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.
Looks like a nice beginners book! Thanks for the review!