Book Review: Knitstrips Comic Book

Knitting patterns are generally presented more with words than pictures. Yes, there are photos and video tutorials that often accompany knitting patterns, but for the most part the techniques, and the patterns themselves, are described with words.

Knitstrips still has a lot of words, but these knitting patterns are presented as comic strips rather than text-based patterns with photographs.

The 22 patterns in the book are divided into four themes:

OMJOM (one more, just one more): easy, addictive projects you can’t get enough of
Focus Pocus: projects that require more attention and technique
STASH (skeins that are special and here): projects for showing off that yarn you already have
Bucket List: projects you’ve always wanted to try but haven’t made yet

The illustrations help tell the story of different projects, as well as illustrating techniques and helpful hints.

The idea of the book is what it calls “interactive knitting,” which puts the knitter in control by not providing a particular gauge or yarn weight you should use for each pattern. Instead, each pattern suggests a type of yarn or gauge you’re going for to get the best results with the pattern.

An airy gauge, for example, shows space between the stitches and the knit fabric makes a puddle when you drop it on the ground (or a table, if you prefer), while a medium gauge doesn’t let a lot of light through and makes “mounding peaks” when dropped.

Each pattern shows how the project is constructed and uses both words and illustrations and they often include charts to show you how the project is constructed.

While you’re able to use any yarn and gauge that you like or have available, the designers also offer a yarn suggestion for their projects.

The projects range from a simple stash busting bias knit garter stitch scarf to a two-color brioche cowl. There’s a log cabin baby blanket, a sequence knit hat, a “pajama sweater” (like a pullover shrug), a cowl-collared tunic, a pair of toe-up socks and more. Check out most of the patterns on Ravelry.

There’s a wide rang of styles and skill levels involved, but most are suitable for confident beginners or intermediate knitters. There are no learn to knit instructions here so if you’re a complete beginner you’ll need to learn the basics elsewhere.

The style of this book is a lot of fun and it would make a great gift for a knitter friend. My only complaint is there are no photos of the finished projects (but if you look on the project pages on Ravelry you can see finished projects from some of them).

About the book: 160 pages, paperback, 22 patterns. Published March 2022 by Abrams. Suggested retail price $27.50.

Get the book here: Knitstrips

Over the years I have shared a lot of pumpkin knitting patterns, and I’ve knit and crocheted a lot of pumpkins myself. But it feels like there are always more fun things to try with knit pumpkins, so this year I wanted to look a little more beyond basic stockinette or ribbed pumpkins and share some pumpkin patterns with cables, bobbles and colorwork.

In the cable collection we’ve got these cute little basic cable and ribbed pumpkins from Elly Bear Knits. There are two sizes that make a wide, flat pumpkin and a taller round pumpkin. Both are worked in the round as a tube that’s cinched top and bottom when you’re done, and they use bulky weight yarn.

Another cute cable pumpkin knitting pattern comes from Gray Bear Akswokrat. This one is knit flat and it looks like a chunky yarn but you could use other weights to make pumpkins of different sizes. This one also has an I-cord stem and uses yarn to cinch up the sections of the pumpkin, giving it a more natural look.

Add some bobbles to your pumpkins with this design from Autumn Shelter Makes. Also worked in the round in a tube, it features a repeating pattern of bobbles and uses yarn wrapped around the outside to make segments. This one looks like worsted weight yarn to me.

Of course there’s nothing that says your pumpkin has to be a single color, so let’s throw in some colorwork. I love the look of the Cozy Fall Pumpkin knitting pattern from South Stitch Girls. The little leather loop adds a rustic touch but you could also just add a stick. These pumpkins have five colorwork options and are worked in worsted weight yarn in the round.

There’s also the Autumn Fair Isle Trio pumpkins pattern from Equestriann Style, which has three different sizes of pumpkins with four colorwork designs. They are worked in super bulky yarn in the round and look good with high contrast or more muted color combinations.

Have you read?