A corner to corner blanket: Free pattern

I knit this simple garter stitch blanket last year sometime and published it as a free pattern on Instagram for those who follow me there, with the full and certain intention of adding it to my free patterns page here too.

I have no idea why it fell off my to-do list, I can only assume that life, combined with my butterfly brain conspired against me.

In any case, I wanted to add it here as it’s such a lovely, straightforward knit. Ideal for a beginner or for those times when you just want a bit of relaxing, stress-free knitting. I knit this small lap blanket with DK yarn on 4mm needles but you could easily adapt it to work with fingering weight yarn (suggested 3mm needles) or worsted/aran (on 4.5/5mm needles, respectively).

It produced a perfect little square blanket - ideal for baby knitting as well in an appropriate yarn.

You can find the blanket over on my free pattern page, or it’s written out here (below) as well if you wanted to bookmark it for later.

Why everyone needs two-factor authentication

Yes, I know. It’s not the most obvious knitting topic and also, not the most glamorous of subjects but it is so, so important.

If you are wondering what on earth two-factor authentication (2FA) is and why you should care please just read on. Give me two minutes of your time and hopefully I can persuade you why it’s important - not only for your own internet security but for your friends and the knitting community at large.

Put simply, 2FA is a way of making sure that when you log into your social media account (whether its Twitter, Instagram or Facebook) that you are who you say you are. If you are anything like me you probably stay logged in to your commonly used apps. Only having to sign back in when you log out for whatever reason or you access the app from a different device.

Having 2FA switched on means that when you do this there’s an extra level of security attached so that the app can be sure it’s you accessing Instagram from a new laptop - and not a hacker trying to gain access.

You can choose to have this via a text message sent to your phone (although Twitter, controversially only allows this for blue tick accounts now), or you can use one of the many free apps available - Google authenticator is a good one and Authy also is widely used.

Once these are switched on (look under the security settings of the relevant app) you’ll be prompted to enter a code if you log in from a new device, or if you’ve previously logged out for whatever reason. There’s a great summary here.

A salutary tale:

If you are reading this thinking that you are always careful, you have a strong password and you rarely log out of apps, please read on. I consider myself to be pretty internet savvy but on the day in question it was my Dad’s funeral (or possibly the day before, I can’t honestly remember) and I was on Instagram when a message popped up from a friend (or so I thought).

She had managed to get herself locked out of her IG account and could I please send her one of my backup codes.

Now of course, in the cold light of day I recognise this to be a scam. It wasn’t my friend at all, but a hacker who had accessed her account and was no doubt sending the same message to all those who followed her so that they could hack as many accounts as possible.

But I wasn’t thinking clearly, I wanted to help my friend and without really thinking I DM’d her my code. Instantly there was a pop up text from my 2FA service saying ‘is this you trying to log on from xxx location’

Of course, then I realised how foolish I’d been and how close I came to losing my IG account (and 10 years of photos).

But my point is that it’s so easily done. And once a hacker has access to your account they can wreak untold havoc.

So yes, it might only be your knitting account where you share photos of your yarn and cats. But in a hackers hands they can use it to continue their attack on people in your friends list too.

Turning on 2FA takes just a few minutes, but it doesn’t just protect your own account, it helps to protect everyone you are connected to online.

5 good reasons to knit socks

There are way more than 5 - obviously - but I was in need of a catchy title.

1. People will think you are really clever. I’m not sure why this is but a lot of people attribute sock knitting to the ‘really hard’ category. No word of a lie, I once had a real-life, actual brain surgeon tell me that she could never knit socks as they were ‘too complicated’. She spent her days doing the most mind-boggling surgical feats with people’s brains for heavens sake. Yet she thought my plain vanilla sock was too hard.

2. Turning a heel is as close as you can get to magic without a wand. The point I made above, notwithstanding there is something a little bit magical about turning a heel. It was always my favourite part of teaching a sock knitting class. The part where you knit backwards and forwards for a bit and suddenly manage to bend your sock tube through 90 degrees. It still delights me even now.

3. You get to knit with all the cool yarn. It’s a well known fact that sock yarn doesn’t count towards your stash. And you can always pick up a 100g/400m skein on impulse at a yarn festival and know, with certainty that you can knit a pair of socks out of it.

4. You’ll always have warm feet - I haven’t worn a pair of commercial socks in years and my feet are eternally grateful.

5. You’ll never fear having to take your shoes off in airports again. My husband travels a lot for work (always in handknit socks) and he’s lost count of the number of times total strangers have approached him in airports or on planes asking where he bought his socks from. Cue the smug ‘spouse of knitter’ expression as he explains that they are unique and not available anywhere else.

As I said above, I could keep going but there are the first 5 that spring to mind. In short sock knitting is just my favourite thing to do (apart from drinking coffee and cuddling my cats). And if you don’t currently knit socks I hope this has inspired you to give them a go.

