Knitting

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Join Me and Learn How to Knit a Sock

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If you’re into holiday crafting, whether knitting or otherwise, Rebecca Page has a holiday crafting summit coming up that you’ll want to check out.

The summit runs from Nov. 14-18 and includes access to 48 classes over those days. There are classes in knitting, crochet, paper crafts, embroidery and more.

You can sign up for the summit for free and get 24-hour access to each day’s classes, or there is a VIP option that gets you full access to unlimited replays of the classes, plus three classes that are only available to VIP users.

One of those is mine! It’s a class all about learning how to knit socks, using a worsted weight mini stocking as our learning pattern. This stocking is big enough to hold a gift card, and you can embellish it any way you like, from knitting stripes to adding a duplicate stitch design, sewing on buttons or beads, even adding a cable or pattern stitch to the body as you knit.

The class covers three different ways to work in the round, three ways to join your knitting for working in the round, knitting all the parts of the sock including a heel flap with a wrap and turn heel that’s over so fast you won’t have time to be nervous.

It’s such a cute little project that’s great for teacher gifts, or make an advent calendar full of little stockings to hold tiny treats all season long. What a fun stash buster that would be!

Again my class is only available if you choose the VIP option, but there are a lot of other fun classes you can get for free if you’re available to watch that week. Check out all the offerings at Rebecca Page. (PS there’s a knitting summit coming up in the new year and I’m thinking about classes if you have something you’d love to see let me know!)

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Have you read?

Review: The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook

I know not all of you are interested in writing patterns, but for those of you who are (or who already do), The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook by Kristina McGrath and Sarah Walworth is a great guide to things you need to consider as you are designing, writing and preparing your pattern for publishing.

While a lot of this information (such as grading patterns for particular sizes, the importance of size inclusivity in patterns and common sweater design pitfalls) is specific to designers or garments, this information is important for designers to think about and for knitters to look out for when purchasing patterns.

The book covers the basics and beyond of writing a knitting pattern, including:

  • foundations of a good pattern
  • components of a pattern
  • gauge
  • charts
  • sizing
  • common sweater pitfalls
  • working with a tech editor

The goal of all this is to get designers thinking about how they want to present their patterns, from how abbreviations are handled to when charts are used, how many sizes are included and how elements of the pattern might need to change as garments get larger (such as increasing at a different rate on raglans so the armhole is not too deep when accommodating a larger bust size).

McGrath and Walworth are professional tech editors who host the Tech Tip Talk YouTube page, and their aim is for patterns to be clear, consistent, correct, size inclusive, accessible to a range of knitters (both in terms of physical ability and skill level).

They definitely have opinions about how knitting patterns should be written, such as how to convert from inches to centimeters and that measurements for sweaters should be taken from the upper bust rather than the full chest. But they also note that a tech editor’s job isn’t to be dogmatic or make changes without good reason.

The book also covers other subjects of importance to designers such as the difference between tech editing and test knitting, why you might want to do both and in what order. Each chapter includes a checklist of things to think about when writing you pattern and questions and answers to common questions they come across in their tech  editing businesses.

The back of the book includes detailed guidelines for where and how to measure bodies, plus standard size charts for kids, women and men. There’s also a sample style sheet for use with a tech editor and plenty of resources for learning more about design, accessibility and more.

This book is a great resource for people thinking about getting into knitwear design (particularly garment design), or for designers who want to make their patterns better and their editor’s job easier.

About the book: 176 pages, hardcover. Published 2023 by Storey. Suggested retail price $20.

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