What is masking tape and why am I posting a blog about it? It was originally used in construction sites and vehicle paint shops for curing and to avoid articles from being painted but now a Japanese company has made a huge colourful selection for use in wrapping, interior, to collage and most importantly of all, to me at least, for reading knitting charts! Mt can be re-used numerous times on a plastic cover or glossy paper and does not leave any stain after peeling off. It is made by rice paper and you can write on it, if you want to. You can read the full story of how it was re-invented on www.masking-tape.jp

Here you see it displayed at Norway Designs in Oslo. They have a huge selection of colours, thickness and patterns. You will find it at Loop in London and also on their online shop under Washi Tape.

Up until recently I used post-it notes on my charts when I was knitting, placing them neatly on the row above the one I was working on so that I could work the row but also at the same time double check that the previous one was correct. The post-it note would quickly start to slide and fall off and I would loose track of my row, an annoying and expensive method. Using mt has changed chart reading completely: it does not only stay in place it lasts an awful long time before it needs to be replaced. I recommend you do not take my word for it, try it!