New to sweater making? Try knitting the Step by Step Cardigan by Florence Miller as a way to gently ease into some simple sweater knitting techniques. This cardigan is a classic raglan cardigan, perfect as one of your first knitting projects. It is knitted from the top down, and the sleeves are knitted in the round. The simple design is finished with clean double knitted edges. The cardigan has a full video walkthrough available.

Maybe you're looking for something a little more trendy this season, but crochet is not in your skill set... The Kylie Pullover by Irene Lin ticks that box perfectly! The Kylie Pullover is knitted by starting at the back from the top down to the base of the armholes. Then, both fronts are picked up and knitted separately, working from the top down to the edge of the front neck. After joining both pieces, the front is worked to the armhole, and then the front and back are joined and knitted in the round down to the hem. Pick up and knit for the sleeves.

For those who love colorwork and are feeling a little festive, what about the Festive Yoke Pullover by Skeindeer Knits? The Festive Yoke Pullover is worked top-down, in the round, and can have yoke-only or all-over colorwork. Choose from 20 charts (deer, hearts, trees, snowmen, presents, bells) to make your sweater as kitsch or as elegant as you want.

 Step by Step Cardigan by Florence Miller

Kylie Pullover by Irene Lin

Festive Yoke Pullover by Skeindeer Knits

Granny Go Round Jumper by Iron Lamb

Shawlettes and small scarves are having a moment in the sun this year, and once we knit a sample of the Small Fry Scarf by Samantha Guerin, we are here for this trend! 

Knit in Primo Fingering and Spiffy Lace held-double. The Small Fry Scarf is the answer when sometimes you just need a little something. Simple and sophisticated, this is a quick knit and the perfect way to add a bit of hand knit flair to your outfit. Small Fry is easy to style - wrap it around your neck twice for extra warmth or drape it loosely for a chic layered look. This crisp textured stitch is deceptively simple - comprised of just knit and slipped stitches! This pattern is beginner-friendly with both written and charted instructions for ease of reading.

The Satama Shawl by Veera Välimäki is a great option for the fall season with a bit of brioche and simple garter wedges that will keep things interesting while knitting and super squishy while wearing!

Satama Shawl mimics the theme of the Helsinki Harbour painting quite literally: the soft colors glow in the simple texture panels of garter stitch and brioche. You will have fun working single color parts alternating with two-color brioche, plus, there are a few short rows included in the mix for perfect shape.

With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to narrow it down! Check out these great patterns: The Second Winter, the Winter Weekend Beanie, the Homebody Hat, Tread, and the Nydia Hat! Whether you love texture or colorwork, hats are a must for the fall making season!

Do you feel inspired to cast on? What will you be making this fall? We love to hear about all of your plans, so head over to the KAL Chat thread on Ravelry and tell us all about them! And don't forget, we have a whole new palette of colors ready for all your fall making needs available 24/7 in our PK Essentials shop!

Throughout our knitting journey, one of the things that we've found most helpful in reducing the stress of deciding what to make next, is actually to start thinking about it during our current project. For instance, say you're working away on the sleeves of your sweater, this is when we like to start thinking about what we would like to knit next. Is it another sweater, or maybe it's time to switch things up and make a shawl or cowl? Sometimes scrolling through Ravelry for patterns we've favorited or queued helps in making that decision.

If you decide to make a sweater next, we like to take an evening and cake up the skeins we'll be using and make a swatch to see what gauge we get and if any adjustments need to be made. Then once we're off sleeve island or finished that current WIP, we're all set to cast on the next project! This process can feel more gentle and conscious, rather than rushed and frenzied.

Another method that works really well for those times we get stuck, or unsure of what to make next, is to cast on a small, simple project like the Conversationalist Hat or some Vanilla Socks as a nice palette cleanser. These are easy projects that help clear our minds and allow us to be present in our craft and just feel the yarn pass through our hands and put aside the pressures we may put upon ourselves to be productive. 

But, what if your making mojo just gets up and walks out the front door? 😱

It's going to be okay... it will come back, we promise! Sometimes looking for different avenues of inspiration can help. Maybe flipping through some of your pattern books, or watching your favorite podcaster to see what they are making will spark your creativity. Or, perhaps even trying another craft for a time, maybe weaving or sewing, as a creative outlet can challenge you in a new way and ignite your knitting or crochet mojo again. Or, maybe, for a time, not making is the answer. 

Keep in mind that in our core, we are all creatives, so we can have confidence that we will find a way to express our creativity in one way or another. 

Hopefully, this little blog post has helped you if these are some things you might be struggling with. We would love to hear any methods for reducing decision fatigue or finding your mojo that you may have! Feel free to reach out via customerservice@thepluckyknitter.com or find us on Ravelry and share your thoughts in the group!

It all starts with the way the fiber is prepped. All fibers must pass through a carding machine before they head off to be spun, and at this stage the fibers are loosened up, removing dirt and debris, leading to a fluffy jumble of fibers, called a batt. From this stage, the batt is then pulled into one long strand, called a sliver. 

And now comes the decision - whether these slivers will become woolen or worsted-spun yarn?

