Knitting

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Merry Christmas! New Giveaway!!

by

lilychinIf there’s one thing that every knitter can use, it’s an accessible guide filled to the brim with tips, tricks, shortcuts and secrets for unraveling any yarn mystery. Who better to compile it than Lily Chin – author of four immensely popular books, and a veteran teacher.

Lily was named a “Master Knitter” by Vogue Knitting International and was named World’s Fastest Crocheter in 2004. She has designed knitwear for more than 25 years.

From Random House!

To enter this giveaway, tell me what your favorite “knitting guide” is. Book? Note cards? In your head (really?), but hurry, This contest ends 12.31.09!!

Comments

  1. The knitting guides I use are Ann Budd’s “knitter’s handy book of patterns” and “knitter’s handy book of sweater patterns” and Charlotte Schurch’s “Sensational knitted socks.”
    So often I have yarn and an idea, but little patience to pencil it out. These make it easy!
    I also own the book you’re giving away, but I’d like a 2nd copy for a very good friend.
    Merry Christmas Terrye!

  3. I don’t have one yet! I have recently gotten back into knitting (learned the basics as a child) and am still getting the hang of things. I finished a very simple scarf this week and am working my way up to making myself some pretty socks to wear. I’ve been a crafter for many years but have always stuck to the basics with knitting/crochet and it’s time to move on and up – there are so many gorgeous fibers and patterns out there now!

  6. My favorite knitting guide is my mother. Whenever I am stuck with a stitch, I call her up on Skype and she shows me exactly how to do it!

  7. I recently started knitting and have been looking up info and questions online. I don’t have any books or anything so I’d love to have something to look through instead of searching a bunch of sites to get an answer!

  10. so far i have liked the knitting answer book, that little one that is fat and fits in bags, though i have ran across numerous q’s it didnt answer

  11. I use Google for my knitting guide. I also always copy the pattern and any special instructions from the book or magazine so I can keep it with the knitting.

  14. As a knitting beginner, I’ve been mostly relying on youtube videos, they are great! This book looks like a great knitting guide and I would love to win it and have a proper guide book! Thanks for the chance!

  15. I have to admit to using the computer first before consulting a book most of the time (youtube or knittinghelp), but I know Lily has SUPER awesome tips. What she comes up with amazes me and I’ve been looking forward to her books coming out for awhile now! I’d love a chance to win this! :O)

  16. How about some love for Ravelry, and all the wonderful people on the Internet who have taken the time to post and photograph lessons, tips, techniques and a couple failures. I lose books. I misplace notecards like stitch markers. But I’ll never lose my laptop access to the many who have come before me.

    This may sound a little goofy, seeing that you’ve offered up a knitting book and all. I said I lose books; I didn’t say that I don’t read them. I do. Like crazy. I’m just a tad too much of a pack-rat to find things as immediately as I need them.
    Thank you for making this available.

  17. Please enter me – I would love to win this wonderful book, I have seen Lily Chin on Knitty Gritty and she is so very knowledgeable! So far I have been checking knittinghelp.com for most of my questions.
    Thanks!

  19. My best knitting guides are my friends – the ones who are experienced at knitting and can help me with anything because I am still a new knitter.

  20. Merry Christmas
    I have an OLD Better Homes and Garden issue from my Grandma – but the ladies at the yarn store are my fave
    Cheers
    Catie

  22. The Complete Book of Knitting and Crocheting by Marguerite Maddox was given to me by my aunt back in the 1970s. The copy I have is a paperback. The first edition was published in 1953. But it’s the one I turn to most often when I need help. Admittedly, I am an intermediate knitter. I guess I could use an update.

  24. If there’s something I need to look up I always turn to the internet.. I would be sooo lost without the internet..

  25. My favorite knitting guides are knittinghelp.com videos and Klutz Learn to knit book/kit. That combo is what I used to learn how to knit.

    melodyj(at)gmail(dot)com

  26. My favorite knitting guides for tips are online knitting groups and also my local “in-person” knitting group.

  27. I too love knittinghelp.com, and my wonderful LYS. I would love to win this book! Thank you for a great giveaway!

  28. If picking the brain of my very knitting-wise neighbor fails, I’ve gotten some great help from the Twitter-verse as well as of course my favorite website of all time (well duh, Ravelry!). Sadly my LYS was an early tragedy of the economy, and closed early this year.

