Uploaded March 2026 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
First off - thanks to Patti for the tip to try out the knickers pattern from Paper Theory!
In this week’s episode we cover…
1. In one of your videos, you talked about doing the neckline last on a sweater but in some of your patterns, the neckline is done first. When is it better to wait to knit the neckline vs knitting it at the start? Is there any changes that need to be made if you skip the directions for the neckline and wait to knit it at the end?
2. I'm currently knitting Thru Lines for the M2M Kal and if all goes well, I will be finished by Saturday. I'll then be casting on your Find your Fade and I purchased a nice yarn kit to make it. For this yarn, they say specifically advise to give it a rinse with just a drop of wool soap in cold water. They absolutely advise against letting the yarn or garment soak and against using warm to hot water. Bummer, Iam a big fan of blocking with a nice warm bath as I find it really allows the fibres to relax.The kit has 7 different colours and I really don't want them to bleed unto one another. What would you suggest? Giving a bath to every skein seperately before knitting them? Blocking the finished garment with an iron (or would that also make the colours bleed?)? What else is possible? What are your thoughts?
3. Hi Andrea! Your videos encouraged me to make the leap from knitting to spinning! I'd see your beautiful handspun yarns and wish I could make something like that. Well, I'm getting there! I've made 3 Jauntys with handspun yarn, and now I'd like to try to make the Stria cardigan with handspun. I have 16 ounces of fiber that I plan to spin for the main color, but my bobbins only fit 8 ounces. It took me a few weeks to make my first skein, so it'll be a few more to spin up the 2nd skein. My question is this: Do you recommend spinning up *all* the yarn I'll need first and *then* knitting, or would it make a difference if I started knitting now with my first skein, and I can work on spinning the 2nd skein when I'm not knitting? I'm pretty consistent with my spinning so I'm 99% sure I won't end up with one skein of fingering and one of DK, but I wanted to get an idea what you would do. Thank you so much for all you do!
4. I'm knitting the Wool & Honey for the M2MKAL - my dream is to make a pair of Arthur pants to have my first ever Me Made May outfit! So, I'm struggling with the short rows on the Wool & Honey. When I W&T on the first row the yarn is in the front for short row 2 and then I am supposed to knit, so the yarn isn't in the correct place to knit - I've never done short rows in garter so I am nervous. Would it make sense to substitute german short rows - I'm comfortable with german short rows, but again I've never done that in garter. I can't wait to hear your advice!!
5. I am swatching for your beautiful Comebackagin Cardigan. I have made sweaters before but I have never had to measure gauge in a pattern stitch and to further complicate the issue the yarn is darker in color. I have measured what I think is the repeat number of stitches on the front, and I have even tried measuring the stitches on the wrong side. I keep getting different numbers. How do you measure a swatch that is in a pattern stitch?
6. I love your patterns and have completed a lot of them! Right now I am knitting Frost Lines. I love the pattern but I’m really struggling with the sleeves. I have holes where I change the yarn to make the stripes. I am knitting with Juniper Moon Farm cotton merino (70% cotton, 30% merino) so I’m afraid of tensioning the yarn too tight when switching for the stripes. When I try your technique for jogless stripes the holes even become bigger. Can you please give me some advice what I could do to avoid these holes?
Today I am wearing the Moon Mint:
Ravelry: ravelry.com/patterns/library/moon-mint
My Website: dreareneeknits.com/shop/moon-mint
With Paradise patterns Sommar Camisole & Thread & Sprout Dance Pants
paradisepatterns.com/products/sommar-camisole-pdf-sewing-pattern-with-built-in-bralette-low-support-thin-straps-cropped-or-hip-length-sizes-bust-28-58-reversible
threadandsprout.com/make-your-own/p/dance-pants-pattern
March 2 May Knitalong!
Sweater forum on Ravelry: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4397005
Shawl forum on Ravelry: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4397009
Hashtag for Instagram: #DRKM2MKAL26
Jaunty SAL with Daedalus: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4386868
Jaunty-along intro video: youtu.be/JU1eu0G4Sl8
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A:
https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
Welcome to I’ll Knit (& Spin!) If I want To! I asked y’all to send in some of your questions (from everything from fiber arts, to designing and on!) so I could put together a little video for y’all every Friday doing my best to answer your questions!
