Knitting

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Add Interest to Your Knitting with Knit Pleats

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knitting pleats book
The winner is spierssusan.

Knitting Pleats is an older knitting book that I reviewed quite a while ago, but I hung onto it because the concept is so fun and intriguing.

The book explores how to make permanent folds — aka pleats — in knit fabric by knitting for a while, picking up some stitches and working them together with the live stitches to fold the fabric.

It’s a really interesting technique to play with, and it can be used in all sorts of ways, from making a bag that folds to shaping a shawl or adding interest to a top. (Check out the patterns on Ravelry.)

If you’d like to win this book, leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Sunday, March 26. I’d love to know if you’ve ever worked with knit pleats before (I haven’t!) and what you might use them for. If I were keeping the book, I’d knit the Concertina Bag and Silver Darts, for sure.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

Comments

  1. So many of the patterns are very interesting! I would love to win a copy!
    Thank you for sharing.

  2. If I were to win this book, I would definitely make the Ribbons and Ties sweater. It can be old fashioned or new age. I really love that one and also the Silver Darts.

  6. Never thought to knit pleats, what a new and brilliant concept! I would knit the Lipstick Glamour, sharpen my skills and then design some more tops for my daughter. She is a Double D and so it is often very hard to find something that either does not look stretched to death round the top and fits the rest of her or fits around the top and hangs like a sack around the rest of her body. Pleats may be the answer to give that extra room.

  7. So creative. I love the Wings Butterfly shawl. I am always trying to stretch my imagination when I knit a garment by either adding embellishments such as. beads, fringe or flowers. Pleats would be so cool and original in a creation. Would love to share this with my fellow knitters.

  8. I love knitting and this is very interesting. I think I may try to do this for my granddaughter for graduation. I think she would love it. I don’t do to much pattern work for I have had many operations on my eyes, I lost all sight but now have a limited amount back, but I think I will still have to try this and see if it comes out for me. Thank you for the chance in winning this book.

  9. I think elements of architecture (building in ridges, folds) is fascinating. It turns fabric into a sort of origami.

  10. How serendipitous. I just saw a wicked cool pattern for a pleated hat and I’ve never worked pleats before. Now seeing this, I see there is so many more fun things to do with them.

  12. Oh my gosh I. Would live to work these up. The are so elegant and I’ve never seen pleats bit definitely sparks one’s imagination.

  13. I haven’t knitted pleats, but it looks such a fun technique! I love the Silver Darts T.

  14. Very cool! I haven’t tried this technique yet, but I’m up for it! Thank you for sharing.

  15. I’ve never seen this technique before, and it has me absolutely fascinated!! The main project I fell in love with was the Borderline Pleated Trim Jacket, but would also love to try the Eve’s Ribs Sweater in a solid yarn or two solid colors, and the Butterfly Shawl was really quite unique, since I love making shawls!! The shawl on the cover is quite different, too, but I would have to tweak that pattern slightly, if I got good enough with the pleating technique, since I don’t care much for bobbles!! Thank you for offering such a wonderful, new and unique giveaway, that not many people will have in their collection!!

Have you read?

Book Review: Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round. 

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles. 

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends. 

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time. 

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up. 

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round. 

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try. 

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.