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Go Beyond Knit and Purl with this Great Book

July 17, 2017 by Sarah White

beyond knit and purl

Congratulations to Kathleen.

I took all the knitting books off my shelves last week (eek!) and am getting rid of a lot of stuff, which also means I’ve uncovered some great new (old) stuff for you all.

This week’s giveaway is Beyond Knit & Purl by Kate Atherley, which is such a great book for newer knitters or those who are a little scared to move beyond plain old knitting and purling to shaping, lace, colorwork and cables.

The book has tons of great basic advice on things like understanding patterns and choosing the right ones for you, doing all the prep work for successful knitting and how to work from a pattern, including what patterns assume you know.

Then she goes into shaping, working in the round, knitting socks, cables, lace and colorwork and has great tips and instructions as well as a couple of patterns for each section that will help you build confidence. The patterns are pretty basic but so great for skill building.

This is a really great book for building skills and gaining confidence as a knitter, and I want one of you to have it.

Leave a comment on this post by the end of the day Sunday, July 24, if you’d like a chance to win it. I’d love to know what particular skill you need help with that this book can help you with.

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

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Comments

  1. April says

    July 17, 2017 at 10:00 pm

    Short rows 🙁 I wrap wrong! 🙁

  2. yolanda v says

    July 17, 2017 at 10:24 pm

    Lace and colorwork..eek!

  3. Judith (from Israel) says

    July 18, 2017 at 1:19 am

    I need help with knitting mittens on four needles. So far, I’ve only knitted mittens on two needles.

  4. kathleen k says

    July 18, 2017 at 6:57 am

    socks

  5. Eileen Hughes says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:07 am

    Knitting letters in projects, like the cell phone cover.

  6. Sherry says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:09 am

    Confidence in reading patterns

  7. Val Jensen says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:51 am

    Haven’ knit for years and sure need help starting up again. This book would be perfect. Thank you for offering me a chance to win it.

  8. Sueann Capela says

    July 18, 2017 at 8:05 am

    Perfect for improving my skills

  9. Nama says

    July 18, 2017 at 8:11 am

    This would be a great book to use when I’m helping people new to the knitting process to learn the basics – would also provide me with some new info for next steps!

  10. Naomi Klayman says

    July 18, 2017 at 8:41 am

    I’ve been knitting for 40+ years and only in the last 5 have I been pushing myself past the basics. Would love this book to keep me doing just that!

  11. Sharon says

    July 18, 2017 at 8:56 am

    Provisional cast on is a bear!

  12. Elaine McLaughlin says

    July 18, 2017 at 8:59 am

    I’m brand to knitting…just learned the very basics – how to cast on and knit/purl. Am left handed but was told it’s best to learn to knit using my right hand even though it feels strange ????. I want to succeed at this new hobby and need all the help I can get! I suspect this book would be beyond helpful!

  13. Shari McNair says

    July 18, 2017 at 9:28 am

    Would love help with Lace and knitting in the round !

  14. Diana Bates says

    July 18, 2017 at 10:21 am

    I love to crochet, but want to learn knitting. Have the needles and yarn, need the instructions and ideas!

  15. Ina Golden says

    July 18, 2017 at 10:31 am

    I would like to learn more about lace. It looks so delicate, intricate, and beautiful.

  16. joyce hancock says

    July 18, 2017 at 12:15 pm

    I could use some help with colorwork. The couple of projects I have tried did not turn out so well.

  17. laurelei says

    July 18, 2017 at 12:19 pm

    Literally haven’t progressed past knit and purl. I’m thinking there’s a lot that patterns assume we know (that this we doesn’t know at all). I do, however, own a huge assortment of short and long knitting needles, as well as every size circular needle, because I was a Girl Scout, and any reason to buy fiber-y tools and supplies is a good one for me.

  18. joan luntz says

    July 18, 2017 at 12:36 pm

    I would like to learn more about the knitting world. I am 71 year old grandmother and would like to teach my grand kids ‘the wonderful skill of knitting. Thanks for finding and offering this book for an give away prize.

  19. Jay Johnson says

    July 18, 2017 at 12:48 pm

    I’ve been knitting all my life, but have never progressed beyond the basics. Help!!

