Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Book Review: The Knitter’s Book of Knowledge

by

the knitter's book of knowledge reviewDebbie Bliss knows a lot about knitting. She’s been a renowned designer for decades, has published more than 40 books and has her own line of yarn.

So you might guess that a book filled with her knitting knowledge would be pretty long, and you’d be right. The Knitter’s Book of Knowledge: A Complete Guide to Essential Knitting Techniques covers everything from casting on to knitwear design, and it’s a huge book at 320 pages and weighing in at just over three pounds.

The book includes pretty much everything you need to know to get started knitting and beyond. There are thoughts on yarn, needles and other supplies, tips for holding needles and yarn, nine different cast on methods and eight different bind off methods.

There’s a rundown on knitting terms, tips on reading charts, tutorials for various means of shaping knitting, tons of ways to add texture to projects, a short course in color theory and color knitting techniques, ways to embellish knitting like surface embroidery and beading, finishing touches like fringe and pom-poms, edgings, seaming, finishing techniques and more.

You’ll learn about buttonholes and pockets, sewing in elastic and installing zippers, how to measure bodies and garments for knitwear design and all the things that go into making a successful project from scratch.

There’s also a troubleshooting section that covers fixing dropped stitches, knitting backward and ripping out knitting, making projects shorter or longer and mending holes, among other things.

Throughout the book there are large drawings to illustrate techniques. It’s a great guide to the basics and beyond. If I had any complaint it would be that there aren’t enough relevant pictures. For instance, the section on bobbles shows in drawings how the bobbles are made, but there’s only a picture of one kind of bobble, and it’s not a great photo. The only other actual picture in the whole section is just of a ball of yarn. It would have made the book that much more valuable if there had been swatches showing what the different techniques look like in real yarn.

Still, if you only want to buy one knitting book to get you through a lot of the things you will want to know as a knitter and you like a lot of step-by-step illustrations, this book is worth checking out.

About the Book: 320 pages, hardcover, no patterns. Published October 2015, Lark Books. Suggested retail $29.95.

Comments

  2. I love Debbie Bliss patterns, the directions are always very well written and easy for me to understand. With that in mind, this book sounds amazing because it sounds like it’s all of the nuts and bolts that go into making and finishing a piece, which is fantastic!!!

Have you read?

Beyond Basic Pumpkin Knitting Patterns

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.