  29. Whenever I need some help, I head over to Ravelry.com. There is always someone else who has had the same difficulties as me. Or if I have a specific question, I post it in a discussion forum and I get a ton of responses.

    Thanks for the wonderful giveaway.

  30. I usually go to the internet to see if there is a video somewhere to show me what’s up. sometimes I’m stuck trying to figure it out for myself. This would be a great resource for me. Thanks for the opportunity to win!

  31. The book I consult in a pinch is Montse Stanley’s KNITTER’S HANDBOOK, but I’m more likely to go online to TECHknitter or one of the help sites if I don’t have a solution in my noggin from 60 years of knitting experience. I also pick up lots of tips from the projects on Ravelry and the forums.

  33. I’m a beginning knitter, so my favorite “guide” is my mother. I also use knittinghelp.com for videos and my Learn to Knit book.

  34. My fav at the moment is Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

  35. I have two favourite items- Yarn Stash Wonders ( David & Charles) which allows me to use up the odd balls of wool I have accumulated and ‘Mary Thomas Knitting Patterns’ published the year I was born. I would dearly love to win this book- I CAN make room for it!!

  39. I go to youtube or knittinghelp.com for information that I need guides. I like to visualize what the knitter is explaining on any new techinques to learn.

  41. Surprisingly my knitting guides are a co-worker and a classmate. I don’t know either of them too well, but when it comes to knitting, they know basically everything! We talk stitches, needles, and patterns all the time. They are much better at knitting than I am since I’m only a beginner, but, they are helping me out a lot!

  42. I have lots of notes for tips and tricks that I have accumulated from the internet. I keep them all on my computer (and on a backup disk – just in case….) and refer to them a lot.

  43. I have knit the Koigu “Charlotte’s Web” shawl a few times and I appreicate the chart that Uli created. I don’t know how I would have gotten through that shawl the first time without it. It was such a help.

  44. About.com or ravelry are really good Internet sights. The knitters bible and The knitting answer book is really good too.

  49. My grandmother.She has the most beautiful patterns dating back to when she was a girl as well as most recent books that family and friends give her

Have you read?

Knit Little Fish to Use Your Yarn Scraps

I rarely understand why something becomes a trend in crafting. Gnomes and geese are both cute I guess, but I never thought we’d be making them for all seasons. (See, for example, this collection of gnome knitting patterns, or these knit geese.)

Another one I don’t totally understand is sardines or little fish more generally. Sure, they’re cute, and the shape is fun, but I had no idea when I was sharing this pattern for a fish-shaped pouch last year that it would become a hugely popular pattern that people are still searching for on the site. It is pretty cute, though, so if you weren’t around then or don’t remember you should got check it out. 

Recently another fishy knitting pattern crossed my monitor: the little knit fish from Classical Songbird Designs. 

Just as the name suggests, these fish are little, about 4.5 inches or 11 cm from end to end. They look like little sardines and take about 12 yards of sock yarn to make. 

You can even make a two-tone fish and use just 6 yards of each color. 

This sounds to me like just about the perfect use for the yarn that’s left over after knitting a pair of socks, or a mini skein or several that have been sitting around unused in your stash. 

The fish are knit flat in one piece, which makes it easy to stitch on the eyes with more yarn or embroidery floss before stuffing, and you can stitch up the sides while you stuff (though it’s not a very big piece so you could probably stitch and then stuff, finishing with the end of the tail). 

Because I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one wondering, I measured an Altoids box and as the pattern is written the fish are a little too big to fit in it (the box is about 4 inches/10 cm long). But you could make the fish a little smaller if you want to make a box of them. Or just make a fishy bag to put them in!

You can grab the free pattern for the little knit fish at Classical Songbird Designs. 

[Photo: Classical Songbird Designs.]