I have a special simple tote I use for the same purpose. (Actually, I have several, but I have to keep them full and demonstrably 'in use' or the DH complains about clutter. :P ) Awesome excuse to knit when and where ever.

I actually moved her question to the "How To" section some time ago. That's probably why you had trouble finding the post.

Eliminate arm and finger tiredness?
 

I haven't been knitting long myself so I don't have any advice of my own but would love to get tips on this.
I knit continental and I find my right arm and fingers get tired after about 15 mins of knitting.I mostly knit on circular needles.
I do tend to crochet/knit tightly but am trying to work on it.
I taught myself to knit and I think I taught myself the wrong way. I insert my needle in the back loop on the needle from right to left.
Just wondering if these facts play a part in tiredness.

Knitting tightly would certainly make me feef tired. You may be gripping the needles very tightly in addition to pulling the yarn tightly. Taking a break every so often, relaxing and doing something completely different with your hands may help. And trying to loosen up on the needles (easier said than done, I know) will help, too.

You may wrap the yarn around the needle the same way you grab it for crochet. That's backwards to how it would normally go for knitting, but if you're working in the back loop that should keep the sts from twisting. Just make sure you work into the leg of the st that's closest to the needle tip; twisted sts are tighter than untwisted one.

Loosen up your grip on both the needles and yarn, they won't be going anywhere. Don't pull on the yarn after you make the stitch to tighten it up - making the next stitch will do that.

Then, too, you have to condition your fingers, elbows, and arms to knit after being inactive for so long. If you took up running after being a couch potato for a long time, you wouldn't expect to run marathons your first time out. You start out running around the block and work your way up. Same thing with knitting. Just set your timer. Knit a bit. Then extend the time a little every few days. You'll soon get back in the swing of things.

Needle Point Protectors and stitches falling off DPNs
 

Hi,

I've been knitting only a few months and it's a very off and on thing for me because my work life gets stupid crazy :eyes: for weeks at a time.

I've recently begun to try to master a few new (for me) knitting skills, including DPNs to work decreases in the round. One problem I had was with the point protectors I was using to keep the stitches from slipping off as I juggled the work while mastering the 'octopus'. I had only 2 protectors and that was not nearly enough to keep my clutzy self out of trouble. A trip to the knit shop was not in the cards so I started looking around for something else I could use.

I found an answer and I'll probably never buy another set of needle protectors from the knit shop. The solution is extremely inexpensive by comparison. I found some of the foam "in the ear" type earplugs hubby uses in the garage and discovered I can cut a small slit in the end and they slide on most needles, up to about a US10.5, nice and snug.

These can be found in multi-packs of 20 to 50 PAIRS for less than 10 dollars. They don't leave a residue on the needle. They don't mar the surface of the bamboo. In short, it works like a dream!! :woot:

:knitting:

-Ginger

wow - so many brilliant tips here it's very hard to add something new. But, I never use a cloth tape measure as they stretch. Metal retractible ones are good or even wooden rulers.

things I have with me when I knit: small, sharp scissors, a smallish crotchet hook for correctional purposes! My reading glass AND a large glass of water.

I combined a bunch of the more common tips by saving patterns in my Knitting directory on my computer and printing them out. I use the sheet protectors to hold all the pages for each pattern. I use a post-it (similar to the painter's tape tip) to show the 'next' row to knit, and maybe notes.
When everything is done, I throw a picture of the finished product in and some of the leftover yarn in case I need to ever 'patch' it.
Each goes into the binder when done.
To keep DPNs from slipping out of the row I use tiny elastics (less than 1/2") @ 500 for $1 in the health and beauty department.
In department stores' luggage sections they sell little divided drawstring bags that are great for organizing DPNs, tip protectors, stitch markers and other teensy bits.
A cuticle trimmer makes a great snip if you can't take scissors for some reason.

Thanks for sharing all these other great ideas!

I got this simple tip:

One important method of avoiding grief in knitting is mind-bogglingly simple, but often ignored. If you read through a pattern before you pick up the needles, the actual process of knitting the pattern will be easier. And if you're planning to make improvements or changes to the design, particularly fitting alterations, it's an excellent idea to milk the written pattern for as much information as possible.

Very simple but very true.

Got that from a great article called
Thinking Beyond The Pattern
Knit smarter, not faster.
You can read more here.
http://elvisrecommends.com/thinking-beyond-the-pattern