Book Review: Arm Knitting

The arm knitting craze really first started with a viral video made by Amanda Bassetti, the blogger behind Simply Maggie. Since learning to arm knit so she could make projects she’d actually finish because they took less time than knitting with needles, she’s developed tons of patterns made with nothing more than your arms and some really fat yarn.

And now she has a book, too. Arm Knitting: 30 Home and Fashion Projects for Your No-Needle Needs is a really comprehensive, detailed and inspiring look at this craft that just might get you to put aside your needles for a brief time.

One thing I really liked about this book is that it is heavy on instruction and showing you that there’s more to do with arm knitting than the single stitch a lot of those online tutorials use. She shows how to knit and purl, make Garter and Stockinette, ribbing, Seed Stitch and Linen Stitch. She also explores making cables, increasing and decreasing, so with this book by your side the sky’s the limit in terms of what you can make.

The book also includes 30 projects, arranged by how long they take to make, form a 10-minute headband to a pillow cover worked in Linen Stitch that takes about an hour.

That’s probably the biggest appeal of arm knitting: even the biggest projects don’t take all that long to make.

And while all arm knitting books and sites are heavy on projects like blankets, scarves and cowls, there are some other options here, too, like bags, shawls, mug and bowl cozies, even a 10-minute hat.

More than really following the patterns, this book inspires me to try some different things with arm knitting (I’ve made a cowl and a scarf and a blanket I ripped out because the stitches were too open), which is a great way to use a lot of yarn, fast, particularly if you happen to have a lot of bulky yarn in your stash.

Have you tried arm knitting? I’d love to know what you thought of it.

Book specifications: 144 pages, paperback with interior flaps, 30 patterns. Published by Barron’s Educational Series, September 2015. Suggested retail $17.99.

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When I first started knitting again after a long absence from the craft (which has now been almost 25 years ago!) I really didn’t like garter stitch that much. I found it super boring, somehow even more boring than knitting stockinette stitch in the round, even though it’s exactly the same thing.

Over the years I’ve softened my opinion, and even grown to like garter stitch. There’s nothing wrong with being plain, and actually the texture of garter stitch is more interesting than stockinette.

Also there are fun things you can do with garter stitch to make it more interesting if you want to, such as adding stripes, working on the bias, or doing fun effects to change the look.

That’s the way with the Bernat Twist My Way Garter Knit Blanket. Using combinations of casting on and binding off creates what they call a Swiss cheese effect along two sides of the blanket. This is a lot of fun in the self-striping ombre yarn they chose for the pattern, but it would also be fun in a solid color or making your own stripes.

Despite the dramatic effect, this pattern is rated easy. It’s worked from side to side (if you consider the “cheesy” edges the top and bottom) and has an eight-row repeat that involves binding off and then casting on again to make the holes. They’re kind of like giant buttonholes.

Once you get the hang of it it’s a pretty easy repeat to remember, and it will be smooth knitting as big as you want to make it.

You can download this pattern from the Yarnspirations website for free, or you can buy a kit direct from them that includes the yarn you need (and knitting needles if you need those, too). Bernat Sport Ombre Twist, which is what is used in the pattern, comes in 12 self patterning colors and is a DK weight acrylic yarn.

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

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