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Book Review: Add One Stitch Knitting

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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.

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Christmas Stocking Knitting Patterns for Your Pets

I’ve shared a lot of Christmas stocking knitting patterns over the years (see posts 1, 2, 3 for example) but what if you want to knit a stocking for a non-human member of your family. If you’re looking for Christmas stocking knitting patterns for your cats or dogs, this is the post for you.

These large paw print stockings are perfect for either dogs or cats, so they’re great to knit if you have both. They are worked in the round using DK weight yarn, and the stocking measures about 17 inches/43 cm from the top to the heel. You can get the pattern from nicolaluke.

The K4 Project has a super cute Kitty Christmas stocking pattern, which is worked in worsted weight yarn. They also have a dog version, or you can buy both and get a discount if you have both dogs and cats to knit for. Both projects have two patterns, showing how to work the stockings flat or in the round.

Put your dog into a Christmas scene with this stocking pattern from ifanhourChild. It shows a dog in a dog house in the snow, and has room for the dog’s name at the top. It’s worked flat using worsted weight yarn and the pattern includes charts for many small and medium dog breeds (there’s a separate listing for bigger dogs) so you can stitch a dog that looks like yours.

Annie’s Woolens has both dog and cat stocking knitting patterns that are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round. You can change up the colors to suit your pet if you want, and they come with an alphabet chart for personalization. Or you can stick with holiday colors and buy a kit to make the dog or cat stocking.

Waiting for Santa Paws is a pattern from Kate Agner on Ravelry that would be cute for a dog or a cat. It looks like a leg with a paw print on the bottom part of the foot and more paw prints running around the top of the leg. This is a great option if you don’t want to mess with a heel turn because it doesn’t have a heel, because dogs and cats don’t have heels so why would their stockings?

Book Review – 20 to Knit: Tiny Christmas Toys to Knit

Book Review – Knit Christmas Stockings

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