Knitting

Free Patterns, Tutorials and Project Ideas

Jil Eaton’s Knitting School!

by

Attention class! Come to order! Come on settle down! I know you’re excited to begin but we have a few basics to cover first!

First of all, I highly recommend that you go our and buy the textbook for this class. It’s called “Jil Eaton’s Knitting School – the complete guide to becoming a confident knitter”

Ready? Got your needles? Yarn? Something to measure gauge? What’s gauge? Well, let’s get started!

Chapter one covers the basics, from how to put together the perfect knitting kit, blocking and laundering, how to read a pattern and abbreviations. Then we get to practice these new techniques.

Beginner’s Delights is the next section. From the very first “making a slip knot” to the basic cast on’s, and knit stitch. Binding off, weaving in ends, and even pom poms! Then we get to practice these new techniques.

Throughout this whole book from the beginners techniques and projects through the graduate school which covers bobbles, socks, kitchener stitch, fair isle, texture knitting, pleats, and lace and multistitch patterns this book is chock full with all the tips, techniques and helpful little hints to ensure success. This one’s definitely a keeper….. for you!

And someone’s going to win it! Leave me a comment telling me who or what you would use this book for!

Ready… Set…. Go!

Comments

  1. I can only do basic knitting (scarves, and jumpers that never fit as my technique is terrible) so I’d use this to improve and finally knit something pretty!

  2. I’m pretty confident basic knitter, but I’m forever passing up projects because they involve knitting on double pointed needles or any kind of color work. I even the most adorable cardigan pattern for my little girl on Ravelry, but have stopped short of buying yarn for it because color work scares me. I’m hoping this book would help give me the confidence to go beyond “just the basics” to make something truly special for my loved ones. =0)

  3. I would use it to encourage some of the girls at a local youth club I help at to begin knitting and make gifts to put in shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. Oh AND to remind myself of some of the stuff I have no doubt forgotten.

  4. I would give this to my niece who is learning to knit. My sister does not knit so a book like this will be good.

  7. I would like to learn beyond the basic techniques to be able to knit more advanced projects for myself and my family.
    Thanks 🙂

  8. This looks like a great reference for a somewhat new knitter like myself, I’d defiantly share it with my niece when she comes over to get her started knitting, she’s been asking when she’d be old enough.

  9. This book would be for me! I have very very basic knitting skills. I would love to be able to knit something other than a scarf like hats and sweaters and all the other goodies! 🙂

  11. I wish I could learn to read my knitting better, so I wouldn’t get so lost when doing cables and lace. I get lost so often!

  12. This book would surely help me get past some of my knitting phobias and get further with my knitting!

  13. Would love the book for my daughter 🙂 She is just getting started and would enjoy a wonderful tutorial book.

  14. It’s my dream to one day retire and open a yarn store. I’d use the book to refine my techniques, better my knitting, and also to help me in my quest to become a master knitter.
    My niece is five and enjoys watching me knit. I’d love to be able to pass this book on to her in time.

  15. My husband and I just started a plan to get out of debt and one of the recommendations is to give crafts for xmas. That is what I would use this book for.

  17. I am a beginner and could definitely use a more solid foundation of the basics, as I tend to choose patterns beyond my knitting know-how…. just love a challenge, I guess!

  18. this book would be so helpful, as I am new at knitting and find myself in problems that I don’t even know how I got myself there!

Have you read?

Book Review: The Knitting Book

There are two schools of thought when it comes to instructional books about knitting. Either focus in one particular technique or kind of knitting (stranded knitting, say, or brioche) or try to cover a little bit of everything in a reference book that knitters will use throughout their careers. 

The Knitting Book by Frederica Patmore and Dr. Vikki Haffenden aims to be the second kind. The subtitle is: a step-by-step guide to creating imaginative projects for the home and to wear. I’m not sure it does that, exactly, but it does include a quick look at a lot of different techniques and stitch patterns you might use in your projects. 

A “guide to creating imaginative projects” sounds to me like it’s about design, but this book is not. There’s 1/3 of a page about altering patterns that only talks about how to add length to a sleeve and adjust where the increases go.

There’s nothing about measuring your body (the section on choosing a size in a pattern only suggests measuring a garment you already own), general garment construction, ease or stitch pattern multiples. The section on gauge (which is the last third of the page with choosing a garment size and altering patterns, discussed above) just says to knit a swatch, block and measure it to compare to a pattern, with no discussion on how you might use your swatch to design your own project or alter a pattern to meet your gauge. 

If you ignore the subtitle, what you will find is a lot of information about different kinds of knitting and various techniques you might want to try on your projects. There are 20 cast ons and 15 bind off options, for instance, all discussed before you learn how to knit or purl. (Another quibble I have with this book is the order in which things are presented, but that’s relatively minor.)

You’ll find quick hits on increases and decreases, twists and cables, lace, colorwork, textured effects like fisherman’s rib and brioche, loops, mosaic knitting, double knitting, decorative stitches, shadow knitting, bias knitting, mitered squares, entrelac and more. There are tips for selvedge stitches, knitting with beads, adding buttonholes, picking up stitches and more. 

A few patterns at the back give knitters a taste of some of the techniques included, but they’re not rated by skill level and the first one is a bias knit gradient scarf worked in six different colors of mohair, which isn’t a thing I’d wish on any beginner. 

And I guess that’s maybe what my issue with the book is. I don’t know if it’s meant for beginners and it doesn’t seem to, either. I feel like this book would be overwhelming to new knitters and doesn’t really give you a place to start or all the information you might need to do projects well.

The variety of techniques included is fun, and there are also stitch patterns in the back you can use on your own projects, but again it doesn’t really provide any guidance for how to design your own projects so I don’t know how helpful all of that is. 

I want to like books like this because having one reference that helps you with a lot of different things is great, I’m just not sure this is the one. If you can find it at your library or local book store and flip through it before buying, I think that would be a great idea to see if it’s a book that would be helpful for you. 

And if you have this book and love it please let me know! I’m sure it’s good for someone I’m just not sure who. 

About the book: 336 pages, hardcover. Published 2026 by DK. Suggested retail price $40.