Book Review: Add One Stitch Knitting

Most of us, when we learn to knit, start with Garter Stitch, because just learning the knit stitch is any easy way to enter the craft and you can make lots of projects just using Garter Stitch.

But adding one more stitch — the purl — makes it possible to do so much more with our knits without significantly increasing the skills involved.

Alina Schneider walks knitters through a variety of knit and purl combinations and 15 simple projects in her book Add One Stitch Knitting.

The book covers the basics of getting started knitting including the long tail cast on, knitting and purling, working with circular needles, slipping stitches, decreasing (but not increasing as that’s not a skill needed in these patterns) and finishing projects.

The 15 projects cover a variety of simple stitch patterns, including:

Garter Stitch
Stockinette
1×1 rib
2×2 rib
Seed Stitch
Moss Stitch
Broken Rib
Waffle Stitch
Basketweave
Slip stich
Andalusian Stitch
Oblique Rib
Hurdle Rib
Garter Rib
Seed Rib

Projects include hats, blankets, a scarf, headband, cowls, a tote bag, leg warmers, a top, mitts, a phone case and a pot holder set. Each new stitch pattern is introduced with a description of how to work the stitch and offers a chance to do a practice swatch before moving on to the project. All of the projects are great for beginners, and most of them are straight pieces with no shaping.

I checked and the patterns aren’t on Ravelry, but you can see a couple of them on the book’s Amazon page.

This is a fun book for people who like easy projects and simple stitch patterns that bring a lot of texture without a lot of effort.

About the book: 128 pages, 15 projects, paperback. Published in 2017 by Barron’s Educational Series. Suggested retail $18.99.

Next Pattern:

Many times when I write these posts I will say something like “you can use any yarn you want” or “this would be a great stash-busting project.” That’s just how my mind works. And my stash, too, since I probably have sweater quantity of two or three yarns at most, but tons of singles and odd balls and leftovers.

Blankets are generally a really good way to use up those bits, but in this case, I think you’re going to want to plan it out a bit better.

Looking at photos of the Color Study Blanket from Purl Soho, it looks like it’s made with two yarns held together, and that block in the center is worked with one of each color from the adjoining sides to make a mixed up color.

But that’s not actually how it’s done. This is three separate colors (four, really, with the neutrals in the corners) chosen form a yarn with an expansive palette so they play off each other. The project calls for a worsted weight superwash wool, which is a great choice for a blanket that’s both warm and washable.

This pattern was originally designed by Laura Ferguson and was updated by Hiromi Glover. It is worked in one piece in garter stitch intarsia, which is a great way to learn the intarsia technique if you don’t already know it. It comes in crib or throw sizes.

Despite the introduction to this post, I am going to go ahead and say that, yes, of course you could do this blanket with scraps or odd balls or even just choose five colors that don’t blend together so easily. But I really do love the look of the color play, and I think it would be worth your time to find colors that play well together to get a similar effect.

This pattern is available for free from Purl Soho.

[Photo: Purl Soho]

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