Tag Archives: resources

KnitOvation, by Andrea Rangel.

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Andrea Rangel is back with another collection of modern colorwork motifs! Let’s look inside KnitOvation.

Like Rangel’s first book, Alterknits, KnitOvation is a playful collection of non-traditional colorwork stitch patterns, with geometric and figural patterns alike – from floral and op-art motifs to dinosaurs, penguins, and rubber duckies.

Besides motifs, Rangel also offers advice on selecting yarn and colors for stranded colorwork, showing how different fibers affect the knitted fabric.

There are also a handful of accessory and garment designs that illustrate how the motifs can be used, and new tutorials on using charts and adding flourishes with duplicate stitch.

Along with KnitOvation, we have Rangel’s AlterKnit in stock, and two more colorwork stitch dictionaries from Mary Jane Mucklestone.

In both 200 Fair Isle Motifs and 150 Scandinavian Motifs, Mucklestone organizes her motifs by the number of rows and stitches in each pattern repeat, making it easy to find a pattern that divides evenly into the number of stitches you’re working with on any given project. Each chart is shown not only in the traditional black-dots-on-a-white-grid style, but also in a color photograph, a color variation, and an all-over version, giving the knitter a jump start on adapting these patterns for many uses.

Come by the shop to browse these and other books! We hope you find inspiration here.

Norah Gaughan’s Twisted Stitch Sourcebook.

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Norah Gaughan’s new book is here! Let’s look inside her Twisted Stitch Sourcebook.

In this book, designer Norah Gaughan introduces over 125 twisted stitch patterns with both written and charted instructions.

I’m a huge fan of stitch dictionaries like this one, with its lovingly-photographed swatches, detailed notes and numbers, and guidance for creating original designs.

There are patterns for twisted stitch garments, too, if design isn’t your thing – this one shines in Brooklyn Tweed Peerie, whose tight twist makes for excellent stitch definition.

Norah Gaughan’s Twisted Stitch Sourcebook is $29.99 – Order online for local pickup or shipping!

Custom Shawls.

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We welcomed a new book to our teacart this week – let’s take a peek inside Custom Shawls, by Kate Atherly and Kim McBrien Evans!

As the title suggests, Custom Shawls is a book about design, a resource that encourages knitters to create their own special shawls and gives them the tools to do so.

 

Custom Shawls introduces a variety of shawl shapes and stitch patterns, along with guidance on how to combine them for a finished piece that perfectly suits the yarn at hand.

Yarn itself is an important factor in shawl design, of course, and Atherly and McBrien Evans spend time discussing fiber, gauge, color, and yarn construction, showing how each of these variables affects the knit fabric.

Custom Shawls is $27.50; order online for local pickup or shipping via USPS Priority Mail!

Colorwork stitch dictionaries.

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Our current Strange Brew colorwork design classes have students itching for books of colorwork inspiration – stitch dictionaries in particular, books full of motifs that can be applied to a variety of projects. Three of our favorites are back in stock – let’s take a look!

Andrea Rangel’s Alterknits is a playful collection of 200 non-traditional colorwork stitch patterns, with geometric and figural patterns alike – from chevrons and op-art motifs to bicycles, chickens, and sheep.

Mary Jane Mucklestone’s 200 Fair Isle Motifs is focused on the particular Scottish colorwork tradition for which it is named.

Mucklestone has organized the motifs by the number of rows and stitches in each pattern repeat, making it easy to find a pattern that divides evenly into the number of stitches you’re working with on any given project – hat, socks, sweater, etc. Each chart is shown not only in the traditional black-dots-on-a-white-grid style, but also in a color photograph, a color variation, and an all-over version, giving the knitter a jump start on adapting these patterns for many uses.

Mucklestone brings the same inspiring approach to her 150 Scandinavian Motifs, which shares colorwork stitch patterns from Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland and the Faroe Islands.

Come by the shop to browse these and other books! We hope you find inspiration here.

Knit How.

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Pom Pom’s newest book is aimed at new knitters – let’s take a peek inside Knit How!

It’s exciting to see a fresh learn-to-knit book, one that’s as enticing and beautifully designed as books and magazines for more experienced knitters.

Knit How begins with the fundamentals of knitting: casting on, knitting, purling, and binding off. The instructions are friendly and the photos and illustrations are clear, and helpful tips are sprinkled throughout.

From there, the book guides knitters through 10 patterns, each of which introduces a new technique, like increasing and decreasing, working in the round, cables, and lace.

Look for Knit How here at the shop!

Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible.

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In the last blog post, I shared some of the newest books here at the shop. Here’s one more, so lovely that I could have photographed every page, so popular that our first shipment sold out before it ever made it to the blog.

Hitomi Shida’s Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible is an exquisite stitch dictionary featuring charted cable, texture, and lace patterns, along with yokes and edgings.

Stitch dictionaries like these remind me of the limitless possibilities of this craft. You can use them to learn new techniques, design patterns of your own, or just as a source of inspiration.

Look for Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible among our resources and reference books, not far from Barbara Walker’s treasuries and other inspiring tomes.

Back in stock: Knitting Comfortably.

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Today a big box of books arrived at the shop, a second batch of Carson Demers’ instant classic, Knitting Comfortably. Our first order sold out soon after it arrived, back in November, claimed by knitters eager to preserve and protect the health of their hands, wrists, shoulders, etc. When we placed a second order, we learned that Demers had already sold the entire first edition of his book, so sought after was the information within. We’re happy to have more copies on our shelves now that the second edition has been printed, and in celebration, I’m rerunning my original blog post on the subject, originally published on November 8th, 2017. 

