Knitting

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Giveaway: Mini Skein Knits

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mini skein knits

Congratulations to Duane!

First off, let me say that June was spectacularly crazy for me, but things will be getting better after this week. So if you’ve won a giveaway and haven’t received your prize yet, or you’re wondering why I haven’t picked a winner in a while, please be patient and I promise I will get caught up very soon. Thanks! You all are the best!

One of the last things I did while I was still working at About Knitting was an article all about mini skeins. These little skeins of yarn include a small yardage but are rather irresistible because they often come in great colors or allow you the chance to sample a little yarn you might not be able to afford in larger quantity.

But the trouble with mini skeins is that you might end up wanting to buy a lot of them and not knowing quite what to do with them. They’re lovely as yarn art, of course, but wouldn’t it be better to use them?

That’s where the book Mini Skein Knits comes in (I reviewed it as part of the article linked above). The book has 25 patterns for accessories and home projects (as well as two lovely striped sweaters) that will help you use up leftover yarn or mini skeins (you can see the projects on Ravelry). It’s a fun and colorful book that’s sure to inspire you to use up your little bits, and I’m giving away a copy this week.

If you’d like a chance to win it, leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Sunday, July 10. I’d love to know if you buy mini skeins or if this is the first you have heard of them. If you do, do you use them?

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

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Comments

  1. I read something about them a while back. Haven’t seen them yet. Am interested in them and will look up more on them now.
    Thanks
    Sandi

  3. Thanks for the giveaway. I have not purchased mini skeins, but have a lot of yarn in my stash that I’m thinking of making into mini skeins by weight.

Have you read?

Book Review: Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond

When I discovered Kate Atherley’s book Circular Knitting for Beginners and Beyond, I wasn’t sure there was enough to say about circular knitting to fill a book. It’s a pretty short book (144 pages) and includes 10 patterns to practice working in the round on small projects, and it provides a decent introduction to the various ways of working in the round. 

The book covers using double pointed knitting needles, flexible double points and circular knitting needles with cables. It talks about working using the full circumference of a circular needle and various ways to work smaller circumference projects, such as using DPNs, magic loop and knitting with two circular knitting needles. 

In addition there’s a discussion of preventing problems like twists and ladders, swatching in the round without actually swatching in the round, grafting, blocking and weaving in ends. 

More specialized techniques likes knitting from the center out, stranded colorwork, helical knitting and jogless stripes are also explored, as well as working pieces like socks or mitts two at a time. 

There’s also some information about seamless sweaters, including the different sweater designs that can be worked seamlessly (and why you might want seams in your sweaters) and how they are worked from the top down or the bottom up. 

There are 10 patterns in the book, including a basic stockinette stitch cowl and one with a deliberate twist, wrist warmers, mitts and a pair of colorwork mittens, a hat worked in a solid color or in helical stripes, toe up and top down socks and a beret. It would have been nice to have a basic sweater pattern, too, since the book does talk about working larger garments with circular needles, but it’s still a nice collection of basic patterns worked in the round. 

If you’re already comfortable working in the round in different ways, I’m not sure there’s much for you to learn in this book, but it is a good reference for people learning circular knitting or who maybe haven’t tried all the techniques yet or need skill building projects to try. 

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published 2026 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.