Knitting

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Book Review: Loopy Mango Knitting

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Loopy Mango has been know for years as a maker of really big yarn and the patterns to match. Owner Oejong Kim has just had published a book of patterns using the company’s yarn that it purports can all be knit in a day.

Even if they’re not quite that fast (especially if you’re a new knitter, you’re not going to knit a blanket in a day, no matter how big the yarn is), these projects have simple shapes and stitch patterns that will be quick to knit on the big yarn and needles the projects call for.

The book includes basic knitting instruction — it’s easy to learn on big yarn and needles because you can see what you’re doing — as well as patterns rated by skill level (absolute beginner, beginner and intermediate).

There are 34 patterns, including scarves, sweaters, blankets, hats and more. The projects aren’t listed under the book on Ravelry because some of them are sold in kits but you can check out my flip through of the book on my Instagram page.

Some of my faves are the Mohair Headband, Her Fringe Shawl (a big Garter Stitch triangle with fringe), the Fisherman Rib cowl, a couple of patterns using a fun aster flower stitch, and the Meri-Mohair Sweater, which combines a funny, thinner mohair with a big bulky yarn in a fun textured stripe sweater.

It should be noted that the sweaters are only in one or two sizes, and they are intended to be oversized, so if you have a larger frame or don’t like the oversized look these projects won’t appeal to you.

Still, there’s lots of cute, easy projects here for people who do like the oversized style, and this book might be just the thing if you’re looking for some great gift knitting ideas.

About the book: 192 pages, hardcover, 34 patterns. Published by Abrams, September, 2019. Publisher’s website

Comments

  1. Hi was wondering what patterns are listed for intermediary knitters. There’s an absence of images and contents for the patterns that are included for this skill level.

  2. Usually patterns are on Ravelry but because some of these were already published on their site, it doesn’t look like they have done so. That said, the whole book is suitable for beginner and intermediate knitters, and 16 patterns are labeled as intermediate.

  4. I don’t think I have my copy of the book anymore, but looking at the video I did, it looks like there is a long mohair dress but that cardigan doesn’t look familiar.

Have you read?

Easy Knit Baskets to Use All Your Stash

For the past few years I’ve taken part in a Christmas in July blog hop that encourages people to get a jump on their making for holiday gifts. 

I love to use yarn I already have for these projects in the hope that people will consider what they already have that they can use to make projects for themselves or to give as gifts. 

This year it was a couple of knit baskets made using partial balls of yarn left in my stash from other projects. 

They use the same basic pattern but the first one is made with two colors of bulky yarn, and the second used two strands of worsted weight yarn held together, which made the gauge about the same, but I cast on fewer stitches to make a smaller version. 

The bottom of the basket is square, though you can make them rectangular if you’d rather. Then I just knit up the sides in rounds until I was about to run out of yarn. This gave both baskets rather short sides — maybe more like a tray than a basket — but you can keep knitting as long as you like to make the sides of your basket as tall as you want. 

They’re worked in seed stitch, which keeps the edges from curling and adds a nice texture to the baskets.

Of course this also allows you to use even more odd balls from your stash. I’d love to make a big one someday combining lots of different yarn. I mean, I’d probably use it to store more yarn, but that’s a fine thing to do. 

As it is, these little trays are great for sitting on your desk or bedside table to hold little things that always seem to appear there. I like to use one to hold the supplies for whatever project I’m working on, things like little scissors, my tape measure, a crochet hook, etc.

And they would make good gifts on their own or as a container to hold some other goodies if you like. 

You can find the free pattern for these stash busting baskets over at Our Daily Craft.