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Review: Wee Garter Stitch

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wee garter stitch book reviewGarter Stitch has a bad reputation for being boring. I mean, I guess it can be boring, but it can also be meditative, and an easy, fun way to get projects done in a hurry. And just because a project involves Garter Stitch doesn’t mean it has to be exclusively Garter Stitch or not include cool techniques, shaping and colorwork.

Vickie Howell shows us how Garter Stitch can be great on a small scale with her latest book Wee Garter Stitch: Must-Have Knits for Modern Babies and Toddlers. And it just a little bit makes me wish I had a little one to knit for.

The book includes bibs, booties, blankies, sweaters and vests, hats and more, all using Garter Stitch in different ways. There are stripes, short rows, cables, colorwork and other stitch patterns used in the projects, which are cute and playful for little ones (garment sizes vary, with some projects only offering one size and some several, but most fit somewhere in the range of 3 month to 2T, with a couple of 4T projects as well).

Some of my favorites include the Round Peg Blanket, which uses short rows to create circles inside blocks that are sewn together; Best Dress-ed, a simple top-down dress with zig-zag stripes I’m seriously tempted to upsize for my little one; the Patched Pants, worked in a denimy yarn with a drawstring waist for a flexible fit; the Honey Baby Pullover, pictured on the cover; and the stunning Coyote Kid Sweater, inspired for Cowichan sweaters (and both the largest in size and most technically complex project in the book). Check Ravelry to see all the projects.

If you’ve got a wee one, or know a little person or someone who is about to have a baby, these projects offer simple style with a modern look and are mostly quick and easy to knit. All the knitting skills you need are explained at the back of the book, so it’s also a great gift to a mom-to-be who might want to start knitting for their new bundle.

About the book: 96 pages, paperback with interior flaps. 25 patterns (one is for beginners, 13 are easy, 9 intermediate and one advanced). Published May 2016 by Sixth & Spring Books. Suggested retail $17.95.

Comments

  1. Boring? No way! This book is filled with the cutest kids patterns. As a life long knitter, I look for books with patterns that work up quickly. I just wish I had more grand babies!

Have you read?

Classic Dishcloth Knitting Patterns

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.