Review: Norwegian Sweater Techniques for Today's Knitter

I love reading knitting books.   I love to write reviews of the best of these books.  Here's the latest I just finished reading.

Therese Chynoweth's first book, Norwegian Sweater Techniques for Today's Knitter, is a great example of my favorite kind of book!  You know the kind of book I mean:  packed with great techniques, great eye-candy designs, and filled with the author's passion for the art.  Chynoweth, famous for her Norwegian-inspired knitwear designs (and former designer and educator for Dale of Norway USA) has created a book that explains, step-by-step, how to work the various traditional Norwegian knitting techniques and further, how to incorporate these techniques into chic, contemporary designs.

When most folks think of Norwegian sweaters ... we instantly visualize ski sweaters from the Olympic teams, bright color-work on staid backgrounds and simple shaping to minimize distraction from the gorgeous snowflakes and other intricate color-work.  Knit in the round, with sew-and-slash to add bands or sleeves, these sweaters have stood the test of time both fashion-wise and durability-wise.  Chynoweth delves into the intricacies of these techniques, breaking them down and explaining multiple methods of obtaining the results, so that any knitter can apply these techniques to the standard Norwegian sweater.

But more than that ... the second half of the book is devoted to 20 designs that incorporate these techniques into beautiful sweaters that use color-work, cables, lace and knit-purl stitches to make gorgeous sweaters for today (these are for women, men and kids). 

This is one of those books that will stay in my personal library for reference ... design inspiration ... and just to enjoy how beautiful the knitting art truly is!

Well done, Therese!

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Review: library finds worth buying!

One of the great things about having a blog is that I can give my opinions an airing. Case in point: knitting books!  Knitting is "hot" right now ... as evidenced by the plethora of knitting books on the market. Separating the wheat from the proverbial (and ubiquitous) chaff can be tough.  I've found some really poorly executed, many over-priced, and others just BLECH!  But some of the crop are really well-done and worth adding to a personal knitting library.

When browsing at the public library the other day, I discovered two books that fall into this latter category:

1. Knitting New Scarves: 27 Distinctly Modern Designs by Lynne Barr. 
2. Knitted Toy Tales: Irresistible characters for all ages by Laura Long

Let's start with the scarf book.  I'm normally not one much for scarf books.  What's the point? How tough is it to make a strip of knitted fabric that will fit around one's neck????  But this book is a "sleeper".  This book is much more than a book of typical, ordinary, blah scarves.  Barr does an amazing job of bringing her reading public to a new level -- the stitch techniques rival Unexpected Knitting's uniqueness and artistry.  These scarves are true pieces of art.  To be honest ... I would probably never make these scarves as scarves.  They're a bit too funky and outre for me.  BUT, I would use Barr's various unique techniques in hand-knit designs -- purse embellishments, sweater designs or even for large afghans.  The ideas abound when browsing through this little gem.  Barr opens knitting to new horizons with her twists and turns and needle/yarn interplay.  Sensational!

I'm a sucker for knitted toys -- I think it's a great way to share the art of knitting with kids of all ages and to make something unique and memorable for the recipient.  Laura Long's book, Knitted Toy Tales, is a sight to behold and one of the best I've seen.  And I know what of I speak:  I've designed knitted toys which often get compliments:  Elegant Eliza the Ballerina Bunny, Pinocchio, Tully Greyshanks.  I've done bunnies and bears and penguins and even a cow or two (with matching binkies, of course!).  But Long's book has wonderfully creative toys ... each different than the last (some knitted toys books are just the same design dressed differently 8-<  !).  Long has bunnies, bird, frogs, Matroyshka dolls, bears, pigs, snakes, mice, elephants, fish, penguins, and even Eward Lear's owl and the pussycat in their very own knitted boat!  Very cool stuff that again gets my designer mind working overtime!  Long uses unique construction to make the toys look right (adding fabric and other embellishments to really make these heirloom gifts).  Highly recommend this one!

Check back periodically for other knitting book reviews ... I'll try to post at least a couple each month ... the good, the bad and the ugly!

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Books: for brand-new or nervous knitters

I love knitting. I love knitting books almost as much! I love to read about techniques, ogle the gorgeous fair isle or aran sweaters, read about how others do what they do when they ply two sticks and a string. I love to read ... and knit ...

Another thing I love is recommending knitting books. Many people ask me for advice on this book or that ... or I give them my critique even if they don't ask! I take pride in sifting through the knitting twaddle that's out on the market (and there is quite a bit!) and only recommending the ones that I own (or really WANT to own) in my personal knitting library (which, needs must, be kept small so dh doesn't go over the top).

As I said, I love recommending the good knitting books. For instance, here's a blog post on a fairly exhaustive bibliography I put together back in 2007; then there was the post about discovering two books with my designs in them; a post about MY book; recommended books on sock knitting; a post about some recent "finds"; and my most recent post on books for those who wanted to go beyond garter stitch.


But today, I found a book that will help all the beginners and nervous knitters out there. This is one that I am so impressed with and can't believe it was published 4 or more years ago and I'm just seeing it now. This will be my new "go to" suggestion when folks ask about starting out or wanting to go a bit ahead.

First Knits: Projects for Beginning Knitters by Luise Roberts and Kate Haxell is a perfect book for those who have never knitted ... but want to try ... as well as for those who have started knitting but don't understand some of the technical terms or want cool but easy projects, etc.


