• Home
  • Suggest A Craft
  • DIY Newsletter

Knitting

Patterns, projects and techniques

  • About CraftGossip
  • Our Network
    • Bath & Body Crafts
    • Candle Making Ideas
    • Crochet Ideas
    • Cross Stitch
    • Edible Crafts
    • Felting Patterns
    • Glass Art
    • Home & Garden Ideas
    • Indie Crafts
    • Jewelry Making
    • Kids Crafts
    • Knitting Patterns
    • Lesson Plans
    • Needlework
    • Party Ideas
    • Polymer Clay
    • Quilting Ideas
    • Recycled Crafts
    • Scrapbooking
    • Sewing Patterns
    • Card Making
    • DIY Weddings
    • Not Craft Ideas
  • Giveaways
  • Roundups
  • Store
  • Search

Learn What to Do with All those Great Gradients

September 29, 2017 by Sarah White

gradient knits book reviewGradient yarns are having a moment, and with good reason. People love the ease of being able to work from one ball of yarn and have amazing color changes appear before their eyes, or using mini skeins in a range of colors to create projects that look a lot more complex than they are.

But the process of using gradient yarns can be a little daunting. How do you know what kinds of stitch patterns will look best, or even what kinds of garments to make with those skeins?

Tanis Gray is here to help with her book Gradient Knits: 10 Lessons and Projects Using Ombre, Stranded Colorwork, Slip-Stitch and Texture.

The book is not only a helpful guide to the world of gradient yarns and how to use them, it all serves as a primer for basic-and-beyond knitting skills.

Each chapter covers a particular technique:

  • knit and purl
  • slip stitch
  • alternating stripes
  • thrumming
  • cabling
  • fair isle
  • intarsia
  • lace
  • modular knitting
  • wrap and turn short rows

A tutorial on this basics is given, then a pattern using the technique helps you build your skills.

I’m not seeing the book on Ravelry yet (it’s technically out Oct. 1, but Amazon has it shipping already) but you can see some of the pretty patterns on the cover. I especially like the lace shawl worked in a ombre with long color runs so that each part of the pattern is worked in a different color. It was designed by Mindy Wilkes. (Several designers contributed to the book.)

This book is a lot of fun if you like colorful knits without a lot of work. Some of the patterns are a little harder than others, but none of them are beyond advanced beginner to intermediate knitters. And if you’ve got a lot of mini skein sets or gradient yarn balls on your shelf and are wondering what to do with them, this book will give you a few ideas!

About the book: 144 pages, paperback, 10 patterns. Published by Barron’s Educational Series, October 2017. Retail price $21.99.

Next Pattern:

  • Learn All About Ribbing (+ a Free Pattern to Try)
  • Use All Your Yarn Scraps on This Great Cardigan…
  • Learn How to Knit Your Perfect T
«
»

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]

Categories

baby hat Baby Patterns Beginner Book Reviews cardigan Christmas CraftGossip Giveaways Craft News and Events Free Kntting Patterns Giveaways! Hats Knitting Articles Of Interest Knitting Patterns Knitting Technique & Ideas mittens Quick scarf shawl patterns socks Sweaters

RSS More Articles

  • Designer Spotlight: Crystal Feather Crafts
  • Unlock 100+ Stunning Stitches: Transform Your Needlepoint Skills with These Next-Level Techniques
  • Turn Your Scrap Fabric Stash Into Stunning Art with These Mixed Media Fabric Blocks
  • Fun Outdoor Games for Fourth of July and Summer Events
  • Book Review – 110 Quilted Potholders
  • Ballerina Dolls – Crochet Pattern
  • How to Make Faux Postage Travel Cards
  • The Sewing Community Has a Fatphobia Problem – And It’s Time We Fix It
  • 12 Scrapbook Layout Ideas for Dads plus FREE SVG Cut Files
  • Knit a Fish Pouch, for Reasons

Pick Your Blog

  • Sewing
  • Knitting
  • Quilting
  • Crochet
  • Home & Garden
  • Recycled Crafts
  • Scrapbooking
  • Card Making
  • Polymer Clay
  • Cross-Stitch
  • Edible Crafts
  • Felting
  • Glass Art
  • Indie Crafts
  • Kids Crafts
  • Jewelry Making
  • Lesson Plans
  • Needlework
  • Bath & Body
  • Party Ideas
  • Candle Making
  • DIY Weddings
  • Not Craft
  • Free Craft Projects

Copyright © 2025 · CraftGossip | Start Here | Contact Us | Link to Us | Your Editors | Privacy and affiliate policy