Book Review – One More Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit

“One More Skein” by Leigh Radford is a must-have book for knitters who want to turn a little yarn into fun projects and gifts. The author, who is well-known for her alternative approach to knitting and felting in her previous books “AlterKnits” and “AlterKnits Felt”, presents 30 diverse projects that can be completed with one or two average-sized skeins of yarn or multiple bits of leftover yarn.

The book includes a wide range of projects that are perfect for knitters of all skill levels. From an earflap hat sized for the whole family to fingerless mitts, sweaters, britches, and capelets for baby, the projects are quick and relatively easy to make, without sacrificing beauty or ingenuity. The author also includes a hemp jewelry embellished with jump ring “beads”, a felted, pleated sleeve to dress up a vase and a multicolored blanket worked from assorted stash yarn.

One of the things that makes this book stand out is the author’s ability to meld her alternative approach to knitting and felting with the magic of working with a single skein of yarn, which she introduced in her bestselling book “One Skein”. The author’s fascination with the creative potential of these raw materials is evident throughout the book and will inspire knitters to think outside the box and create something truly unique.

Overall, “One More Skein” is a fantastic book for knitters who want to explore the creative potential of a little yarn and create beautiful and unique projects and gifts. The patterns are well-written, easy to follow and the finished results are beautiful and creative, making this book a must-have for any knitter’s library.

Next Pattern:

This swirly square stitch knitting pattern from Studio Knit is a lot of fun, and it looks kind of complicated without being difficult at all.

The swirly nature of the block comes from regularly placed increases, as the pattern is worked in rounds from the center out. Switching between sections of all knit stitches and all purl stitches (which gives you stockinette and reverse stockinette respectively when worked in the round) adds to the off-kilter flair but makes it really easy to knit.

You can work it in a single color or change colors regularly. This isn’t really a change colors randomly kind of pattern just because it looks better if you work a full repeat in a single color, but you know there are no rules so you can do whatever you want.

You can also make it any size you like, and indeed use any yarn you want. This one is blanket sized and used five colors of worsted weight yarn, but you can use any yarn and corresponding needles (you’ll need double pointed needles and circulars of various lengths, depending on how big you want to make your square).

For a start, why not grab some cotton yarn and stitch up a swirly washcloth? You could still use a couple of colors if you want, jsut for fun.

Once you try that, you’ll probably want to make a bigger version, and you could definitely use more colors than Kristen did (or just one color if you prefer), you just need to make sure you change colors at the beginning of the pattern repeat to keep everything looking good.

If you’re ready to start (and I know I am!) you can grab the free pattern and check out a video to help you get started at Studio Knit.

[Photo: Studio Knit]

Next Pattern:

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