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Why "Universal" means "Equally bad."
So you go to the store to buy needles for your sewing machine. You are going to find one of two things: a few "Universal" needles, or a large section with dozens of needle types.
"None of these say my machine brand on them," you think. "What do these numbers mean?"
I'm here to help you out!
It turns out that needles for sewing machines have amazing specialties to help make the work easier.
Ball point/Jersey: these needles have a rounded 'ball' point so that they don't accidentally cut the threads in a knit fabric. Ever cut a thread in a sweater? We don't want that to happen in a knit fabric either. Knits are used for t-shirts, Sweatshirts and the like.
Sharp/Microtex Sharp: My Beloved. If you sew on any woven fabric, and see "puckers" along your seam, you're not using a Sharp needle. Developed for micro-textiles, these are brilliant for printed quilting cotton, satin, woven silk, and the like.
Jeans/Denim: larger eye, bladed tip. The Sharp is a stiletto; a Denim needle is a sword. The bladed tip makes it easier for your machine to power through densely woven fabrics like canvas, upholstery fabrics, brocade, and old-fashioned denim.
Stretch: this needle is designed to sew on Elastic fabrics with minimal skipped stitches. Spandex and Lycra can stretch so well that they're carried by the needle into the bobbin area of the machine, preventing the stitch from completing. Stretch needles pass through the fabric easier without punching holes.
Quilting: Yep! There's a needle for this! Great for piecing, these really shine while sewing through the layers of fabric and batting. They make free lotion quilting a lot easier, and you won't have to fiddle with the tensions as much!
Leather: perfect for Vinyl, pleather 'vegan' leather, actual leather, and suede, this needle is like a Denim needle with a twist; a twisted blade, that is. It makes a perfectly round hole to prevent the dreaded "Tear along the dotted line" effect.
Metallic: yes, all needles are made of metal, but this type is gentle to metallic threads for decorative work.
Topstitch: this needle has an extra large eye and groove to accommodate heavier threads. Great for high-contrast visible topstitching with heavier threads.
There are others, but this is a good place to start. "Universal" needles don't have any of the specialized features listed above. They aren't sharp, aren't ball-pointed either. They have an average sized eye and groove.
They will sew. They will form a stitch, and they can be a lifesaver when you're not sure what kind of needle to use because you're sewing with more than one challenging fabric simultaneously. However, they aren't "good at" anything. They're kind of "equally bad" at everything.
Do yourself and your sewing machine a favor: Use the right needle for the right project.
One final pro tip: change your needle every 8 hours or so of actual sewing, or at the beginning of every major project.
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“The markings upon the band begin to fade. The writing, which at first was as clear as red flame, has all but disappeared… a secret now that only fire can tell.” - The Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring, 2001
Want to knit this scarf? You can download my free pattern here! :)
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What if I taught myself to tablet weave? I've never woven before but I bet I could just... Do it. Will report back.
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Hey, if you do crafts (especially things like crochet, knitting, embroidery, etc), make sure to look up how to identify when a listing is AI generated. You do NOT want to waste money on an incredible looking kit or pattern that is physically impossible to make, especially if you're on sites like etsy hoping to support an actual artist.
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also sorry to hear about your yarn. hope you manage the scarf anyway
As soon as I can buy new decent yarn I'm looking forwards to my many, many rows ^v^
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Note: You don't have to know how to make anything fancy. Just do you know the basics well enough to at least get started?
(Please reblog for a larger sample size)
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as a knitter, you start to notice how rare it is for characters in tv shows and movies to knit correctly. from worst to best, it ranges from:
- laughably incorrect, just flinging yarn around
- knitting the most basic scarf incredibly slowly because the actor Learned How To Do It For The Role
- old lady actresses casually knitting an intricate lace pattern while doing a monologue
- gromit from wallace and gromit
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not to brag but the adult-middle aged women at my sewing class called my choice to use both black and rainbow fabric “amazing” and “not something they would’ve ever thought of but might use themselves some other time bcz it looks cool and cheerful”


