Review: Knitting Pleats

There are all sorts of fun ways to add texture to your knitting, and one really cool way to do it that a lot of knitters don’t play with much is knitting pleats.

Pleats are usually worked by knitting some length of knitting, picking up stitches somewhere down from the knitting needle and working the picked up stitches along with the live stitches to make a permanent fold in the knitting.

It’s a fun technique to play with, and Olga Pobedinskaya shares a lot of different ways to use it in her book Knitting Pleats: Stunning Garments and Accessories.

The book begins with general instructions on how to knit pleats and the different kinds of pleats that are possible. It covers some other special techniques before delving into the 17 projects (4 rated easy, 11 intermediate and 2 advanced).

There’s some really interesting stuff in here. Some of the projects that caught my eye include the Puffy Pleats Scarf, which uses mohair yarn and extra large pleats for fluffy texture; the fun shaped Concertina Bag, which folds like an accordion and offers lots of room for all your necessities; the Sectional Pleats T-Shirt, which actually comes off looking pretty simple with its pleats that work almost like darts; the Pleated-Trim Jacket, which uses pleats at the edges and down the center back for an architectural statement; and the Elongated-Back Pullover, a bulky high-low project that’s great for layering.

If you like knitting projects that are just a little different and that make a big fashion statement without too much work, this is a book well worth checking out.

Have you knit from it? I’d love to hear your thoughts!