Favorite Things: My Chibis and String

I always keep a bit (about 4 feet) of fine garrish-colored cotton yarn and my Chibis around in my "doctor's bag" (the mesh bag that holds all of my knitting gadgets) so that at any time I can take what I'm working on off the sticks like so:

This may seem like a really simple thing to do, but you'd be amazed at: 1) how many knitters don't do it and 2) how many times it has either allowed me to reassure myself that a knit is going to fit or saved me from spending too much time on something that really just wasn't the right size.

It's good to make sure that you have enough yarn to really allow whatever you are working on to stretch to it's maximum with room to spare. Using a darning needle (Clover's chibi's are my faves), slip each stitch as if to purl from your straights or circs. It will give you a chance to try on whatever you are working on at a very early stage and give you a very good idea of fit (You can measure fit on the needles, but you can't really see it there. I usually take whatever I'm working on off of the needles about 2.5 to 3 inches into the work. I use this trick for hats, tanks, sweaters in the round, gloves, etc. After you're done, slip the stitches purlwise back onto the needle.

As an added bonus, if you're working a piece "in the flat" and want to see it all stitched up, you can do a quick crude whip stitch without fear of having trouble taking the seam out (due to that great garrish color):

So far, so good....

For instance, if you are knitting a hat flat, but want to see it in the round, it's not so big a deal:

Meet Wallace, my latest hat pattern. Click the pic for another silly bathroom shot.