Knitting

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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!

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?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use. 

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make. 

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!). 

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn. 

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart. 

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern. 

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.