Book Review: The Knit Vibe

Vickie Howell has written more than a dozen books on knitting and crochet, but her latest, The Knit Vibe, is unlike any of her previous titles and indeed probably unlike any knitting book you’ve ever seen.

The book’s subtitle–A Knitter’s Guide to Creativity, Community, and Well-Being for Mind, Body & Soul–lets you in on a little bit of how this book is different.

In addition to knitting and crochet patterns, there are profiles of knitwear designers, others in the industry and people who have used their yarn skills to help raise awareness of issues and to change people’s view of the world and what knitwear can do.

There’s also information on keeping yourself healthy as a knitter or crocheter, including yoga poses to try, tips on supplements for healthy bones and joints and more.

On the spirit side of the spectrum there is discussion of knitting as it relates to Judaism, Catholicism and Native American spirituality, as well as a pagan yarn craft ritual, knitter’s astrology and knitter numerology.

Knit and crochet projects by Howell and others interviewed in the book round out the offerings. Many of them are in Howell’s typical style of pretty easy projects with fun details, though some of the projects by contributors are more detailed, delving into brioche, colorwork, cables and more. Check out the projects on Ravelry for more info.

It’s definitely not like anything you’ve seen in a knitting book before, but if you’re a knitter who likes to connect your craft to your community, your sense of spirituality and the world around you, it’s worth checking out.

About the book: 208 pages, 23 patterns, hardcover. Published October 2019 by Abrams Books. Suggested retail price $29.99

I guess I must have had this pattern on my mind, because I had chosen this log cabin blanket recipe to write about, promptly forgot about it and a couple of weeks later started knitting a log cabin blanket using all my pink yarn.

It might stay pink if it makes it to baby blanket sized, or I might add in some pastel green and blue, too, to make a bigger blanket. We’ll see. I’m also holding several strands of yarn together to make a kind of bulky yarn, which means it’s deeply satisfying how much yarn is used even as the project is still relatively small.

In Kristen Finlay’s version, DK weight yarn scraps (or fingering/sock yarn held double) are used to make a simple scrappy log cabin blanket that’s lighter weight than my version. Log cabin is a great technique for knitters of any skill level because it’s worked in garter stitch. The only not completely basic technique you need for log cabin knitting is picking up stitches.

If you’ve never worked a log cabin knitting project before, this is a good introduction, and it is really nice to use all your yarn scraps in one big project you’ll use for years to come.

If you use a lot of DK weight yarn you can keep building on it whenever you finish a project, or if you use more worsted weight you can do the same thing with it, it will just be a little bigger starting out than the pattern calls for. How big it gets is totally up to you.

I have really been enjoying working on my log cabin project, and it’s my current sitting at my desk and need a break knit (do you have one of those or is it just me?).

Ready to start your own log cabin blanket knitting project? You can grab the free pattern from Kristen Finlay on Ravelry.

Need more log cabin inspiration? Check out more log cabin knitting patterns.

[Photo: Kristen Finlay]

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