Sign up for my newsletter here: Sign up for the DRK Newsletter: eepurl.com/diPxsr
First off - thanks to Patti for the tip to try out the knickers pattern from Paper Theory!
In this week’s episode we cover…
1. In one of your videos, you talked about doing the neckline last on a sweater but in some of your patterns, the neckline is done first. When is it better to wait to knit the neckline vs knitting it at the start? Is there any changes that need to be made if you skip the directions for the neckline and wait to knit it at the end?
2. I'm currently knitting Thru Lines for the M2M Kal and if all goes well, I will be finished by Saturday. I'll then be casting on your Find your Fade and I purchased a nice yarn kit to make it. For this yarn, they say specifically advise to give it a rinse with just a drop of wool soap in cold water. They absolutely advise against letting the yarn or garment soak and against using warm to hot water. Bummer, Iam a big fan of blocking with a nice warm bath as I find it really allows the fibres to relax.The kit has 7 different colours and I really don't want them to bleed unto one another. What would you suggest? Giving a bath to every skein seperately before knitting them? Blocking the finished garment with an iron (or would that also make the colours bleed?)? What else is possible? What are your thoughts?
3. Hi Andrea! Your videos encouraged me to make the leap from knitting to spinning! I'd see your beautiful handspun yarns and wish I could make something like that. Well, I'm getting there! I've made 3 Jauntys with handspun yarn, and now I'd like to try to make the Stria cardigan with handspun. I have 16 ounces of fiber that I plan to spin for the main color, but my bobbins only fit 8 ounces. It took me a few weeks to make my first skein, so it'll be a few more to spin up the 2nd skein. My question is this: Do you recommend spinning up *all* the yarn I'll need first and *then* knitting, or would it make a difference if I started knitting now with my first skein, and I can work on spinning the 2nd skein when I'm not knitting? I'm pretty consistent with my spinning so I'm 99% sure I won't end up with one skein of fingering and one of DK, but I wanted to get an idea what you would do. Thank you so much for all you do!
4. I'm knitting the Wool & Honey for the M2MKAL - my dream is to make a pair of Arthur pants to have my first ever Me Made May outfit! So, I'm struggling with the short rows on the Wool & Honey. When I W&T on the first row the yarn is in the front for short row 2 and then I am supposed to knit, so the yarn isn't in the correct place to knit - I've never done short rows in garter so I am nervous. Would it make sense to substitute german short rows - I'm comfortable with german short rows, but again I've never done that in garter. I can't wait to hear your advice!!
5. I am swatching for your beautiful Comebackagin Cardigan. I have made sweaters before but I have never had to measure gauge in a pattern stitch and to further complicate the issue the yarn is darker in color. I have measured what I think is the repeat number of stitches on the front, and I have even tried measuring the stitches on the wrong side. I keep getting different numbers. How do you measure a swatch that is in a pattern stitch?
6. I love your patterns and have completed a lot of them! Right now I am knitting Frost Lines. I love the pattern but I’m really struggling with the sleeves. I have holes where I change the yarn to make the stripes. I am knitting with Juniper Moon Farm cotton merino (70% cotton, 30% merino) so I’m afraid of tensioning the yarn too tight when switching for the stripes. When I try your technique for jogless stripes the holes even become bigger. Can you please give me some advice what I could do to avoid these holes?
Today I am wearing the Moon Mint:
Ravelry: ravelry.com/patterns/library/moon-mint
My Website: dreareneeknits.com/shop/moon-mint
With Paradise patterns Sommar Camisole & Thread & Sprout Dance Pants
paradisepatterns.com/products/sommar-camisole-pdf-sewing-pattern-with-built-in-bralette-low-support-thin-straps-cropped-or-hip-length-sizes-bust-28-58-reversible
threadandsprout.com/make-your-own/p/dance-pants-pattern
March 2 May Knitalong!
Sweater forum on Ravelry: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4397005
Shawl forum on Ravelry: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/4397009
Hashtag for Instagram: #DRKM2MKAL26
Jaunty SAL with Daedalus: ravelry.com/discuss/dreareneeknits/topics/4386868
Jaunty-along intro video: youtu.be/JU1eu0G4Sl8
Ask a question for next week’s Q&A:
https://forms.gle/pKM9gF9SixkdQwmS7
