Knitting

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Giveaway: Knitting Know-How

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Knitting know-how giveaway

Congratulations, Heidi!

It seems like people are always interested in general knowledge books about knitting. Whether we are new knitters (or knitting hopefuls!) or people who have a lot of knitting skills but want to know if there’s a better way to do something, I think most knitters have a few reference books on their shelves. The Internet can tell us a lot, but sometimes it’s nice to have a book close when you need to know how to make a short row or turn a cable.

The book Knitting Know-How: Techniques, Lessons and Projects for Every Knitter’s Library by Dorothy T. Ratigan and Judith Durant is a good reference for knitters of a variety of skill levels. It’s a big book, but at 270 pages it isn’t so big that it’s overwhelming. It also includes a lot of large pictures, which make it easy to see what’s going on in tutorials and swatches.

And it covers a wide variety of things a knitter would want to know, from the basics of yarn and needles to reading patterns, forming stitches, casting on, binding off, shaping, working flat and in the round. It also looks at a variety of color knitting, cable and lace techniques, knitting with beads and how to plan and design garments. There are also eight project lessons that help you use your new skills as you read.

I’m giving away a copy of this book this week. If you’d like a chance to win, leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Sunday, June 19. I’d love to know what skill level you consider yourself, whether complete beginner or truly advanced. (I’m pretty advanced, but I still mess up when I try to knit lace, pretty much every time.)

Thanks for visiting, commenting and sharing, and good luck!

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Comments

  1. I would like to win this book! I would consider myself a competent beginner. ????

  3. I would love to have this book! I consider myself just a tiny bit above beginner!

  5. I am a complete beginner! I’ve been trying for years to get this down. One of my co-workers tried helping me and I can do the basics. However, I cannot seem to keep my stitches loose enough consistently. If this book could guide me through this issue, I would love to win it.

  6. This looks like a book that would be of great help as I teach my cousin to knit! I’m a pretty advanced knitter myself but some things…like short rows…still scare me.

  9. Could you ever know too much about knitting? Sometimes, just reading a book on knitting will iron out the wrinkles in a bad day!\

  10. I have been knitting less than a year. I think this book will help me advance in my knitting skills. Thank you.

  13. I am a complete beginner knitting–only know the basic knit and purl. I can not seem to get the hang of picking up a dropped stitch, so I have to totally rip out a project if I drop one.
    Need all the help I can get.

  14. I’m a new knitter, I have knit a few scarfs and a little baby sweater which was NOT easy. I think, I bit off more than I could chew.. lol
    I would to learn more… 🙂 Happy day!

  16. This looks like a book I seriously need. I am not a beginner, however anything beyond plain knitting is a challenge for me. Currently struggling with soxes….

  17. I am a confident beginner, but I still have a lot to learn. This book would help me to gain confidence in trying new things.

  21. I’d still consider myself an advanced beginner- I’ve made some hats & scarves but nothing large, with a lot of shaping, or special techniques like lace or colorwork.

  23. I consider myself a beginner…
    My first project was cables and my latest, (which was full of learning curves!), was brioche…
    Thanks for the giveaway.

  25. I think I am an intermediate knitter, even though I have been knitting for 40 plus years. There are a few advanced techniques I have yet to try. Thanks for the giveaway!

  27. Hi there!
    Even though I’ve been knitting for 8 years, I still feel like a beginner when I come across lace patterns..there’s something about charts that have me praying when I start! I would love to increase my skills and actually knit something other than a triangle, rectangle or circle! I love books and having them on a bookshelf is a thing I adore; I would love to add this to my collection

  28. Although I’ve been knitting for over 45 years, I consider myself only intermediate. Would love to win the book. Since my Mom passed away, I have no one to guide me when I have a knitting question. Now, I’m passing my knowledge on to my granddaughter.

  29. I’m past beginner, but nowhere near advanced! Just call me intermediate. 😀

  31. I am somewhere between “I got this!” and “oh crap!!”.

    Would really love to have this book, thanks for the opportunity!

