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:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

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