Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

Grab a Chance to Learn Seamless Knitting from the Pros

by

the art of seamless knitting
Shelia is our winner.

This is another one of those books that I love because it’s just really smart and helpful and has great patterns, too.

The Art of Seamless Knitting by Simona Merchant-Dest and Faina Goberstein really grounds knitters in good techniques before presenting any patterns, so if you take the time to read all that material (and you should) you’ll start out feeling a lot more comfortable about where you’re headed.

The first chapters of the book cover things like different ways to construct garments seamlessly, how to read patterns and charts, preventing jogs in patterns worked in the round and ensuring you make a garment that will fit by measuring, swatching and altering if necessary. It even makes changing up patterns seem less daunting as it covers adding and subtracting length with and without shaping and designing your own garments with and without sleeves.

The next three chapters take you through different kinds of projects — with lace, cables and textured stitches — that can be worked seamlessly. They offer tips on designing garments with those sort of stitches, how to work shaping within designs and how to combine patterns to make a garment with more interest. Each chapter also includes a few sample projects (there are 12 in all) to get you started. Check them out on Ravelry. I love the cabled tunic and the lace stockings.

This is a really smart, well thought out book and the patterns are pretty, too. You’ll want to knit them and then take your new knowledge and confidently alter patterns or design your own with just the stitch patterns and shape that you want.

If you’d like a chance to win this book, leave a comment on this post before the end of the day Sunday, April 23. I’d love to know if you have any experience designing or altering patterns and how that experience has gone for you in the past.

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

Next Pattern:

Comments

  1. The only experience I have in altering patterns is accounting for a mistake I made that I don’t want to frog it out!

  2. I make a lot of hats that I knit using magic loop techniques and it makes it a lot easier! That’s the only way that I use for no seaming knitting!

  3. I’m a pattern follower…so I have no experience designing or altering patterns. This book looks like a wonderful chance to do just that.

  4. I almost always make up my own designs. Sometimes it works great, sometimes I do more frogging than knitting, but I get there in the end. Resources like this book to help my planning, so I can do more knitting than frogging would be great!

  5. The only alterations I have done are to lengthen a pattern. I find cute patterns that are too short for my liking and just add length to them. Thanks for the chance to win.

  9. I’ll make minor alterations to a pattern on occasion and the sweaters have come out…well…ok. It’s not often that I’ll knit a sweater anymore because I’m never thrilled with the finished item.

  13. I have altered a pattern when the size that I wanted is different from the original pattern.

  14. I usually create my own designs, sometimes making it up as I’m knitting. I hate seaming, so I even figured out a way to do saddle shoulders without seams.

  15. I haven’t designed any patterns, but I am certainly all for knitting a sweater without any seams in it. Sounds like a helpful book.

  16. I have knit many sweaters that were written flat, in the round so they are seamless.

  17. I have been knitting for a few years, maybe 6 or 7, and still have so much to learn. I have altered a little by adding stitches, length, to ensure right fit, but didn’t really have any guide to follow for this. Sounds like a wonderful resource.

  18. I’ve turned a skirt pattern into a shawl. I liked the repeat & thought it would make a nice shawl. It does. I also find that if I knit a scarf or hat and like the print, I’ll attempt to make a set.

  20. I am apple shape so alway have to alter patterns to fit. So far used top down patterns. Still working on getting jumpers to fit to flatter. Would like to design own jumpers from scratch.

  21. I just love seamless sweaters! I made already a few for myself and family members. Sometimes I follow the pattern and other times I just like to play around the pattern and make my own version. In the end it worked fine. I’m still wearing my hacked sweaters.

  22. My experience altering patterns is usually limited to changing sleeve length and girth, unfortunately through trial and error ????

  23. I need this book! I want to knit a cotton sweater for summer and would love to learn how to make a seamless one.

Have you read?

Knit a Fish Pouch, for Reasons

I can’t resist a pattern that’s both useful and a little silly, and that’s exactly how I feel about the Rybka pouch pattern from the delightfully named Rat and Sea Witch.

I know you’re going to ask, because I did, too. Rybka means little fish in Polish. (And because you’re also probably going to ask, Rat and Sea Witch comes from people’s attempts to say the designer’s name, Ratasiewicz, which if you say it fast kind of sounds like rat and sea witch.)

It’s easy to make a little fish bag in different sizes to suit your needs. The pattern has specific instructions for an Airpods Pro case and a pencil case, but you could change the length easily to hold more stuff, and change the size in general by working with a different weight of yarn.

The pattern calls for sock yarn and mohair held together to make a fingering weight gauge, but you could try it with heavier yarn and see what size bag you end up with.

Whatever size you make it, this looks like a fun project for holding trinkets or everyday items. The mouth of the fish is the mouth of the bag, and it closes with a drawstring that is also the strap. I wonder, too, if you could make one of these with a small clasp frame that could be the fish’s mouth and then you could just work I cord straps that would attach to the sides of the fish.

I could also see stripes, or fish of different colors to use up your yarn leftovers. How about a sunglasses case with a little loop to attach to your bag? Once you start thinking about all the ways you could use a fish-shaped bag in your life, I think you’ll see that you probably need more than one.

If you make one of these I would love to know how it went!

You can grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Rat and Sea Witch]