Skip to the entries
The Skein Almanac

Knitting and crochet, written down and dated

Knitting and crochet, one dated entry at a time

Craft advice ages badly when nobody can tell how old it is. Every page here carries the day it was written, and stays where that day put it: under its month, under its year, newest first.

The entries answer one question each, in plain language, with the arithmetic shown when there is any. Start anywhere. If you have never held needles, start with the yarn to buy first.

Entries
14
Years covered
2
Last entry

2026

10 entries, February to August

August 20261 entry

  1. What a yarn label tells you: weight, fiber, yardage and dye lot

    Five pieces of information sit on every ball band, and together they decide whether a project works: the weight category, the fiber content, the yardage, the recommended gauge and the dye lot number.

    Yarn 11 min read

July 20261 entry

  1. How to fix a dropped stitch, one rung at a time

    Secure the loose loop first, then climb the ladder with a crochet hook. The same movement works several rows down, in stockinette, in garter stitch and on the purl side.

    Repair 8 min read

June 20262 entries

  1. How to knit mittens on double-pointed needles

    Joining in the round without a twist, keeping the needle changes from leaving ladders, shaping a thumb gusset, parking it on waste yarn, and closing the tip with paired decreases. The arithmetic works for any hand size.

    Technique 12 min read

  2. What to expect at a beginner knitting class

    How a first session is usually run, what you take home from it, what to bring, and the three errors a teacher spends the first hour catching.

    Class 9 min read

May 20262 entries

  1. How to knit socks on double-pointed needles

    Cuff, leg, heel flap, heel turn, gusset, foot, toe. Where each stitch count comes from, and why sock gauge is deliberately tighter than sweater gauge.

    Technique 13 min read

  2. How to read a knitting pattern, line by line

    Asterisks, brackets, size columns, stitch counts in parentheses, and the gauge statement that quietly governs every instruction underneath it.

    Pattern 10 min read

April 20262 entries

  1. A gallery of knit and purl fabrics, and the easy scarf they make

    Garter, stockinette, seed and rib, side by side: what each one does to the edges, to the width and to the yarn. Then one scarf pattern, worked the same way on every row.

    Pattern 9 min read

  2. The best yarn for a first knitting project

    Smooth, plied, pale and medium weight. Why those four words matter more than the fiber on a first project, and what is better left on the shelf for now.

    Yarn 8 min read

March 20261 entry

  1. How to block a hand-knit sweater

    Soaking, squeezing, pinning to the schematic and drying flat. Why wool answers to water, why acrylic only answers to heat, and what heat does to it permanently.

    Finishing 10 min read

February 20261 entry

  1. Crochet or knitting first? What actually differs for a beginner

    One live loop against a whole row of them. That single difference decides the speed, the fabric, the yarn consumption and the cost of a mistake.

    Comparison 8 min read

2025

4 entries, September to December

December 20251 entry

  1. Knitted gifts you can actually finish in time

    Count the stitches instead of guessing the hours. A way of working out, before casting on, whether a gift will be ready on the day it is needed.

    Gifts 9 min read

Read the four entries from 2025, month by month