The Principle of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt

It’s been a long time since I came across a definite MUST HAVE reference book. Dudes, this is totally it! If you have a question about knitting, it’s in here.

I’m sure you’ve heard about this book. The entire name is The Comprehensive and Timeless Guide. The Principles of Knitting. Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting, and it’s every bit of that. Just shy of 800 pages of every bit of knitting info, every technique, every little thing you can imagine.

You can find the original, on sale, or now the electronic version HERE:

This book has been completely revised and updated, and just released – Feb 2012.

Check out this link HERE to get an inside view of this book. Check out the table of contents. There’s everything; every single thing you could ever think of to help with your knitting. New and better ways to do things, from casting on to seaming up and blocking. Everything!

Read about placement of hands and fingers for different methods of knitting. Read about how the techniques and stitches got their names. I could go on and on listing the different ideas and contents of this book, but you’d get a much better idea by clicking over to the BROWSE ONLINE version. Go on, check it out, I’ll wait right here….

Next Pattern:

The felted slipper craze that began last year doesn’t seem like it’s fading away. The Sailor Slippers, often striped knit and felted slippers made with super bulky yarn, because the project of the moment late last year (check out more knit slipper options in this post all about sailor slippers) and they’re still consistently popular with knitters.

Which makes sense because they are fun and fast to knit, and seeing them go from this giant thing to something that actually fits a foot feels a little magical.

I have always loved felting (in fact my first book was about felting knitting) and it’s always fun for me to see people rediscover this technique.

If you’ve knit enough plain slippers to fit all the feet you know, maybe it’s time to stitch up some tabi style slippers instead.

Maymade Knits has designed these cute tabi ballerina slippers, made with bulky yarn and felted. They’re worked flat at first and then in rounds, and are available in 10 EU sizes (the Internet tells me add 31 to your American shoe size to get your EU size). The designer says the slippers are meant to have a close fit and you should choose a size a little smaller than your foot for the ideal fit.

The pattern includes a video tutorial along with the written pattern.

You can grab this pattern on Ravelry. The same designer has her own version of the striped felted slipper as well, called Sarah’s Striped Slippers. These are worked in super bulky yarn and have a contrasting foot and a striped body. These are knit flat and seamed and there are 7 size options available. Check that pattern out here if you’re looking for a more traditional slipper shape. They also look roomier so you can wear them with socks if you like.

[Photo: Maymade Knits]

Next Pattern:

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