NimbleNeedles

Question: Norman, what are you doing with your gauge swatches?

1. Yarn bombing (collect a couple with you and your friends and decorate your neighborhood)
2. Cleaning rag/dishcloth. Depending on the size/fiber, you can also repurpose them in the household.
3. Scrappy blanket. This will require a bit of planning because you will need similar-sized squares but if you always knit with similar yarn weights (like dk or worsted), then you can definitely turn them into a blanket. Fill the gaps with crochet, etc
4. Unravel them, wash the yarn, and repurpose them.
5. Unravel and use the fiber as stuffing for your next amigurumi
6. Some people collect their swatches in their pattern binders. Attach a little label with the vital yarn/gauge info and your next project with the same yarn could be a lot easier

Do you have any other ideas? Comment below!

Norman

PS: Personally I don't do anything with my swatches - especially those knitted for my blog/videos. Simply because I do not have the time. Those knitted for actual projects typically will be unraveled.

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 214

NimbleNeedles

FIY: There is no button where I can activate Spanish/French/Indonesian/etc subtitles.

Recently, I received quite a couple of questions asking me to switch on subtitles for a certain language. As much as I would like to do that, I want you to know that such a button simply does not exist. If a translation is available for any given video, then this always has been added manually. For me, this would mean I would have to hire an experienced knitting translator. Currently, even a good video earns around $300 USD. The harsh truth is that this is not even enough to pay my own bills, let alone a translator.

That being said, I manually add closed captions to all my videos. It often takes more than an hour, sometimes two, to write them but I do this as a courtesy to all those who cannot or don't want to listen to audio. A lot of subscribers who are not as proficient in English as they would like to be, find these subtitles also very helpful.

If you click on the settings button, you can auto-translate these subtitles into your language (well most at any rate). They will certainly not be perfect but mostly they get the meaning across.

On top of that, YouTube has recently started to experiment with auto-dubbing. If you click on the "Audio track" submenu, you can switch between different artificial narrators in a handful of languages. This feature is only available for very recent uploads. Some find it helpful, others don't but the settings button allows you to switch back to the original as well.

And you can also use it to adjust the playback speed. So if you feel I am going too fast, simply set the speed to 25% and happily knit along.

Hope this clarifies things.

Norman

2 months ago | [YT] | 498

NimbleNeedles

PSA: Overconsumption is a vice ;-)

Like in previous years, I'd like to remind you that Black Friday is a great day to find bargains and also a great day to waste money on things you never knew you didn't need.

Also, always remember: There are only so many single skein projects out there. If you'd like to shop for yarn, do it with a precise project in mind. Otherwise, they'll be tossed in the same box where all the other beautiful "look how soft it is but I have no idea what to do with it" skeins are gathering dust.

If you always wanted to buy a nice interchangeable knitting needle set, on the other hand, you might find a great bargain today. But if you already have one (or two), you probably are aware that another shiny new tool won't turn you into a better knitter, either.

Personally, I use this day to stock up on cosmetics for the full year. So day/night cream, hand lotions, these kind of things. I am going to buy them anyway, I know very well how much they cost (so there's no fooling me with hiked-up prices). So why not buy them at a discount of 10-40%, right?

And above all, apply common sense :)

Norman

5 months ago | [YT] | 1,106

NimbleNeedles

If you own a neck light, which setting are you using most of the time?

I am currently planning a review and was wondering if the different modes some of these craft lights offer are actually getting used. Some of them allow you to switch between cold and warm light, and some also offer different brightness settings. I would love to hear what you think!

5 months ago | [YT] | 146

NimbleNeedles

Reminder: Use stitch markers to keep track of your progress.

Place a stitch marker every 5, 10, or 20 rows for easy reference. That way, finding your place in a pattern is so much faster. You can also place them for each increase. In this case, I am knitting the sleeve of a sweater and that's exactly what I did to ensure both sleeves turn out identical.

If you zoom in a bit, you might also notice how I used the print-out of my pattern as a "punch card". I know, you can also use a pencil or so, but I just punch the tip of my needle through the paper. Faster for me and I don't need to keep a pencil at hand either.

hope this helps :)
Norman

PS: There are other ways to keep track, and I featured many of them here on my channel. Just wanted to share which system _I_ currently use.

