Never knit with green yarn...and other knitting superstitions

This article was first published on my Everyday Knitter Substack on 19 June 2024. If you’d like to find out more about my Everyday Knitter community there and join in the conversation please tap here to find out more: See what’s on Substack.

My Nana who taught me to knit was a font of all knitting knowledge but was also raised from a strong Irish Catholic background - and as such she had some deep rooted and ‘interesting’ superstitions that she wasn’t shy about sharing with us.

She was scandalised for example when I wore my fabulous new pair of red shoes on my graduation day - as red shoes were a well known sign of a fallen women, apparently. When my Dad took photos she insisted that he crop my feet out of shot.

Showing a similar colour bias she would also refuse to knit with green yarn on the grounds that it was unlucky. After doing a bit of reading around this it does seem to be a widely held belief, especially in Ireland that green is a colour worn by faries - and for humans to do so is considered ill luck, especially when knitting for babies.

She did make an exception for my bottle-green school cardigans however, presumably on the grounds that, that particular shade of bottle-green was so ugly that no self respecting fairy would want to wear it.

Green Gable Socks - probably my Nana’s knitting nemesis

There are other superstitions which she held which I think are more widely known among knitters in general.

Never to stab your needles through your ball of yarn is quite a common one - as it’s said to cause bad luck. Similarly she would never hand knitting needles to me directly, she would always put them on the table in front of me and have me pick them up. And if she dropped a pair of scissors on the ground she would always cross herself.

After reading various online knitting forums over the years I’ve also come across a number of other knitting superstitions, some of which include:

• Knitting a strand of your hair into a garment for a loved one will tie them to you.

• Never knit socks for a loved one or they will walk away from you - I think after years of knitting socks for my husband I can safely debunk that one.

• It’s bad luck to start a knitting project on a Friday

• Every knitting project should have a deliberate mistake to keep you safe from the fairies

• The boyfriend sweater curse is well known too - although I have never tried this out in practice.

Have you ever come across any knitting superstitions in your crafty endeavours?

I don’t particularly hold any myself although I do refuse to knit with black or navy yarn.

Though this is less to do with long-held superstitious beliefs and much more to do with declining eyesight.

Tips for success with circular needles

I have to be honest here and say that it’s been so long since I used straight needles for anything that they feel distinctly odd and alien to me. Despite the fact that I grew up learning to use straight needles - knitting flat now, for me, always involves circular needles.

I find them to be much more comfortable as they spread the load of the knitting more evenly. As well as that they are much more portable - easily tucked away inside a project bag.

Knitting on public transport can be a little cramped at the best of times and no one needs long straight needles further antagonising the ‘armrest wars’.

That being said, there are a lot of people for whom knitting is synonymous with straight needles and when they do try to change the habits of a lifetime it can feel uncomfortable to say the least. I often see comments on forum posts where people are trying out circular needles for the first time. They try once or twice and then give up as they find it too difficult.

Changing any kind of established movement or habit is hard work. Our brains are hard wired to prefer the comfort of familiar routines, they take less thought and we can almost do them without thinking about it.

If you are in any doubt about the power of muscle memory try folding your arms the ‘wrong way’ and see how alien it feels to you, how hard you have to concentrate on the movements. And that’s just a simple thing like crossing your arms. Imagine how many more neurons and muscles have to be recruited when you try to hold knitting needles in a different way. You literally need to rewire your brain - and that takes time.

The good news is that by developing new neural pathways like this you are developing your neuroplasticity - something which is linked to staving off age-related changes in the brain such as dementia. SO it’s well worth persevering with. If it helps here are a few things that I have found worked for me and those I teach.

How to get to grips with circular needles:

1. Choose a good quality brand - the best you can afford. Look for needles with a smooth join between the cable and the needle portion. Cheaper, plastic needles often have a rough join which will just catch and snag on your stitches. Tugging the stitches over a rough patch won’t help your enjoyment of the knitting.

2. Cast on for a simple project first, something like a hat where you can just focus on the process.

3. You don’t have to knit in the round at first if you don’t want to. Just practice using the circular needle to knit flat, knitting back and forth as you would normally.

4. When you do decide to knit in the round knit flat for a few rows first before joining. This helps you to avoid accidentally twisting your stitches and you can stitch up the little gap at the end with the tail of your working yarn.

5. When knitting in the round try to use the tips of your fingers more than your palms. When using straight needles much of the weight (and control) rests through your palms/wrists - this is the reason for many RSI-type injuries. With circular knitting most of the weight is distributed through the cable and you are just using your fingertips to manipulate the needles.

6. Practice daily. Aim for 5 to 10 minutes every day on your ‘in the round’ project. Try not to do more, especially if you are finding it frustrating. It will take time to develop your new skill but you will gradually find it easier and easier as you reprogramme all those little neurons.

Practice really is the key here - little and often - and in no time you will surprise yourself with how much you are managing to knit.

What aspects of circular knitting do you find challenging? Why not let me know in the comments and I’ll see if I can help.