  32. I consider myself a beginner. I have made a few things like scarves , hats and now working on a shawl. Mostly in garter stitch and stockinette.

  34. I consider myself pretty advanced, but I too have some problems with lace designs. Sometimes, its just the type of yarn, other times I just get ahead of myself! Great giveaway, thank you -Susan

  35. I’m intermediate, there’s always something to learn, and better ways to do it. 🙂

  36. I am an intermediate knitter. This book would be awesome as it goes into skills I have not tried yet but would love to!

  37. I consider myself an intermediate knitter, but one with ambitions. I woudl love to have this book!

  38. I am an incompetent beginner who kicks myself every day for not paying attention to my lovely grandmother who tried to teach me how to knit more than 50 years ago. I just wasn’t interested then and now I grieve the loss of her and her knitting and crocheting skills. It is such a loss on my part. Thank you for the give always, they are such nice gifts!

  40. I’d call myself an intermediate knitter, but some days I’d have question that as some techniques are so challenging! The book would be a great resource!

  42. I think I’m a beginning intermediate knitter (?). I would certainly love to win this book, as the beginning stages are always the hardest.

  43. Just finished my first big project – a baby sweater. Not quite beginner but nowhere near as talented as I’d like to be

  44. I consider myself an advanced beginner; new techniques usually challenge ma and I really enjoy taking them on. Thanks so much for the chance to win this awesome book!

  46. I like to think of myself as an advanced intermediate knitter. Of course I think I’m barely a beginner when I’m frogging again.

  47. I consider myself a beginning knitter. I have the basic knit/purl down and can work in the round.

  48. I would consider myself pretty advanced, too, in most areas, but I always like to have a reference guide for when I take on a project I’m not as comfortable with, such as intarsia, lace knitting or complicated cables.

  49. My skill level is Super Beginner. I can basically knit squares. I mainly make wash clothes but it would be nice to be able to make something else.

Have you read?

Patchwork Blanket Knitting Patterns

Any time of year is a good time for stash busting, but if you can combine it with knitting a blanket that will keep you warm when it (finally!) gets cooler that’s even better. Let’s take a look at some fun patchwork blanket knitting patterns. 

If you want to keep it super simple, you can just make blocks of garter stitch and sew them together, like the beginner’s patchwork baby blanket from Mini Baa Baa or the color block blanket from Make and Do Crew. Both projects are worked in strips and sew together, with the baby version calling for two strands of DK or light worsted weight yarn held together and the larger one using bulky yarn. 

Add a little more texture with the mixed blocks of the cottage quilt throw from Mama in a Stitch. This one combines garter stitch and seed stitch and uses worsted weight yarn. She used a crochet join to make the chains on top of the blocks, but you can join them however you like. It calls for eight colors but you can use what you have, and there are three size options. 

Get a real sampler style patchwork blanket with this design from Knit Sew Make. It calls for worsted weight yarn and has four size options. All of the patterns just use knit and purl stitches so this one is still pretty easy for beginners. 

If you want a more complex colorwork project that will keep you entertained all season, try the Peace by Piece blanket pattern from Needle and Feather. This one is made up of two color colorwork blocks and calls for worsted weight yarn. You can choose to use just a few of the blocks and repeat them more often, or make multiples of the whole set. 

The knitted patchwork recipe from Martine Ellis (free on Ravelry) uses mitered squares in fingering weight yarn, so it’s perfect for using up all your leftover sock yarn and mini skeins. This one is a tutorial more than a pattern so you can make your blanket as big as you like or keep going until you run out of yarn. 

Susan B. Anderson’s 100 Squares blanket (find it on Ravelry) has a lot of mitered squares, too, but they’re arranged in fun ways and includes some quilt inspired designs as well. This one also is a bit of method more than pattern but it sure looks like a lot of fun for using all the leftovers. 

Of course you can totally improvise a patchwork blanket using the yarn and stitches you like, but I hope these patterns inspire you to look at your leftover yarn in a new way.