By gently adding twist to those slivers mentioned above, the yarn retains little air pockets throughout that strand of jumbled fibers, creating a lightweight, lofty yarn that can keep you toasty warm!

One of the benefits of this type of yarn, is the range of needle sizes you can use to knit a wide variety of gauges. All those jumbled fibers will fit into the space provided for each stitch, filling in any "gaps" created by uneven tension or irregular stitches, or hiding any floats you have when knitting colorwork. Once blocked, these fibers really "bloom" into place. 

You'll want to be careful on what project you choose for your woolen-spun yarns though, as they do tend to be a bit more delicate than worsted-spun. You will also find that because the fibers tend to go every which way, this type of yarn is more prone to pilling. Although, don't worry too much about removing those pills, because woolen-spun yarns tend to have fibers that are shorter in length, they are easily removed with minimal damage to your fabric.

Sometimes we are looking for something a little smoother and more durable, so in this case, we would choose Worsted-spun yarns.

Remember that jumble of fibers that creates woolen-spun yarn? Worsted spinning goes one step further in the fiber prep and removes all those shorter fibers and combs the longer ones so they all travel in the same direction. This removes those little air pockets and creates strength, smoothness and more drape in the finished yarn and fabric. 

You will notice a greater amount of twist in worsted-spun yarns. This will provide substantial strength and durability and more resistance to pilling from abrasion. Many choose worsted-spun yarns for items like socks because of these reasons. 

With woolen-spun yarns you will find that your knitted fabric will have more of a subtle, fluffier look, with minimal stitch definition for a bit of a weathered look. Whereas fabric knit with worsted-spun yarns shows off the stitch and texture details with more luster and crispness.

Woolen-spun fabric shows more of a "weathered" look (left swatch), whereas worsted-spun highlights the crisp stitch definition (right swatch).

We do! Our flagship yarn line - Primo, are all worsted-spun, in addition to many of our other bases. However we do also carry woolen-spun yarns from time to time that include Beauregard DK and Scholar 2.0. We do our best to note this in the details for each of our bases found within our Base Library. 

What type of yarn do you prefer to work with? Are you team woolen or worsted? Or both? Let us know over in our Ravelry group!

First up, we have Vogue Knitting - The Ultimate Knitting Book and The Knowledgeable Knitter. Two great resources that cover a wide range of information from choosing the right needles, yarn and pattern, all the way through embellishing a simple design with fancy stitches and finishing techniques. While Vogue Knitting covers many of the basics to knitting, it also provides information on how to care for your knitwear as well as how to design your own knitting patterns. However, The Knowledgeable Knitter by Margaret Radcliffe, provides instructions for fixing mistakes and customizing the fit of your garments. We couldn't decide which one you need more, so they both made the list of what to include in your library.

Some additional resources we find very useful are both The Knitter's Book of Wool and The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parks. These books both provide a comprehensive understanding of the fibers used to create different yarns, but then how to choose the right yarn for your project. If you find you enjoy learning about wool and fiber, then we highly recommend The Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook by Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson for your library! This tome covers more than 200 fibers, ranging from many types of sheep breeds to various other animal fibers we see in the industry today. If you are a spinner, you no doubt are very familiar with this resource.

If you are looking to further your skills, we find these additional resources to be helpful: Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd; Amy Herzog's Ultimate Sweater Book and Patty Lyon's Knitting Bag of Tricks. All three of these publications are written by very experienced designers who have a wealth of knowledge and experience that shines through in each of their respective books.

But what if you need a quick how-to lesson to learn a new-to-you stitch? Where can you turn?

Local yarn shops—including all of our wonderful wholesale partners—are a great way to get in-person information and assistance. Not only does the staff have a wealth of knowledge and helpfulness, many shops also offer classes too!

We LOVE YouTube for those quick videos on how to work a new stitch or learn a new cast on, or even grow our knowledge about knitting in other ways. What are some channels that we've found helpful? First, we would probably all agree that Staci Perry of VeryPink Knits has a great catalog of how-to videos covering a wide range of knitting techniques. Another channel we enjoy keeping up with is, Andrea Mowry of DreaReneeKnits. On her channel she not only has how-to videos, but she also hosts a weekly podcast where she answers questions from knitters who are looking to design new patterns, need help substituting yarns, or troubleshooting garment fit, as well as many other topics. And last, but certainly not least, if you are interested in learning to knit socks, Kay of the Crazy Sock Lady podcast has some great tutorials for learning to make socks on DPN's, 9" Circulars, and Magic Loop along with a variety of other sock knitting techniques you will find useful.

What if you don't like collecting books, have an LYS nearby, or YouTube just isn't your thing...

If the above-mentioned resources don't speak to you, fear not! As you know, we have a blog here on our website, that has some helpful tips and tricks that will continue to grow as time goes on. However, we also love Modern Daily Knitting's blog too! Over there you can find anything from how-to's to travel to inspirational type posts. These ladies have been blogging for years and have contributions from some of the top designers in their catalog of posts.

And of course, we would be remiss if we didn't mention the huge asset we as knitter's have in Ravelry. We love that within our Ravelry community you can find vast amounts of knowledge and help, no matter the problem, it seems. Plus, there are thousands of patterns to choose from and plenty of KAL's to keep our knitting mojo thriving!