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Giveaway: The Knitting All Around Stitch Dictionary

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knitting all around stitch dictionary giveaway

Martha is the winner!

My love of stitch dictionaries is well documented. They’re so fun to look through, play with and get inspired by.

One of the potential problems with using stitch patterns in projects, though, is that they can look quite different when worked in different ways, such as flat versus in the round or from the top down versus bottom up. And you might want to work different parts of the same garment in different ways (such as bottom up, flat pieces for a cardigan but working the sleeves top down in the round).

Wendy Bernard has devoted a lot of time to thinking about, swatching, twisting and turning stitch patterns so they can be worked in all directions. She’s written two books on the subject: The Up, Down, All Around Stitch Dictionary and her latest, The Knitting All Around Stitch Dictionary.

Both books contain 150 stitch patterns and have instructions — written and charted — for how to work them flat and in the round, top down and bottom up. They are great references whether you want to change the stitch pattern used in a knitting pattern you already have or you want to design something for yourself.

What’s even better about this book is that you can see more of each stitch. When a swatch is reversible, the back of the swatch is shown along with the front side. When a top-down version looks slightly different than the bottom-up version, both versions are now shown. The pictures are large and detailed so you can really see what the patterns look like.

There are also six projects in the book you can knit as they are or change up the stitch patterns, as well as some plain vanilla projects just waiting for you to thrown on a stitch pattern, which is great design practice.

This week I’m giving away a copy of the latest book as well as some Blue Sky Alpaca yarn like what was used in the swatches seen in the book. Thanks to STC Craft for the generous prize!

If you live in the United States and are interested in winning this book, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, May 29. I’d love to know if you have any stitch dictionaries and, if you do, if you have a favorite. I have to say volume one of Barbara Walker’s Treasuries of Knitting Patterns is almost never on my shelf because I use it so much!

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

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Comments

  1. The only knitting stitch dictionary I have is Wendy’s first up down all around book. I LOVE it and would love to add this to my library. I love that It is spiral bound and so easy to use. Thanks for the chance to win!

  3. I have a few how-to books from the 40s/50s which, while not as comprehensive as a stitch dictionary, do have sections with some stitches in them that I haven’t sen in the stitch dictionaries at the library, so I’ll always want to hang on to them. Thanks for the giveaway from KittenWhiplash on Rav.

  4. I own a lot of stitch dictionary but my favorites are the Japanese stitch dictionaries. They are really unique.

Have you read?

Textured Hat Knitting Patterns

There are all sorts of knitting techniques you can use on hats, but some of my favorites are textured stitch patterns or cabled hats worked in a single color. Check out these great textured hat knitting patterns and find your next fall favorite. 

The K?pekapeka hat from The Practice of Fibre was the one that got me started thinking about textured hat knitting patterns. This one has a simple zig-zag pattern worked with purls. This hat uses centered double decreases for shaping to help keep the pattern going as you finish the top of the hat. It uses worked weight yarn. 

Little Totz Designs has this simple knit hat that uses worsted weight yarn and an allover knit-purl stitch pattern that’s easy to memorize. This one would be a great first hat in the round pattern if that’s something you haven’t tried before. 

The Fia Beanie from Honey and Grace Fiber Co is another simple stitch pattern that’s full of texture. It calls for bulky yarn so it should stitch up in no time in this great textured diamond design. 

Kalurah Hudson’s Cindersmoke hat is an interesting stitch design that uses double moss stitch and bands of slipped stitches throughout the pattern, which is where the decreases are worked, keeping the rest of the pattern as established. It uses bulky yarn and is sized for adults, and you can find it on Ravelry.

Benjamin Matthews has such pretty designs that often turn out to be simpler to knit than they look. The Snow Carved Beanie (find it on Ravelry) for example only uses knits, purls and slipped stitches, but it has a design that looks almost like cables. The pattern uses worsted weight yarn and has a foldover brim for extra warmth. 

While I wanted to keep the focus in this roundup on simple stitch patterns, basic cables are not that much more difficult than regular knitting, and the lattice pattern on this CrissCross Hat form the Purling Princess is so charming I couldn’t resist sharing. This hat comes in three sizes (baby, child and adult) and uses worsted weight yarn. It would be a great gift to knit if you’re thinking about that.