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How to make your handknit socks last longer

A pair of handknit socks knit in yarn from The Yarny Octopus

A lot of time and effort goes into knitting a pair of handknit socks. By my conservative estimate I normally reckon on around 8 hours per sock, if it’s a plain vanilla sock with a short row heel. Larger socks for the men in my life or anything requiring a pattern or cable can be upwards of 10hrs - a total of 20hrs for a pair.

Whatever way you look at it - that’s a lot of time invested in two small woolly object. So naturally it makes sense to want them to last as long as possible, no one wants to have sock holes to deal with.

Socks in general have a hard life, unless you are knitting cashmere bed socks. Stuffed into boots and shoes, subject to a lot of friction, it’s no surprise that they can suffer from wear and tear. But there are a few simple things we can do to help them last longer.

1. Choose a choose wool/nylon mix. Ideally 80% wool/20% nylon or 75/25. Yes, I know that you can knit long lasting socks with just 100% wool but in my experience a little bit of nylon really does help.

2. Choose a yarn with multiple plies firmly twisted around each other.. Some brands sell a high twist yarn which is perfect for fabrics which will get a lot of friction and rubbing. Avoid anything that pills as this will inevitably lead to thinner areas developing on the sock - and holes forming.

3. Avoid putting handknit socks in the tumble dryer. The excess heat can damage the fibres and reduce the amount of stretch in the yarn.

4. Go down a needle size. The ideal sock fabric should be firm with no gaps between the stitches. I noticed an immediate difference in my socks longevity when I went down from a 2.5mm needle to a 2.25mm needle. The fabric is firmer, more even and definitely longer lasting.

5. For someone who is very hard on their socks consider adding in a re-inforcement thread at heels and/or toes. You can buy commercial thread for this purpose or you can add in a strand of thin mohair or silk. Both will have the advantage of adding strength and durability to any vulnerable areas and hopefully increasing the socks lifespan.

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How to knit a log cabin blanket

A basic log cabin blanket block knit with leftover DK weight yarn on 4mm needles.

One of the things I love most about log cabin blankets is that you really are free to knit them however you like. Once you have the basics of the construction sorted out you can freestyle to your hearts content. They can be used to stashbust and use up scraps or you can purchase to fit a particular design -  the choice is yours. This tutorial will show you how to knit a square log-cabin block which is the building block for most types of log cabin blanket construction.

To start with you need to knit a central patch - garter stitch is by far my preferred stitch for this as the squares lie flat and don't roll. I have seen spectacular log cabin blankets knit in seed stitch but that's a a level of commitment I'm really not prepared for.

BLOCK 1

Cast on 15 stitches and knit 30 rows and then cast off - you will have 15 garter ridges. If it helps, stick a bulb or safety pin into the right side to help you although technically at this stage but sides are the same. If you get into the habit of slipping the first stitch purlwise (with the yarn in front) this creates a neat slipped stitch edge and will make the job of picking up stitches later so much easier.

Starting block 2 - with stitches picked up along the side of block 1

BLOCK 2

With colour 2 (green, here) align block 1 with the right side up and the cast on edge towards you. Pick up and knit 15 stitches along the left hand side of block 1. Knit 29 rows - the pick up and knit row counts as 1 row - until you have 15 garter ridges. Cast off.

Starting block 3 - with stitches picked up along the side of block 2 and the cast on edge of block 1

BLOCK 3

With right side facing and colour 3 (light brown), pick up and knit 15 stitches along the left hand side of block 2 and then 15 stitches along the cast on edge of block 1 (30 stitches in total). Knit 29 rows - 15 garter ridges then cast off.

BLOCK 4

With right side facing and colour 4 (pale green), pick up and knit 15 stitches along the left hand side of block 3, and the other side of block 1. Knit 29 rows, Cast off. Spotting a pattern yet?

BLOCK 5

With colour 5 (gold), pick up and knit 15 stitches along the left hand side of block 4, 15 stitches along the cast off edge of block 1 and 15 stitches across the other side of block 2 (45 stitches in total). Knit 29 rows. Cast off.

This completes your first full block and you’ll see that block 1 is fully enclosed by the surrounding 4 blocks.

You can now continue in the same manner, always remembering to turn the work 90 degrees clockwise. You pick up stitches along the side of the block just worked and across to the end of the piece, adding more blocks as you go. You can keep going until the blanket is the desired size or you run out of yarn.

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Keeping a beginners mind

Wishing and Hoping Baby Blanket

I think one of the most popular blog posts I ever wrote, back in the day, was entitled Death by Scarf. In it I talked about how I had come across an acquaintance who was a new knitter and he had asked for recommendations for starter projects. He’d been given the traditional advice often given to newer knitters that he should start with a ‘nice garter stitch scarf’ and well, let’s just say that the idea didn’t appeal to him.

And I didn’t blame him one little bit. As far as I’m concerned there is nothing more likely to bore the pants off a new knitter and to firmly turn them off the hobby for life than making them sit through the tedium of knitting 6-feet of garter stitch no matter how lovely the yarn.

Unless it’s a scarf for a teddy bear then nope, I’m afraid you can keep your nice garter stitch scarves.

