Review: Two Easy Ways to Knit for Babies

I was cleaning in my office yesterday and I cam across a couple of cute Leisure Arts booklets about baby knits that I thought you all might enjoy.

The first, Garter Stitch for Baby by Candi Jensen and Heather Vantress, features 10 projects for little ones that mostly use Garter Stitch (there’s also a ripple stripe blanket that uses Feather and Fan). The baby hat and striped leg warmers are super sweet, and that hooded sweater on the cover is adorable, too. There’s also a little knit toy (called a sweetie, it kind of looks like a cat) a vest, a striped blanket, a pair of booties, mitts and fingerless mitts. All the projects are rated easy except the hooded sweater, and this would be a great place to start for a newer knitter who really wants to knit for a baby.

If you want to try knitting in a different way, check out Karen Ratto-Whooley’s Projects for Baby Made with the Knook. A Knook is more like a crochet hook, but you work back and forth in rows more like knitting, and the finished fabric looks like knitting. (It’s actually kind of like Tunisian crochet.) The great thing about this book is that it includes instructions for using knitting needles as well, so you can go either way with your projects. There are six in all: the sweater on the cover, two hats and three blankets. I like the baby beret and the Tracks & Trails Afghan best.

Have you ever used a Knook? I’ve never tried it but it’s on my list. I’d love to know what you think!

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Magical Woodland Knits by Clare Garland is a few years old as I write this, but it’s such a fun book I couldn’t resist sharing it. Step into a magical forest full of realistic woodland creatures including rabbit, deer and squirrel, birds and mice, to name a few.

In all there are 12 creatures, and though they are rather small (the wolf is the largest at 14.5 inches/37 cm tall and 18.5 inches/47 cm long), they are so detailed these are definitely not projects for new knitters.

One of the smaller projects, for example, is the robin, at 5/5 inches/14 cm long. It calls for nine different kinds of yarn. Sometimes some are held together, while others are worked with on their own. This pattern only includes three pages of instructions, but the print is rather small and in that time there are six different sets of short rows. None of this makes it too difficult for a knitter with experience reading detailed patterns, working short rows and working with multiple strands of yarn at once, but it’s worth knowing going in that even for small projects you’ll need a lot of supplies and time to work on them.

These are also not meant to be children’s toys, as they can include wires and other supports that could be a danger to little ones.

The process photos often look like taxidermy on a tiny scale, with little animal pelts stretched out and tons of stitch markers showing where and how things go together.

The finished animals are so pretty it’s certainly worth the effort to stitch up these creatures. You might be tempted to make all 12 and set up your own forest scene or use them to decorate your Christmas tree. You can check out all the patterns on Ravelry.

Along the way you’ll also find a little folklore about the animals, charming drawings and pretty photos of the finished animals, too. In the back you’ll find some helpful techniques like picking up stitches, making I-cord and working short rows.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2020 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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