Book Review: Knit Fold Pleat Repeat

Norah Gaughan is a master of interesting shapes and outside-the-norm construction techniques, and she brings decades of design experience and creativity to the designs in Knit Fold Pleat Repeat: Simple Knits, Gorgeous Garments.

Gaughan says she was interested in looking at non-traditional ways to cover the body with knitting, whether by working with rectangles or other simple shapes, or joining different geometric shapes together. This naturally led her to look at origami as a further source of inspiration for manipulating knit fabric to make simple shapes both more interesting and more wearable.

The book is divided into chapters that play with different concepts. There are patterns made entirely of rectangles that are joined in various ways or shaped with surface treatments. Polygons eventually join the mix, with shapes being joined and manipulated to make other shapes. As the book goes on, more shaping is added, and eventually there are garments with more traditional construction methods joined to techniques for ruching, pleating and otherwise adding texture.

Each pattern has a little description of the thought and design process behind the garment, as well as further thoughts that might inspire you to design a similar garment taken in a different direction.

The patterns are all so different it’s a little hard to describe them or to pick favorites. You really need to look at the projects yourself to see if they are things you would like to make (you can see all the patterns on Ravelry). Some of my favorites include Hussar, a boxy jacket with rolls of pleats at the center fronts; Kite, a short-sleeved top made of bias-knit squares, triangles and rectangles (it has a really cool neckline); and Tilt, a gigantic rectangle fashioned into a pleated skirt with a yoke-like waist.

These patterns are all interesting, and will get you thinking about knitting in different ways and wondering about different options for constructing and embellishing garments. Because so much of it is simple stockinette squares and rectangles, there’s actually a good bit of mindless knitting on offer here with a big payoff after the manipulation you do after the knitting is done.

This is the book to get the knitter who knows every technique, to remind them there is always more to learn, or for your fashion-forward friend you’ve been wanting to teach how to knit.

About the book: 224 pages, 36 patterns, hardcover. Published 2022 by Abrams Books. Suggested retail $29.99.

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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