Although sharing the same old category of knitting devices, spool knitting uses a spool with four nails in it for the design of the fabric instead of the traditional needles. Because of the very basic structure of the elements required, spool knitting remains part of educational practices in crafts classes.

Therefore, children get used with the main principles of knitting in a fun and practical way at the same time. The spool can be either improvised or purchased ready made, but the other supplies required include a crochet hook, yarn and in case you want to, you can also bring brads, a hammer, drill and a drill bit.

If you try to make the spool yourself, the process could get too complicated and time consuming. The first step to begin with is to pass the yarn through the spool, from top to bottom, but make sure to leave a few inches of yarn hang out from the bottom.

It is a good idea that for this initial spool knitting stage you stick to the instructions in case you have never done it before so that you have a smooth beginning. Then, you can start pulling the yarn with the crochet hook by making small loops every time and passing them over the brads, in the process known as the casting on.

The number of brads used in spool knitting varies depending on what you want to achieve; so far, spool knitting has the widest applications for cord making, which is suitable for four or six brads according to the size you aim to achieve.

Yet, it is common knowledge that odd numbers are easier to work with in casting on, therefore, stick to the four or six variants particularly if you are a beginner. When knitting, pass the yarn around every brad and the passage to the next knitted line requires that you pull the previous loop out, up and over each and every brad.

Spool knitting allows for various color alternation particularly since you need basic skills to perform such changes. Simply cut one yarn type and add the new color, tie it carefully and continue the spool knitting process.

When learning spool knitting from books or web pages, it really helps to match the illustrations with the instructions and understand each step separately before moving to a different one. When you finish knitting you will have to tie off the ends so that they do not unravel. For those who need professional spool knitting, it is preferable to buy a spool knitting machine that works a lot speedier and with superior results.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 23rd, 2009 at 5:10 pm and is filed under Parenting. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.