KnitBits: Knitting Fails, What’s Your Knitting Worth and the Steven Show

Knitting fails happen to everyone. Just last night I was trying to knit what should have been, looked like, was, a relatively simple lace pattern and I could not for the life of me do it. I was supposed to have 39 stitches, then suddenly I had 38. Rip it out, try again. 40. Ugh.

A knit fail is not the end of the world — yarn can always be ripped out and tried again, after all — but it’s always great when people can share their knit fails with the world. It makes us all feel better. So take heart and check out these cringe-worthy knitting fails over at Love Knitting.

Once you’ve done that, go read the super sweet piece from the Globe and Mail that reminds us why we do what we do. It starts off as a regular learning to knit story and ends reminding us that knitting really is an act of love, all the time. It’d worth the read.

And speaking of worth, when people ask you to knit something for them, odds are good most of them don’t want to pay you. This knitting time calculator isn’t a real calculator, but it will give the person asking some idea of what your time might be worth. It offers estimates for the length of time a project might take, asks if the person wants to buy the yarn or have the knitter buy it, whether the person wants to compensate the knitter by cleaning her house and so on. It’s good for a laugh, anyway.

And for a final laugh, you probably know that Steven Be and Stephen West have been working and touring together, and recently they were teaching and putting on a ridiculous (in the best possible way) fashion show at Vogue Knitting Live. You can check out some of the fun with the first episode of the web series StevenBe. It will inspire you to knit something awesome, I’m sure.

[Photo via Love Knitting.]

Next Pattern:

Blankets are a great blank slate project that you can change up in a million different ways. From color to stitch pattern to size, the possibilities are almost endless.

Jared Flood, the designer behind Brooklyn Tweed, was inspired by a log cabin quilt his mother made in 1995 to re-create that design in knitting, which led to more blankets and ultimate Brooklyn Tweed’s Knit and Crochet Blankets, which includes 25 patterns from an array of designers using different skills and techniques to make cozy, pretty blankets.

The patterns are divided into three aesthetic themes: traditions, minimalism and colorplay. The patterns are rated on a scale of one to five, with one being the easiest, and there aren’t any pieces rated five. Two blankets are rated one, 14 are two, eight are three and one is four.

In addition, three of the 25 patterns are crocheted, but they either use single crochet or granny stitch, so they are pretty easy even if you don’t do a lot of crochet. You can see all the patterns on Ravelry.

Some of my favorites include Rattan by Rastus Hsu, a chunky blanket worked in knits and purls with simple crossing stitches to make a raised woven look; Homewood by Seth Richardson, covers in dramatic, loopy cables; Ainur Berkimbayeva’s Tessellate, one of the beginner projects that doesn’t really look beginner but is totally worked in knit and purl stitches; Warp + Weft by Aist? Butkevi?ien?, which is mostly knits and purls but makes a fun woven look fabric that blew my mind a little bit; and the same designer’s Canyonland, a multicolored blanket with wavy stripes.

The patterns tell you how to resize them for different dimensions and include information on pattern repeats where it is possible to make a totally custom size.

Many different techniques are included here such as cables, lace, shadow knitting, intarsia and other colorwork techniques, as well as modular knitting and lots of sewing pieces together. The patterns are all presented with charts, but there are line by line written instructions available on the Brooklyn Tweed website if you need them.

The book ends with a deep dive into log cabin knitting, telling the story of the quilt Jared’s mom made and how he made it in knitting, as well as the multitude of variations you can make if you want your own log cabin style design.

The back of the book includes a little written information about some of the special techniques needed, but there are no photos.

This is a lovely book full of inspiration for knitting and crochet blankets for any skill level. If you like to make blankets as gifts or aspire to have a handmade blanket in every room of the house, these designs would be a great place to start.

About the book: 192 pages, paperback, 25 patterns. Published 2024 by Abrams Books, suggested retail price $24.99.

Next Pattern:

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