will mean that you're starting again completely from scratch:
new pattern, new yarn, and it will feel so much easier. You're allowed to say no. You're allowed
in all parts of life to say no, so say no. So that's your first tip, giving up. Give me a thumbs up if
you'd like that tip. It's really something we need to learn in life that we're allowed to give
up, we're allowed to say no to stuff, and it can really be a great tip when you're knitting as well.
OK, so the second option is of course is to make it into something else. Now
have you ever done this? I know I have. I've just got a few examples for you here on the table.
This first of all is a place mat. I use it for teapots, I use it for a nice big mug of tea.
It could easily be in a scarf, and you've started it, you've started the cable and you've gone "oh I
really hate this. I've had enough. I do not want to knit with this yarn any more."
Just do a few rows of garter stitch to finish it off, block it, you've got a place mat. Sorted. If you
actually want this pattern for a place mat then go and have a look at the cable tutorial. You can get
a free pattern for it. There you go. But this could easily have been the start of a scarf. If you don't
like the yarn, stop it. Do something else with it. And this could have been a nice scarf as well.
It's now a mug cosy. It's a lovely big mug cosy for a travel mug, and that could just so easily
have been a scarf, and you're allowed to say no, you're allowed to make it into something else.
This is actually the start of a scrunchie, so if you end up with something just in a rectangle
it doesn't have to be all garter stitch, it doesn't have to be anything in particular.
It could even be the front of a jumper. You get that far, you go "I cannot stand this yarn", make
it into a scrunchie. There you go. That's simple, and if you are starting a scarf it's nice and wide.
If you get so far but it's wide enough to fit around your neck, make it into a cowl. Give it to someone
else if you really don't like the colour. Donate it to a charity shop. You can bet someone will really
love it, but, yes, it doesn't have to be that what you think you're starting to knit becomes
what you're supposed to be knitting. It can become something else, so let it become something else.
A blanket could become a place mat or a dish cloth, especially if you're knitting one of the corner
to corner blankets. It's ideal for just deciding how far you want to go and then just stopping.
That could be dishcloth, it could be another place mat, it could be that you've started a
jumper, you've knitted the back, you've got that far and then you go "I cannot stand it. I
cannot knit the front and the sleeves as well, think about knitting the collar and the neck and
everything else too". Make the back of the jumper into a cushion cover. That's exactly what I did.
One of my favorite cushion covers is two jumper backs sewn side to side, and you don't actually
need a knitted back if you've got a knitted front. What you can do is very simply have the knitted
front and a piece of fabric on the back. Make it as simple as possible. A bit of canvas or a bit
of denim, you're organized, so make what you're knitting into something else. Utilize the time
and the effort that you put into it. Either give it away, use it yourself, but you won't have to
have it against your skin, you won't have to be knitting even more of it. Up cycle what you've
knitted so far. So, the other thing is if you want to continue. I'll give you a few tactics for this
and there's a video that I'd love you to watch because I think that could really help as well.
First of all knit in short bursts. Don't knit it in big long marathon chunks because you are
really going to get frustrated. Knit it 10 minutes, 20 minutes at the most, and then enjoy something
else. One of the things I would suggest is that you enjoy it as much as you can, so you've got
the candle lit, maybe you've got your favorite cup of tea, maybe you're watching something really
interesting on Netflix or YouTube even. Join me in one of my lives that goes on for 45 minutes.
Watch that while you're knitting and just have a bit of fun with it. Any of these things can
really help you while you're knitting just to keep going, just to keep going. Short bursts,
short bursts, and treat yourself while you're knitting. Also treat yourself and celebrate
even more than you usually would when you finish knitting a part of it. Finishing knitting something
doesn't have to be "I've completed the project." It can be I'm halfway through the back.
I'm halfway through a sleeve." It can be "I'm a quarter of the way through a scarf." You can
allow yourself to treat yourself when you've done that and really recognize that you've got this
far. Give yourself that real boost. Let yourself also utilize that time to knit something else.
Say "I'm a quarter of the way through. I've done 20 minutes. I'm going to spend 20 minutes on a really
beautiful knit, on a lovely knit, on something that iIm really looking forward to carrying on with."
If you really want to finish this because you've got so much invested into it like: you know who
it's for and they absolutely desperately want it, then yes, you can keep going but make it as easy
for yourself as possible. The last tip I'm going to give you is going to help you if you are knitting
something with the yarn texture, the yarn fibre that is really frustrating you So, this video below,
I'd really suggest you watch this next. It is going to help you take care of your hands while you're
knitting. Do subscribe as well. I love it. If you do watch all of my videos on a regular basis then do
subscribe. Thank you so much for joining me today. I will see you again soon. Bye for now. Happy knitting.