This book will guide you slowly, step by step, through your first garter stitch projects including how to measure a swatch, "get gauge" and other techniques. Then you'll move on to purling, ribbing, cabling, shaping, colorwork, button-holes, and more! The illustrations and text are very understandable and detailed.


The projects you'll make include garter stitch booties, garter stitch hat with flaps, cushion cover, backpack, heart cushion, adorable stuffed rabbit, knitting a true, in the round cap, cable handbag, lacy shawl, jacket socks, striped throw and a baby jacket. And these things are not only really cute, they're useful and fun and span old and young alike.


Although this book is a paperback, the cover is made of heavier-than-usual stock with overleaves that include basic abbreviations, tips and other information for quick reference.


This is definitely a book to add to your wish-list if you want to knit ... or want to knit better ... or want to teach someone else! Really excellent!

Shawls: Tasha Tudor

Tasha Tudor Day -- shawl and knitting
In the comment section for yesterday's post on my home-school blog about Tasha Tudor Day, Carmie mentions that the instructions for the TT Shawl look pretty un-mindless to her. I thought I'd post what the pattern is basically -- you start with 3 stitches, and purposely add holes and increase a stitch every row until the shawl is wide enough.

This is the mindless part as you do the first 4 stitches each row the same way; all those other stitches are just knit stitches.Here are some pictures and explanations of those first 4 sts:

The first stitch -- and you do this EVERY ROW -- is simply wrapping the yarn around the needle to "make a stitch". This is the second stitch -- knit the first two stitches on the left-hand needle together as if they are just one stitch. You will now have 2 stitches on the right-hand needle. For the third stitch, bring the yarn forward between the two needles as if you were going to purl a stitch. Instead, wrap the yarn around the needle and you'll knit the next stitch. Here are the first four stitches on the right-hand needle.[NOTE: The first two rows don't have you do the k2tog, just the wrap at the beginning of the row.]

Again, this is the mindless part ... and takes a while as the finished shawl is 60" wide. You can stop at any time and make this shawl a doll shawl or one for a child (should be approximately the length from wrist to wrist when arms are straight out). This is the nice thing about this pattern as you can stop when you're tired.

Once I get to a suitable length, I will post close-ups of how to do the lace border/bind-off. If the lace part scares you, you can always leave the shawl without the lace edging, binding-off the top as a normal bind-off. It's a very elegantly simple shawl either way.

Oh, and as far as circulars go ... they're easier to use than straights as you don't have the knobs that catch on your clothes, pulling out the stitches you've worked so hard to put on the needles (this has happened a bit too often for me so I almost always use circs). They take a bit of getting used to and I'd recommend a 16" or 20" to start out.

Books: Sockitecture

I used not to knit socks -- too fiddly, never fitted, and once I finished one I dreaded making another (or I'd end up with different lengths or odd shaping). But as I knit socks for Great Yarns, and then started making more socks for family members, and then even put my foot in my mouth and offered to write a tutorial on sock-knitting for 4realers, I realized how fun these little things could be! I started making some toe-up (and unventing my own cast-ons), some were cuff-down, some were patterned and some absolutely plain. I made some thick and some really, really thin.

I also quickly discovered that my absolute favorite way of knitting socks is two-at-a-time, toe-up on two circular needles. Sounds hard, but actually these go really quickly and the boring foot section (where you don't want to have too much as socks are USUALLY covered by shoes!) is done while you're determing real gauge and then fantasize about the leg section -- which WILL show.

So, here I am now -- a confirmed sock knitter. I am also one who loves to read about different ways of knitting them. And here's where I'm lucky. There are several books which have just come out that delve into the mystery of sock-knitting ... books like Getting Started Knitting Socks by Ann Budd, Knitting Circles Around Socks: Knit Two Socks at a Time on Circular Needles by Antje Gillingham, More Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch, and 2-at-a-Time-Socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes are just a few of the books that are worth reading and trying out their different techniques.

But there's one that really stands out among the rest -- Cat Bordhi has done it again with her latest book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One. Coining a new word -- sockitecture -- Bordhi brings us a whole new look at socks, particularly the area of increasing usually known as the gusset. Through an odd happenstance, Bordhi created a sock where the triangle of increases to make the sock fit across the instep was all done on the inside of the foot ... AND THE SOCK FIT WONDERFULLY! She goes on to create 8 total socks patterns where these increases are placed in different areas of the foot, fit wonderfully and broaden the design possibilities immensely. These socks are gorgeous!

And I love the idea that the 8 "basic" patterns are all for baby socks, inspired by babies (including her new grandson) that Bordhi knows. Being baby socks, the stitches are fewer, the knitting goes faster and yet the knitter has learned a whole new technique for making socks! This is so cool! She shows how to incorporate these increases so as to position either color-work or lace designs within the socks; to incorporate the increases right into the sock itself so you don't have the dorky interrupt of the traditional gusset! Beauty!

Bordhi, by titling her new volume "Book One" promises to bring us at least 2 more sock volumes ... the next will be a collection "that mostly start at neither top nor toe, but somewhere in between."

Bordhi doesn't want the reader/knitter to just copy her socks -- she wants to lead you down new knitting pathways and I for one want to follow! This is truly knitting from the heart and I love it.