Review: Super Duper Knit Hats for Beginners

Evelyne Nemcsok has been a friend of Craft Gossip for a while, so when I heard she had released an ebook of knitting patterns I wanted to check it out. She sent me a copy to look at, and it’s a great collection of quick and easy patterns particularly for newer knitters.

Super Duper Knit Hats for Beginners has six projects:

Big Hat
Faux Fur Lumberjack Hat
Infinity Scarf (big enough to wear over your head)
Peaked Beret
Twisted Stitch Pom Pom Hat
Plum Fedora

All of the projects are worked flat on two needles and seamed after the knitting is done, which is great for knitters who might be intimidated by working on circulars or DPNs. All the projects are for adult women and come in one size.

The instructions are simple and clear, and terms are defined in the pattern notes when needed. There’s no knitting instruction here, but those with a grasp on the basics should be able to knit any of these projects with no problem.

It’s a fun collection for people who love to knit hats and want to make a variety of projects for everyone on their list. New knitters who want to pick up a few skills while whipping up some quick and cute accessories will enjoy this book as well.

About the Book: 22 pages, ebook only, six patterns (two each are rated easy, easy + and “a bit tricky). Published by Evelyne Nemcsok, The ebook in the US is here: and in Canada is here:

Next Pattern:

Stitch dictionaries are a fun way to learn new-to-you knitting stitch patterns or to take a deep dive into a particular technique. Debbie Tomkies offers 100 cable stitch designs and thoughts on how to incorporate them into projects in her Cable Knitting Stitch Dictionary.

Each stitch pattern is shown in a large swatch photo and with written and charted instructions. Any special stitches are included on the page. The stitches are rated on a difficulty scale of 1 to 3, and the pattern notes also indicate how many extra stitches you should add to a project if you’re going to work this cable (since cables pull the fabric closer together you need to compensate for that) as well as how many stitches and rows are in the repeat if you want to design a project yourself.

The cables are arranged into sections: classic cables, combinations, all-over panels, creative cables, motifs and panels and cabled edges and borders.

It’s fun to flip through the designs to think about projects you can add a single cable or two to or make with an allover cabled design. Or you could make swatches of different cables and sew them together into a pillow cover or a throw.

At the back of the book there’s a section on general cable knitting techniques, reading charts, working swatches and avoiding errors (though it mentions working the wrong number of rows between cable turns, it doesn’t share how to count rows between cables to avoid this mistake).

It also talks about how to design your own cables, combine cables in a project, choose the right yarn and needles and determine how many more stitches you need to cast on when working cables instead of stockinette stitch. There’s also a glossary of symbols and abbreviations you may find in cable knitting and other patterns.

The book provides a good overview of things you can do with cables, as well as some fun things you might not have tried like infinity cables and horizontal cables. It’s a great book for a designer who likes to work with cables or a knitter who wants to play with different stitches in their projects.

About the book: 176 pages, paperback, 100 stitch patterns. Published 2024 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $26.99.

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