Knitting

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Giveaway: Knit Yourself In X2

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knit yourself in hen knitting book review

Anne and Ellie are our winners!

The other day I shared a review of Knit Yourself In: Inventive Patterns to Tell Your Story in the Danish “Hen Knitting” Tradition by Cecilie Kaurin and Linn Bryhn Jacobsen. It’s a fun and colorful book full of somewhat improvisational patterns meant to use up stash and show your personality.

Today I’m giving away two copies so a couple of you can explore this fun knitting style. Check out the review for more information, but the book includes more than 20 patterns using lots of colorful little motifs, mostly from nature, on garments for kids, men and women.

There is one thing that annoyed me about this book — and I totally get that it’s part of the style, but it’s not at all my style — is that motifs are left unfinished if there’s not room for a whole one. So you could be decreasing for a neckline and end up with a headless giraffe at the center front of your garment.

So my question for those of you who want a chance to win this book is: would something like that drive you crazy? If you were making a pattern where the stitches didn’t correspond to the motifs, would you fix it, or would you knit it the more whimsical hen knitting way?

As always, leave a comment before the end of the day Sunday, February 1, if you’d like a chance to win, and there will be two winners this week.

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing and good luck!

Next Pattern:

Comments

  1. I’m like you. Motifs are left unfinished if there’s not room for a whole one drive me crazy.

  5. I’d find a motif that blended well with the pattern. A “headless” giraffe is not a pretty sight!

  11. Maybe it is because I sew, there are times when motifs don’t match, it would not bother me. It (headless giraffe), only adds to the uniqueness and individually of the work.

  12. I don’t think that would bother me. I don’t think that people looking at your garment would notice.

  13. Oooh. Would drive me crazy, but I’m very interested in this book since my dad was Danish and I’ve not learned a lot about the knitting traditions of the Danes.

  14. it depends on what I’m knitting and for whom- I do like to wing it, though. I’ve never heard of hen knitting, but it sounds fun- what a wonderful way to tell a story!

  15. I’m usually very precise, but Hen Kntting sounds like fun, and I’d probably let it go. My Mom was Danish, and taught me to knit; I’d love to win this book.

  18. No question, I would fix it. That headless giraffe would drive me crazy and haunt my dreams. I always make changes in what I knit, even when I don’t think I will.

  19. It would bother me, but I would leave it as an exercise in wabi sabi. But I’d try to choose a motif that wouldn’t matter as much as a giraffe. If I win the book, I’ll give it a try and let you know!

  27. It would definitely drive me crazy and I would have to fix it. I am a perfectionist and I cannot help it!

  30. A headless giraffe on my chest would bother me! Along with everyone pointing at my chest! I would have to move him up to my shoulder or put a different motif in to even up the number of stitches.

Have you read?

Knit a Stunning Shawl That Wears Like a Collar

I’m honestly not totally sure what to say about the Sun King shawl pattern from Ursa Major Knits other than isn’t this cool? You should probably make one. 

This modular design is worked in two parts, the “waxing” and “waning” sections. Both pieces are asymmetrical and use the same yarns in different ways to mix up the colors and make it even more interesting. 

You can choose to use two contrasting solid yarns, a solid and a gradient or two complimentary gradients for your yarns. And you can use any weight of yarn and whatever gauge you like to make shawls of different sizes. There are also a bunch of different size options (seven, in fact) that take the project from a little collar like design to something more like a scarf to a large shawl that wraps around the neck to keep you warm. 

The sample projects use fingering/lace weight yarn, but you can use whatever you have on hand to make your own beautiful version of this shawl. Using lace weight, you’ll need twice as much of one color as the other.

There are lots of yarn suggestions on the pattern page on Ravelry, and I love the color choices the designer made so much I’d definitely be tempted to use the same colors they did (there are a couple of different versions on the pattern page if you want to see how it looks in different sizes and different colors). 

I love the little diamond shapes a the edges of the pieces, which add a little more drama to the project, as if it needed more. 

I’m still not sure this boils down to anything beyond this project looks really cool and you should probably knit it, but that’s pretty much how I pick all the projects I share, so I guess that’s fine. You can check it out for yourself and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Ursa Major Knits]

A Shawl to Wear While You’re Reading and Knitting

A Striped Shawl to Celebrate Progress [Knitting]