Book Review: One Stitch Baby Knits

Knitters tend to love fancy stitch patterns and embellishments on projects, but making something that looks cute doesn’t have to involve a lot of fancy stitchwork. In fact, there’s a lot you can do just with Garter Stitch.

That’s the premise of One-Stitch Baby Knits by Val Pierce, a book of 22 patterns for garments, bibs, blankets and more that only uses Garter Stitch and simple shaping. That doesn’t mean all the projects are for beginners, but they show newer knitters that they can build from basic skills to make some really fun projects.

Some of the projects I really liked include the Bunny Earflap Hat (which sounds like what it is, a hat that has both earflaps and bunny ears); the Sleepy Babies Blanket, with blocks of different texture and three sleepy baby faces along the top; the Navy Striped Bib, which uses slipped stitches to add interest to Garter Stitch Stripes; the Striped Yoke Cardigan, a bottom-up raglan with stripes on the yoke; and the Little Rosebud Wrap Set, which includes a wrap sweater, bonnet and booties.

The projects aren’t on Ravelry that I can find but you can see some of them on the preview of the book on Amazon.

Six of the projects are rated for beginners, 11 are intermediate and 5 experienced, mostly because of shaping and additional elements/embellishments that add to the skills required.

The projects are cute and a great place to start if you need some new options for baby knits, especially if you like Garter Stitch and adding appliqued embellishments like animal faces, sailboats and fish to projects.

What I didn’t love was some of the beginning knitting instructions, such as when the text is teaching the knit cast on and says “again, as if you were making a knit stitch” when the knit stitch hasn’t been introduced yet. It talks about gauge and shows a picture of a swatch but doesn’t really explain how to knit or measure a swatch. It suggests when changing colors in the middle of a row that you knit the first stitch with both colors, which could definitely mess up your pattern. The description of how to seam Garter Stitch is unhelpful and there’s no photo.

But if you have a grasp of the basics and can skip straight on to the patterns, I think you’ll find something fun to knit for the next little one in your circle.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 22 projects. Published in 2019 by IMM Lifestyle Books, suggested retail $17.99.

Next Pattern:

If you’re new to lace knitting or just aren’t sure how to incorporate the technique into garments, check out these tops and sweaters that use lace as a decorative element.

The easiest lace out there is eyelets, and you can practice them plenty with this eyelet covered sweater from Knitcro Addict. It uses light/DK weight yarn and is worked in four pieces knit flat. It’s intended to be a little cropped and a little oversized, and includes sizes XS to XXL in the pattern.

If you’re in parts of the world where it’s getting colder as you read this, the Nora sweater from Bummbul might be a good choice. This is actually a great one for learning lace because it’s worked in super bulky yarn, which makes it easier to see what you’re doing and makes the lace super graphic. This one just comes in one size, with a 42 inch (106) cm bust, but that could fit a variety of people depending on how much ease you like.

Minimi Knit Design has a cute allover lace cardigan worked in one piece from the bottom up. It’s worked in lace weight mohair held double, which maybe isn’t the best for those new to lace (because it can be hard to rip out) but it sure is pretty. Sizes range to fit from 30 to 66 inches/76 to 168 cm bust measurements.

If you’d rather not have lace all over your sweater, you can knit the Lumi sweater from Originally Lovely, which has a chevron lace pattern on the yoke and is otherwise worked in reverse stockinette stitch. (It’s worked inside out so you don’t have to purl every stitch.) The pattern has 9 sizes from XS to 5XL and uses worsted weight yarn.

Or try the super romantic sookie blouse from Trust the mojo (available on Ravelry). This sweet top is started working flat from the bottom up and has a V-neck and I-cord edgings. The sleeves are worked separately in the round, and the pieces are all joined together to work in one piece to finish off the top. It comes in eight sizes and is available in English and French.

You can also pair lacy sleeves with an otherwise plain top, like on the Starflower Wrap from Annelise Driscoll Gingrow. This intermediate pattern makes a wrap sweater with generous lacy sleeves and a double wrap belt. The pattern has nine sizes, from XS to 5XL, and is available for free from Hobbi.

Next Pattern:

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