  20. Carol Lee Parry says

    July 18, 2017 at 1:16 pm

    socks & knitting in the round … I still have such a gap when I go around in the beginning.

  21. Cindy S says

    July 18, 2017 at 1:34 pm

    Understanding how shaping works, how short rows create shapes in other words.

  22. Vera Power says

    July 18, 2017 at 1:38 pm

    Great push for someone returning to knitting after 50 years! Yep, have wanted to move beyond basic scarves!

  23. Stacey says

    July 18, 2017 at 2:33 pm

    Colorwork. I am scared to try to change colors.

  24. yarnaddicted says

    July 18, 2017 at 6:27 pm

    I need help with learning lace, so intimidating!
    Thanks, Kim R.

  25. ssjmommy says

    July 18, 2017 at 6:39 pm

    I need help knitting in a round. Skills are rusty too and could use a refresher.

  26. Denise says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:00 pm

    Would love to win such a classic book Thanks for the chance

  27. colleen rose says

    July 18, 2017 at 7:44 pm

    I want to learn the best way to cast on, bind off and invisible seam.

  28. Corinne says

    July 18, 2017 at 9:04 pm

    I’m a beginner so this book would be perfect. Thank you for this fun giveaway!

  29. Karey says

    July 18, 2017 at 10:12 pm

    I really need help with my cables! They always come out loose!

  30. Diana says

    July 19, 2017 at 5:34 am

    My particular stress point is when I have to fix a mistake in a complex pattern such as lace or fisherman’s rib. I thought that by now (70+ years) I would be unflappable when it came to knitting. Hah.

  31. missmagners says

    July 19, 2017 at 6:38 am

    I’m trying to “improve” (OK, really learn better techniques for) colorwork. I can manage basic intarsia, but as soon as it goes beyond single blocks of color or doing something a bit fancier, I’m lost!

  32. Ellen Moore says

    July 19, 2017 at 10:53 am

    I need to learn how to do different cast-ons. I watched a video and it was so complicated that I gave up. What a great give away.

  33. Nancy J. Gill says

    July 19, 2017 at 3:41 pm

    Brioche/Fisherman’s rib & Entrelac

  34. Robyn says

    July 19, 2017 at 3:52 pm

    Have just helped a client in recovery pick up knitting Again after twenty years. She would find a. Ion like this so helpful.

  35. joan s says

    July 20, 2017 at 11:21 am

    Colorwork and short rows!

  36. Kim says

    July 20, 2017 at 9:33 pm

    I’ve been in a crochet rut, would love to get back to knitting.

  37. Lulu says

    July 23, 2017 at 11:09 am

    I would love to learn brioche!

Have you read?

Embellish Your Knit Dishcloth with Flowers

One great thing to knit when the weather is warm (or honestly any other time) is dishcloths and washcloths. They are fun and easy projects and a great way to play with new skills. Pretty washcloths make cleaning a tiny bit more fun, and they’re great to have on hand as a quick addition to a store-bought gift. 

The Daisy Delight Dishcloth from Yarnspirations is a fun one for using leftover bits of green in your cotton yarn stash. What looks like the bottom in the picture is actually the left side as you knit it, and each little color section is worked with its own ball of yarn, intarsia style. 

That’s a little fiddly for a washcloth, but the effect is cute, and it’s a simple way to learn the basics of intarsia knitting (as well as reading a chart) if you don’t already have those skills. 

One the knitting is done, you add the flowers with a bit of lazy daisy embroidery, which is really easy to do even if you’re not that into embroidery. You could also potentially add flowers in duplicate stitch if you’d rather. 

This may be the most work you’ve put into a dishcloth, but isn’t it adorable? It would be fun to use as a hand towel through the spring and summer, and if you already have some leftover green yarn from other projects it should be pretty easy to do. 

You could also take this same concept and make it different colors. All dark green stems with stars on top might be reminiscent of Christmas trees, or brown with daisy stitch on top in different colors could be trees in the fall. 

However you stitch it, this looks like a fun little project for knitters who are comfortable with intarsia and reading charts or who are ready to try those skills. 

You can grab the free pattern from Yarnspirations. 

[Photo: Yarnspirations]

Book Review – Dishcloths for Special Days [Knitting]

Book Review – Holiday Knit Dishcloths

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