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STAYED UP TIL 4:30am BUT I HAVE CREATED :D
completed this book sleeve I started on tuesday
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MY CAT DESTOYED THE WHOLE BALL OF YARN BC SHE MANAGED TO GET IN MY BAG??
Sobbing and crying I was six rows in (I have chronic pain issues that means a few rows can take hours due to the breaks i gotta take most of the time)
I guess I'll use that post once I'm able to get new yarn :/
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4 done while waiting for the bus 💪🏽
That leaves 38 roaws left
Gonna have some time to start on some more rows. I have 42 to do and 4 stiches so far haha
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Gonna have some time to start on some more rows. I have 42 to do and 4 stiches so far haha
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My cat ate my project so I'm starting over but I need motivation.
Every note helps my scarf get longer !
Every Like is a Stitch
Every reblog is a Row
Every reply is Two Rows.
You can also send an ask with a number between 1 and 5 for rows.
Spam is okay but not like, an obscene ammount please.
.
Surely I can get a small scarf through this :3
If I get to a normal length I'll use the runover notes to do my next project which will likely be some washcloths I'd like to gift someone I know.
#knitting#knitblr#knitting community#knitters of tumblr#knitted scarf#stitch#like bait#reblog bait#ask bait
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Jeny’s interlock cast off exactly mirrors the long-tail (and the backward loop) cast on AND is a very good stretchy bind off.
This baby sweater is knit bottom up, but I made the sleeves top down, picking up stitches around the armhole, so to get the same edge on the ribbing, I did the long-tail cast on on the body and the interlock cast off on the sleeves.
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(Long post, sorry y'all)
A little more than two years ago now, my grandmother passed away. She and my grandpa had moved down to my home town a few years before so we could take care of them. I brought them groceries once a week, helped them write checks, fixed tvs, and found lost things. I was really close with my grandma.
In addition to her hilarious personality and dry wit, one of my favorite things about her was that she was a painter and a crafter like me! She used to crochet, and I took her to the craft store a couple of times so she could get more yarn and books on crochet. But her arthritis and the shaking in her hands kept getting worse, so she eventually had to stop.
She kept her most recent project, a granny square blanket, safely packed away in a plastic bin. She told all of us she was going to finish it one day.
Her hands never got better, and when she got sick, and we found out it was cancer, she rapidly deteriorated.
After she passed, I went to work helping my mom clean out my grandparents apartment so we could move my grandpa in with her. In our frantic cleaning, I found that bin again:


DOZENS of granny squares, dozens of half used skeins. I asked my mom what she wanted me to do with it, and she said she didn't care. I set it aside and later took it home.
Maybe a month later, that tumblr post about the Loose Ends Project was going around. It felt like a sign--I was never going to learn to crochet in order to finish my grandmother's blanket. But they might be able to help!
So I filled out the interest form. They got back to me SUPER quick. And maybe 2 weeks later, I was paired with volunteer in my state (only 2 hours away!) and the box of yarn, granny squares, and my grandmother's crochet hook were in the mail. That was at the end of January this year.
Over the next couple of months, my "finisher" emailed me regular updates on her progress, and asked me questions on my preferences for how she constructed the final blanket.
At the end of August, the blanket was done!

I had always intended the blanket to be a gift for my mother. So I cleaned it up, put it in the only bag I had big enough to fit it, and drove to my mom's. I gave the blanket to her and she was gobsmacked. I explained to her all about Loose Ends, and how someone volunteered to finish the piece for us. She was speechless. (I was quite pleased with this, because I am not the best at giving gifts, so this was a pretty exciting reaction!)
She said that it was the most thoughtful gift she had ever been given. She said "your grandma would love this". To which I replied, "yeah, I know she really wanted to finish it a couple of years ago". But that was when my mom dropped the bomb of a century on me--she told me that my grandma had started making those granny squares OVER 30 YEARS AGO. She had started the blanket when my grandpa was staying in the hospital, but that was back when my mom was younger than I am now! My grandma had packed them all away, planning on finishing it, when my grandpa was sent home from the hospital. Then it went from house to house, from condo in Chicago to their apartment in my hometown. All that time and my grandma had wanted to finish it, but couldn't. First because she was busy, then because she forgot how to do it, then because of her arthritis, and then because of the cancer. My mom said she had given up on expecting my grandma to finish it.
She said I brought a piece of her childhood with her mom out of the past.


And really, all of this is to say, if you have seen or heard about the Loose Ends Project and have an uncompleted project or piece from a loved one who has passed away--these are your people. They were so kind and treated my project with such care. That box probably would have been found by my own grandkids one day if I hadn't heard about Loose Ends.
Five stars, absolutely worth it!
(From what I understand, you can sign up to volunteer too! If you have time to share, it might be worth checking out!)
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I can’t wait to develop and grow even more🤞🏾
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