Knitting

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Giveaway: Knit Now!

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knit now book giveaway

Congratulations to Jennie.

By the title alone this book seems like an appropriate one for the end of one year and the start of another.

Knit Now! by Candi Jensen includes patterns and projects from the first three seasons of “Knit and Crochet Now!” (formerly also known as “Knit and Crochet Today”) as well as some new projects. There are accessories, projects for the home, gifts for babies and more included in the 26 projects in the book.

You’ll also find 12 afghan block of the week squares, enough to make your own throw. A DVD included with the book shows Candi Jensen demonstrating each of the blocks (runtime is 26 minutes).

This book is a lot of fun, colorful, and just the thing to jumpstart your knitting in the new year.

If you’d like a chance to win, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day (gasp) Sunday, January 3. I’d love to know if there’s a particular project or type of project that you’d like to tackle in the new year.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, good luck and happy new year!

Comments

  2. Knitting is my winter ‘go to’ craft! The projects in this book look awesome!! Have an especially blessed day!

  5. I’d love to try to start using more than one color in my work. I’ve used color in the past, but not effectively, and hopefully some of these projects will give me the confidence to try!

  7. Looks like a great book…I want to tackle a block type afghan in the coming year…I usually do one piece afghans 🙂

  8. i need to start knitting things for babies and this book looks like it has lots of good ideas.

  15. I am a fairly new knitter and I can use all the help I can obtain! This book surely would be a help in the right direction. Thank you for having this giveaway!

  16. I need to work on getting a few projects off my needles then I’d probably like to start a fun new hat.

  17. Living in the world that if I start Christmas presents now for 2016 I will have more done than this year!

  18. Brand new to Craft Gossip! Looks great and I’d love to try out a new knitting book! My kids call me “the book lady” and I love to knit!

  19. I would love to get back to knitting regularly and finish the wip’s I have languishing in my closet.

Have you read?

Book Review: Knit an Heirloom Blanket

It’s kind of coincidental that I recently posted about patchwork blanket knitting patterns right before reviewing a book that makes a patchwork blanket, but this one would also be a great choice if you’re looking to bust some stash and learn a lot about colorwork knitting at the same time. 

Knit an Heirloom Blanket by Annah O’Leary includes charted designs for 50 colorwork blocks worked flat that can be combined to make a blanket or used in other projects. The book calls for worsted weight yarn but also offers suggestions for using fingering, DK or even bulky yarn, which will give you blocks of different sizes.

It opens with a section on materials and tips for choosing colors and maintaining contrast among blocks across a large project. There’s also information on how to read charts and colorwork basics such as maintaining tension, measuring gauge, catching floats, holding yarn and yarn dominance, among other things.

There are 196 squares (14 by 14) in the blanket shown on the cover, which, including the edging, makes for a blanket that’s about 79 inches, or 200 cm square knit in worsted weight yarn. You can adjust the size as needed by working more or fewer blocks, especially if using a different weight of yarn. 

The sample was worked in Cascade 220 and the book includes the amounts of yarn used in each color so you can knit a blanket exactly as shown. Or use stash and leftovers from other projects to make a possibly less harmonious but more meaningful project. 

Colorwork patterns are arranged into 10 themes: flowers, tiles, diamonds, stripes, peaks, woven, sky, leaves, lovestruck and architecture. They’re also rated by skill level on a range of 1 to 3 balls of yarn. If you’re newer to knitting or colorwork in particular, you can start with the easier squares and move up as you build more skills. 

Each pattern is shown as a large black and white chart with three or four possible color variations, though or course you can also go your own way on the colors. There’s also a knit sample of each block pictured at the beginning of each pattern section.

There’s also a section to help you finish your blanket, including tips for weaving in ends, blocking, joining squares and adding a border. She also suggests different project sizes and color palettes for smaller scale projects.

In addition to the big blanket there are five other project ideas including a baby blanket made of 6 by 8 squares, a hot water bottle cover, a couple of pillows and a wall hanging. These are sure to give you ideas of different ways to use the blocks in other projects. 

Knit an Heirloom Blanket includes lots of fun colorwork blocks and ideas for using them that are sure to appeal to those new to colorwork as well as those with more experience. Even if you never knit a full blanket with them, you can add these motifs to your collection to work in other projects. 

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 50 charts and 6 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $25.99.