Monday, April 28, 2008

Uses for Binder Clips - Fixing a Knitting Mistake

Zoom made a huge mistake just as she was finishing a sweater. She didn't know how to fix it, but her knitting guru did. Among the ingredients, 2 binder clips.

You can read all about it on her blog.

It turns out that there are many uses for binder clips in the field of knitting. For example:

  • Britt uses one in her Row Counter;
  • According to Nicky Epstein, in Knitting Never Felt Better, you can add texture and interest to "regular" knitting by pleating the knitting with binder clips;
  • Terryd says they are useful additions to a homemade cast-on comb;
  • I gather they can be used in blocking (someone might want to update the Wikipedia entry to mention the possible use of binder clips); and
  • SL Beeson suggests using binder clips along with a pillow case to keep big projects clean during the lengthy time it takes to complete them:
When knitting (or crocheting) a large item, such as a baby blanket or afghan (especially when working with a light color), once I have completed several inches, I put the item inside a pillow case, leaving only the last few rows outside. On each side of the case opening, I then clamp a small hair "claw" to secure the project inside. This then goes in my knitting/crochet bag, along with the needle, directions, etc. Simply release the clamps whenever you have worked several more inches, dropping more of the item into the pillow case, then replace the clamps. This keeps the project clean! You could use clothes pins or binder clips instead to secure your work inside the pillow case.

Of course, you don't have to use binder clips. You could use clips especially designed for knitting like knit klips only $15.49 for 10 (plus $14.50 shipping to Ottawa).

[Did you know that Mike Binder is writing the screenplay for the Friday Night Knitting Club? There doesn't seem to be a clip yet.]

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Oooh, these are very very nice ideas for binder clips, especially the pillow case idea. Thanks David. I'm clicking your Digg button.
(I just started reading the FNKC.)