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.

Next Pattern:

Just about anything you can make in fabric you can make in knitting, but there are some styles that you just don’t see that often translated into knitting.

For example, a button down collared shirt. This is a classic design, of course, and it looks great in a knit version, but it’s just not something you see much of.

Noma Ndlovu’s Guglethu shirt is the pattern to try if you want to knit your own button down shirt. This one is inspired by cashmere tops (though the sample was made out of yak yarn, not cashmere, and uses two strands of lace weight yarn held together) and includes lots of high-fashion details like double-knit cuffs, collar and shoulder seams.

It has a patch pocket on the front and 10 buttons including the button band and the cuffs.

The designer says you can also use a DK weight yarn held singly if you’d rather, and that the shirt looks good in a variety of yarns. There is another version on Ravelry that uses Berroco Remix Light, which is a mix of nylon, cotton, acrylic, silk and cellulose fibers. It has a more relaxed look but it still really pretty.

The pattern has 12 sizes, with a full bust measurement ranging from 32.35 to 72.25 inches, or 82 to 183.5 cm. The designer suggests 2 to 6 inches, or 5 to 15 cm, of positive ease when you pick your size. I could totally see knitting one that’s even bigger to wear more like a jacket, because I do that a lot with button down shirts I already own.

I love all the details on this shirt, which isn’t necessarily difficult to knit, but might introduce you to some things you’ve never knit before (like those cuffs with the plackets, or a shirt collar like this).

To learn more about this shirt and grab a copy of the pattern for yourself, head to Ravelry.

[Photo: Noma Ndlovu]

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