8 months ago | [YT] | 949

NimbleNeedles

Speckled yarn and the perfectly sloped bind-off. If that doesn't make you happy, I don't know what would, haha!

In all seriousness, I'm currently working on a selfish project just for me with this fun yarn. There will be no tutorial or pattern or anything. Just me relaxingly knitting a simple sweater with set-in sleeves and finessing the details that matter to me. I really need this right now!

So just in case you are someone who needs to hear this as well: Sometimes you really need to be selfish about your knitting - no matter how loud (and kind) the voices are that ask for your time. "Can you knit a hat/socks/scarf for me?"
"Yes, sure I can...but in my own time. Right now, I am working on something just for me!"

Norman <3

Just in case: The yarn is no longer available. It's by James Makes Yarn.

9 months ago | [YT] | 1,381

NimbleNeedles

Woah! I just hit 200.000 subscribers.

Thank you all for sticking with me for so long! I already said this when I hit 10k and 100k but it STILL feels surreal that I was able to turn my hobby into a full-time job. It's also quite crazy that not even the biggest football stadium in the world wouldn't be able to hold you all. That's just such a mind-boggling thought!
So, thank you for continuing to enjoy and support my work.
Norman

9 months ago | [YT] | 1,920

NimbleNeedles

The actual number of swatches I've knitted for my last video!

If you've ever wondered, just how much time goes into creating one of my videos, here is your first glimpse. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. I think I use up around 5kg of cotton yarn each year just for swatches. Can you believe it?

Some day, I should put that to good use. Right now, I am just saving it up for some worthy purpose in a trash bin, ha! The problem is, that cotton yarn becomes a bit fuzzy after unraveling. So, I can only use it once or twice for videos (at least if I want to maintain the clean look). Of course, there are ways to fix that and the crimp - but I simply do not have the time for that. I can either produce more content or rescue yarn.

Either way, hope you found that bit interesting.

Norman

PS: And if you haven't watched my video on stretchy cast-ons yet, do it now & show it some love <3

11 months ago | [YT] | 952

NimbleNeedles

How can I make my channel (even) more accessible and inclusive?

Loyal fans might already know that I asked this question multiple times before but I do feel it's important to make it a habit and ask it again and again.
In the past, this has led to adding closed captions to all videos or optimizing the color/texture choices to aid those with poor vision and/or color blindness. Just to name a few examples.

I know, for example, that 50% of my audience is 50 years or older. Getting closer to that age myself, I know that the second half of your life typically comes with lots of additional joy but also some little ailments here and there. I know that 38.2% make use of subtitles. But beyond that, I don't know a lot.

So, if you have a suggestion, request, or comment, don't hesitate to add it here. Maybe something about the audio quality, the skill level, language, or other issues (or let's call it optimization potential) I am not aware of.

Please, always remember that I am alone here and there are certain time/budget constraints to what I can achieve. Asking kindly, however, does not cost any money. So, don't be shy <3

Norman

PS: If you see a suggestion you agree with like, consider using the upvote function to let me know.

11 months ago | [YT] | 859

NimbleNeedles

There's no cheating in knitting. Whatever works, works!

Recently I received quite a few comments where people saw me using crochet hooks to pick up stitches or to cast on. Or me using my thumb to facilitate purling, etc. And invariably they always felt validated because they thought they were cheating.

Let me tell you one thing: If you analyze a craft and come up with your own creative solutions that work better for your body and your situation, that is being smart.
If you do the same with your taxes, well..that's typically called fraud for a reason: There are hard laws, and these hard laws are meant to help us as a community prosper (well, not always but let's not discuss that here).

In knitting, there are no laws, no hard rules. What and how you knit typically does not affect your neighbor at all.

There's just one soft rule: Whatever you do, do it consistently, with purpose, and diligently.

Example: Have you ever knitted brioche? Well, I can tell you that it certainly looks very weird in those first rows. Like a mistake. And in a way, it is broken double knitting. Still, 10 rows later, it looks beautiful because you broke the pattern consistently.

So, kindly consider changing your view. <3

Norman

PS: And if someone tries to reprimand you "That's not how you do it!". Just answer them: "Thank you. I didn't know there was a knitting police."

1 year ago | [YT] | 1,686