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Another new book has arrived at the shop, a little different from our usual fare. This book is composed neither of patterns nor personal essays nor pretty knitting pictures. Rather, Knitting Comfortably is a book about the health of our hands and bodies, written by a physical therapist who happens to be an expert knitter.

We’d heard Carson Demers’ book mentioned a few times since its publication, but Clara Parkes’ rave review put us over the top – we had to have this book at the shop, and we’re so glad we do! It’s all about the ergonomics of handknitting, a guide for taking care of our most crucial knitting tool: ourselves.

Whether we knit English or Continental or any other method, we expose ourselves to the possibility of injury when we knit, especially when we knit for long stretches on a regular basis. It’s imperative, then, for us to understand what we’re doing with our muscles as we work, and how our posture affects our movement. In order to knit as much as we want to, we have to take care, and that is the goal of this book.

It’s clear that Demers has spent years working diligently to make this book as thorough and useful as possible. It’s dense with text, but quite accessible, peppered with clarifying photos and diagrams. He also includes plenty of “swatchortunities,” little knitting exercises that help to illustrate his suggestions and ideas.

I’ve only just begun to read through this book, but already it’s changed the way I think about my knitting practice. It may be tricky to break some of the bad habits I’ve accumulated over years of knitting daily, but I am motivated to interrogate my own behavior and adjust it to assure many more years of this craft I love so dearly.

Look for Knitting Comfortably on the teacart here at the shop!

Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook.

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Here is a book you have probably seen already, one that you may even own already, for we’ve sold out and reordered it many times since its initial publication last October. It was selling quickly enough that I waited to buy my own copy until our supply steadied, so though I’ve admired it for months, I’ve only recently sat down and spent time with this beautiful book. Here’s Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook, a compendium of cable stitch patterns, garments, and wisdom.

In this book, designer Norah Gaughan introduces over 150 cable stitch patterns with both written and charted instructions, all of which are lovingly photographed by the talented Jared Flood. The book itself is a thing of beauty, but beautiful as it is, the contents of this tome are the star, no matter the packaging.

Gaughan has devised a Stockinette Stitch Equivalent for each of these motifs, a way of saying how many stockinette stitches it would take to make the same width as the cable in question. This allows you to substitute one cable for another with ease, and also to add cables to a plain garment without letting the naturally-smaller gauge of cable patterns mess with the overall size of the piece. Gaughan clearly describes this system and how to use it towards the beginning of the book, where she also lays out hints for chart-reading, yarn choice, symbols and terminology. Don’t miss the troubleshooting section either, from which Karen Templer of Fringe Association pulled a real gem.

There are patterns for cabled garments, too, if design isn’t your thing. From pullovers and cardigans to ponchos and skirts, Gaughan has put her cable patterns to good and interesting use. In short, if you are at all interested in cable knitting or design, you should take a look at Norah Gaughan’s Knitted Cable Sourcebook. Find it on the teacart here at the shop!

Two tried and true knitting resources.

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A heavy box came this week, filled with books. Not exciting new pattern collections, not hot off the presses – each of these titles was first published 15 years ago. These are the tried and true knitting resources we use and recommend again and again, some of our humblest bestsellers.

365 Knitting Stitches A Year is a perpetual calendar. It lists only dates, with no days of the week, so you can use it for years on end. Ours has been sitting on the desk at the shop since we opened our doors, and one of my opening-time rituals is flipping the page and seeing what the day’s featured stitch pattern is. Today, it was good old reverse stockinette stitch, a simple one, though it is often the cause of a certain lightbulb moment for new knitters – knits look like purls on the back, and vice versa!

We often turn to our perpetual calendar when we’re swatching new yarns or creating shop samples. It provided the stitch pattern for “Sherri’s Cowl,” and also for our sample scarf in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Fingering.

The other book in this order is Nancie Wiseman’s Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques, a practical resource for seaming, blocking, picking up stitches, buttonholes, weaving in ends, and more.

Each time I prepare to sew a seam, and especially as I prepare to guide another knitter through their first seam, I pull out this book to refresh my memory. The diagrams are clear, the text is thorough, and I feel I’m in good hands with Wiseman’s instructions.

Look for these and plenty of other resources here at the shop, where we love our books almost as much as our yarn. See you there!

Cable Left, Cable Right, and other books.

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Not long ago, we placed a big book order from our new distributor, restocking many of our favorite reference books and bringing in a brand new title, too: Judith Durant’s Cable Left, Cable Right. 

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Cable Left, Cable Right is a compendium of cables, with detailed instructions on how to execute them. It’s a technique book as well as a stitch dictionary, a solid introduction to cables that shows how many doors are opened once you become comfortable with chart reading.

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Durant also includes a primer on cable charts for those that are not yet comfortable with them. (If you’re looking for more in-depth chart-reading assistance, check out JC Briar’s Charts Made Simple!)

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Durant’s other recent reference book, Increase, Decrease, was also on our reorder list, and I’m happy to report that we now have a stack of them, along with Leslie Ann Bestor’s essential Cast On, Bind Off.

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Vicki Square’s Knitter’s Companion is another excellent resource, one that defines knitting terms and shows a variety of techniques, both in writing and in video tutorials on the accompanying DVD. For more information on finishing, take a peek at Nancie Wiseman’s Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques, the one I pull out every time I prepare to sew a seam.

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You’ll find all of these helpful books and many more here at the shop. See you there!