January 2009

Poll Suggestions?

by --Deb 01.28.2009
Thumbnail image for Poll Suggestions?

It’s time for a new poll on the front page, but my mind’s a blank … So, I’ll as YOU. What question do you think I should ask??

Read the full review →

Review: Knit One Below

by --Deb 01.25.2009
Thumbnail image for Review: Knit One Below

Except for the occasional stitch pattern, or as a way of making invisible increases, I have never looked at the knit-one-below stitch as anything but an oddity, something rare. I never thought about how I could really USE it.

Luckily, there are knitters who think about these things. (This is something I used to have time for, but now rely on others.) Because, this is very clever stuff. A whole new way to create your knitted fabric AND to do 2-color knitting without having to ever strand any yarn along the back.

Read the full review →

Review: French Girl Knits

by --Deb 01.17.2009
Thumbnail image for Review: French Girl Knits

The author opens this book by saying:

I had found a place that made sense, one that elevated the ordinary into art: the perfectly mounded, Rubenesque aubergines glistening in the sun at midday market, the precisely decorated shop windows displaying petite children’s shoes, classic shaving brushes, and frilly seed packets. I began to understand more fully what could be done with very little. The French were masters of an art that had nothing to do with money and everything to do with an appreciation of the small, lovely moments in life.” (emphasis mine)

Welcome to French Girl Knits, a book that tries to live up to that elusive ideal of French Chic.

Read the full review →

Review: One Skein

by --Deb 01.14.2009
Thumbnail image for Review: One Skein

This book has some nice, basic patterns to it. Nothing wild or crazy–no jester hats or quirky, misshapen kinds of things that look they were thrown together at the last minute. NICE patterns.

Read the full review →

Review: Knitter’s Guide to Combining Yarns

by --Deb 01.10.2009
Thumbnail image for Review: Knitter’s Guide to Combining Yarns

The best, most fun part of this book is the “Yarn Pairings.” Swatch after swatch after swatch of two different yarns knit together–just so you can see what the possibilities look like. There are two swatches for every combination. One, with both strands held together and knitted in stockinette stitch, and Two, knit in alternating garter stitch ridges. The yarns used vary in size, fiber, and texture, so there’s a lot of variety in the samples you’re looking at–boucle, ribbon yarns, cotton, silk, wool, smooth, rough … they’re all in there.

Read the full review →

Review: Knit to Be Square

by --Deb 01.05.2009
Thumbnail image for Review: Knit to Be Square

Back in high school, I had a geometry teacher who, as an assignment, made us all build 3-dimensional models out of little pieces of cardstock cut into spheres … like a geodesic dome. As much as I hated struggling with the glue and paper, the concept of the construction intrigued me.

Who knew you could do the same kind of thing with yarn?

Read the full review →

Report Card

by --Deb 01.04.2009
Thumbnail image for Report Card

It’s time for Knitting Scholar’s report card … come tell me how I’m doing in the new poll!

Read the full review →