If you are looking for something to get you started, head to my free patterns page and there you’ll find a free download for both a cuff down sock pattern and a toe-up one as well.

Happy sock knitting

Cortado Socks - Cosy, quick and DK weight

The Cortado DK weight socks - click here to purchase

If you are a fan of speckled yarn and cushy, cosy DK weight socks then look no further. The Cortado socks are knit cuff down with 1 skein of DK weight yarn and with a straightforward, 4 round repeat they knit up so much faster than you might expect.

If you are lucky enough to be at Unravel this weekend you'll be able to see these socks in person. Gem of The Little Grey Girl is launching her fabulous new DK yarn - Coveny - in some beautiful colourways and I was lucky enough to be able to get my hands on an advance skein.

Having knit fingering weight socks for so long, it's such a treat to whip up a satisfyingly quick pair of cosy DK-weight socks - so much so that I'm eagerly planning to cast on another pair as soon as possible.

My husband - who never normally notices my knitting much - was particularly taken with these and casually enquired whether a 'speckled sock' might be in the offing for him too. As he is a larger-footed chap I normally approach socks for him with a degree of trepidation but at the speed I managed to knock these out I think he might have a fighting chance of a new pair by Easter.

If you are an email subscriber please check your inbox for an exclusive discount code. If not please use the code EARLYBIRD for a 15% discount - valid for 24hrs only. And if you’d like to join my email list to be notified of future offers please use this link.

Five things I love about knitting

5 things I love about knitting

The alternative title to this was ‘A love letter to knitting’ and also ‘Knitting lasts longer than friends’

Seriously though I don’t think I’ve ever had a friendship last as long as I have had a relationship with knitting. I’m not one that makes friends easily at the best of times and as a card carrying introvert I often prefer the company of my needles to others.

I do love a good catch up with friends over coffee, don’t get me wrong but I’ve never been great at maintaining friendships over time, as people and circumstances change.

Over the years I have often felt as though is a bit of a character flaw of mine - the fact that, unlike others I’m not in touch with any of my childhood friends, or people I was at Uni with, or worked with in various jobs and places over the years. But it took the pandemic for me to realise that actually, I’m OK with that.

The people around us and friendships that arise from that are constantly changing and evolving - and that’s probably a good thing.

Goodness me, that got a bit deep didn’t it? This was intended to be a light hearted look at why knitting holds such a firm place in my heart. So in that spirit and with tongue firmly in cheek may I present

5 things I love about knitting:

1. Knitting doesn’t demand that you make conversation with it

2. You can ignore it for months at a time and it won’t sulk

3. Knitting will forgive you if you shout at it

4. Knitting will do it’s level best to stretch to accommodate your needs

5. Knitting will always be there for you, no matter what

What about you - what do you love about knitting that you can’t get from others? Do let me know in the comments.

Two different mitered square decreases

A mitered square over an even number of stitches (left) vs one with an odd number (right)

Everyone loves the look of a mitered square blanket but one of the most common questions is around which decrease to use to create the distinctive mitered square look.

There are several different options available for how to knit a mitered square but they fall into two camps - those worked over an even number of stitches and those that use an odd number.

Even number of stitches: These have a marker at the centre point and an even number of stitches either side (32 sts in total in my example above). On each RS row the square is worked:

K to 2 sts before m, ssk, sm, k2tog, K to end.

The WS row is knit all the way across.

This creates a fairly broad ridge up the centre of the mitered square. It’s simple and easy to remember but some people are looking for a narrower, more defined ‘spine’ to their work.

Odd number of stitches: These squares have a central marked stitch with an even number of stitches on either side of that stitch. In my example above the 2 sides have 16 sts, with a central stitch (33 in total).

In this case the spine is formed by creating a central double decrease (CDD) - decreasing by 2 sts at the central point:

K to 1 st before central marked st, sl 1, k2tog, pass slipped st over the k2tog just worked (psso), K to end.

There are number of different ways to work a CDD - I have just given one option here - but the principle is always the same. You knit to 1 st before the central stitch then do a double decrease.

It gives a neat, defined line up the centre of the stitch which some people prefer.

I love the look of the CDD but I have an irrational dislike of actually carrying out the decrease itself. It’s always advisable to mark the central stitch in some way (I use a little bulb pin) but every time you do the CDD you need to move the marker up to make sure you do the CDD in the correct place on the next RS row.

Every time that I get lazy and think I’ll remember where the CDD goes - I forget. It’s OK when you are paying close attention but it only takes a momentary lapse and suddenly your nice straight spine looks more like a dogs hind leg.

For this reason |I always prefer to do my mitered squares over an even number of stitches - you always know where you are with a paired ssk/k2tog decrease.

But, as with everything it’s worth experimenting and seeing which decrease you prefer. Do you have a favourite? Let me know in the comments below.

OTHER BLOG POSTS YOU MIGHT LIKE:

Tips for a straight-edged mitered square blanket

How much yarn do you need for a mitered square?

How to Knit a Mitered Square Blanket

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