Instead I directed him towards the amazing Tincan Knits website where they have a fabulous (and free) range of patterns aimed at beginners. The instructions are clearly laid out with tutorials to everything the new knitter is likely to need.

The next time I saw him, in a matter of a few short weeks he had knitted a hat, some mitts and was shopping for yarn for his first pair of socks. The man was well and truly hooked and believe me when I say I rejoiced inside.

People only think it’s hard if you tell them it is

It’s a fact that’s common to most areas of life, when you are a beginner you literally know nothing. Not only that, but you don’t know what you don’t know. Indeed, in the Four Stages of Learning this is rather insultingly defined as Unconscious Incompetence. But it’s true, you can’t know something until you’ve started the process of learning.

Gradually people move through a process of being aware of what they don’t know (conscious incompetence), becoming more proficient (conscious competence) and finally through to being so skilled that they can do it without thinking (unconscious competence).

Turning the heel of a sock is a classic example of this. Often people will tell me things like they have been knitting for years but have always been scared to try socks. They will talk about ‘turning the heel’ as though it is somehow imbued with magical properties rather than a series of easily followed instructions.

Literally all you need to do is follow the steps in front of you faithfully, to the the letter and you will have a successful heel turn. It’s isn’t magic, it’s maths.

Some people react in horror when I suggest socks as a beginner knitting project but really when you think about it they are ideal. Yes, the cast on can be a little tricky but that’s the same of any cast on when you are just starting out. As a young girl my Nana used to cast on and do the first row for me when she was teaching me to knit.

But once the cast on is done you are literally just knitting round and round, there’s nothing else to distract your attention. You come to the heel turn, concentrate and follow the instructions. Then it’s plain sailing all the way to the end.

As a beginner you don’t know that socks are thought to be hard. You only know they are hard if other knitters tell you that they are.

Keeping a beginners mind

I’ve seen teachers and other education professionals refer to ‘keeping a beginners mind’ when approaching a new topic or skill and it’s a great thing to do. It’s not meant to be insulting or patronising, but more it’s meant in the spirit of being open to learning and to new experiences.

It’s a term translated from from Shoshin - which comes from Zen Buddhism -and it describes the way that a beginner doesn’t have any expectations or pre-conceived ideas about how something should be. They are literally experiencing something for the first time.

“If your mind is empty … it is open to everything. In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” - Shunryu Suzuki

And no matter how expert we might be in something, there’s a lot to be said for stepping back sometimes and seeing it fresh, with a beginners mind.

We might be surprised at what we find.

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Can I take my knitting on a plane

The short answer is yes, just remember the 3 cardinal rules

• Think small (socks, mitts, hats)

• Use wooden needles

• Remember to remove scissors/tapestry needles (use tiny snips instead)

There is of course a much longer answer to this which is that, like so much in life, it depends.

There is a common misconception that the individual airlines set the rules, but for the most part the airlines are bound by the commercial regulations pertaining to the countries they are operating from.

In the UK this information is available on the gov.uk website, which specifically states that knitting needles are allowed in cabin baggage. The final decision though rests with the security staff on duty and they have the right to confiscate anything they deem to be a security risk. It is extremely unlikely that you would have your needles confiscated but there are a few things you can do in advance to mitigate this risk.

1. Stick to wooden, rather than metal needles and avoid taking your most expensive set with you. Only take needles that you wouldn’t be upset to lose.

2. Run a lifeline through your work prior to leaving. That way if you do have to remove the needles and hand them over you won’t lose your work.

3. Don’t bother taking a self-addressed envelope with you (as some advise - so that you can post them back to yourself). Think about it - due to security concerns when was the last time you saw an open post box in an airport concourse.

4. Make sure to remove any scissors or tapestry needles from your project bag. You can buy little Hiya Hiya snips with tiny blades, Clover do a little cutter (although I have heard of these being confiscated too). In a pinch a dental floss container - and it’s little integral blade can cut most yarns.

5. Please don’t try to hide needles in other baggage or on your person. I’ve heard of people hiding needles in their hair and honestly I can’t imagine an easier way to get pulled over and pat searched for suspicious activity. Be honest, up front and be prepared to demonstrate your knitting. From personal experience I have had security agents confused by circular needles, as they expect to see long, pointy ones. Circular needles may sometimes require an explanation.

So, there you have it. It’s not rocket science and with a few exceptions most countries have no issue with you flying with needles - Mexico is known for being particularly strict I hear.

Avoid hearsay and rumour

Few things are likely to elicit more of a response than posting this question in a Facebook group so please save yourself the time and bother. You’ll get a flood of contradictory advice from people in different countries and operating under a different set of assumptions. People will tell you to

• Call the airline

• Call your holiday operator

• Yes, you can

• No, you can’t

• Sometimes

Honestly, it’s not worth the hassle - check the regulations for the country your flight is leaving from:

UK: Hand luggage restrictions at UK airports: Personal items - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

USA (TSA): Knitting Needles | Transportation Security Administration (tsa.gov)

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