Book Review: Drop-Dead Easy Knits

By the title alone, I think a lot of people are going to be interested in this book. Drop-Dead Easy Knits by Gale Zucker, Mary Lou Egan and Kirsten Kapur is the result of a bunch of knitters being in real life friends and thinking about the kinds of knitting projects they like to do in different situations.

The projects are designed for those different events, like being in a waiting room, travelling, wanting something warm to work on when the weather is cool, knitting with friends that doesn’t require paying attention to your work.

In this case easy doesn’t mean plain. It’s more projects that can be worked often with limited attention through parts of the process but that still produce things that you’ll enjoy knitting, wearing, using or gifting.

The projects are arranged by theme: cold hands, warm heart (knitting while it’s cold or for the cold); the waiting game (projects for picking up and putting down); drinking buddies (perfect for knit night and for gifting to friends); family entanglements (things to knit at holiday get-togethers or when teaching kids to knit); bursting with joy (baby knits); and no sheep at the shore (projects for beach knitting and wearing).

The projects are rated by how much attention they require and the patterns are marked where you need to pay more attention, which is handy.

I’m not finding the book on Ravelry yet but you can get a sneak peek at the publisher’s website.

Some of my favorites include the cozy Camurac Cardigan, sure to become a wear-everywhere favorite; the Keynote Pullover, which features a simple textured yoke but is otherwise straight knitting; the Star-Eyed Julep Throw, designed by the Mason-Dixon knitters to be worked in four pieces (possibly by four different people) and joined together at the end; the Apple Hill Finger Puppets, a perfect first project for a pint-sized knitter; the adorable Bear in a Bunny Suit by Susan B. Anderson; and the sweet Pompano Tank, with eyelets at the hem and a swingy style.

These projects are fun, pretty, great for gifts, relatively easy to knit but don’t look like beginner projects.

About the book: 144 pages, paperback with interior flaps, 30 patterns (I actually counted 29, 7 rated mindless, 20 relaxed and 2 attentive). Published September 2016, Clarkson Potter, suggested retail $16.99.

Looking for more knitting patterns for knitted Cardigans? Check out these Knitting patterns we found on Etsy.

Specific to knitters, you can join our Knitting Patterns Only group to get, well, knitting patterns, ask questions and gain inspiration for what to knit next.

Looking for Yarn online? Check out Lionbrand our preferred source for purchasing yarn online.

Fall will be here before we know it, and that means there are holidays coming right behind where we might be entertaining at home. It’s always fun to have a hand knit touch in your home for other people to see, and if you’re going to be in the kitchen all day you might as well have some nice knit dish cloths to use.

I love this little plaid hand towel from Darling Jadore. Use a little bit of leftover cotton yarn from another project for the plaid portion. It looks like the horizontal stripes are worked as you knit and the vertical stripes are done with duplicate stitch, making this a quick and easy project even newer knitters can make.

Combine garter stitch and an easy eyelet pattern worked sideways to make the Annette Dish Towel from Cluck Cluck Boots, which is meant to be reminiscent of flour sack towels. It calls for DK weight yarn and you can work it in one color or two (or even three!).

Add a little more texture with this set of kitchen towels from Whileberry Creative. They’re mostly worked in garter stitch with borders in easy knit/purl patterns, and you can work them in sport or worsted weight yarn.

Two of Wands Shop has another cute allover knit and purl pattern they call the Seersucker Textured Tea Towel. It’s an easy repeating pattern worked in worsted weight yarn, and there’s a chart in the pattern you can use, but don’t have to, if you want to practice knitting from a chart.

The Classic Cloth dish towel from Handmade Home by Connie is another one that can use a little leftover yarn in a contrasting color, or you could color block it our use stripes throughout the pattern. This one uses worsted weight yarn and another easy repeating knit purl stitch pattern.

If you like to hang your towel on the oven handle or elsewhere but it’s always falling off, try the Stay Put kitchen towel from Fancy Step Knits. This project is worked in garter stitch and includes a hole partway through so you can pull the towel through itself over a rod or handle. Stripes are optional but a nice addition.

Comments

Have you read?