An illustrated guide showing how to create beautiful, timeless pieces, whether you’re picking up needles for the first time or a seasoned pro looking for advanced patterns
From scarves and sweaters to bags, pillows, and more, you’ll find lots of projects for practicing and perfecting your knitting skills in Knitting For Dummies, which includes an instructional online video showing you the actual knitting techniques being done step-by-step.
Experienced and novice crafters alike can benefit from the book’s step-by-step instructions that explain knitting in plain English. For anyone new to knitting, this hands-on friendly guide shows you how to
* Cast on, knit, purl, and bind off — the four basic skills needed to complete any knitting
* Decipher pattern instructions and charts
* Combine knit and purl stitches with increases and decreases for different effects
* Create different kinds of cables, lace, and more
* Read the language and graphics in knitting patterns and charts
* Increase and decrease stitches and use these techniques to shape a project and create design
It also shows you what to do if you drop a stitch or inadvertently add one. If you know the basics of knitting and want to expand your skills to include stitch patterns with more complexity, you’ve come to the right place:
* Combine stitch increases and decreases to create lacework
* Get familiar with Fair Isle patterns and simple intarsia motifs, which involve working in more than one color in one row
* Practice with plenty of projects to perfect your advanced knitting techniques
* Learn to add interest with stripes
* Have fun with fulling and felting
* Make sweaters, from blocking and assembling your pieces to adding finishing touches like neckbands, edging, and buttonholes
Knitting For Dummies includes ten quick projects to make for gifts and exercises to ‘unkink’ your neck and shoulders should you lose yourself for hours at a time in your craft! Finally, the book ends with a couple appendixes showing you more cool effects and a list of knitting software and helpful online resources. If you’re itching to start stitching, grab this book to start crafting your knitted masterpiece today.
Table of Content
Introduction 1
Part 1: Getting Started with Knitting 5
Chapter 1: Two Needles, a Ball of Yarn, and a Little Know-how 7
Chapter 2: Tools of the Trade 15
Chapter 3: Taking the Mystery Out of Patterns and Gauge 41
Part 2: Knitting Primer 55
Chapter 4: The Fundamentals: Casting On, Knitting, Purling, and Binding Off 57
Chapter 5: Basic Stitches You’ll Use Again and Again 77
Chapter 6: Techniques Every Knitter Should Know 89
Chapter 7: Oops! Fixing Common Mistakes 109
Chapter 8: Knitting in the Round 123
Chapter 9: Practicing with Simple Projects 133
Part 3: Techniques for the More Experienced Knitter 149
Chapter 10: Adding Interest with Stripes 151
Chapter 11: Cable Musings and Interesting Twists 171
Chapter 12: Let the Sun Shine In: Knitting Lace 195
Chapter 13: Fair Isle and Intarsia Techniques 215
Chapter 14: Fulling Fun: Making Your Project’s Presence Felt 237
Part 4: Making Knitted Garments 249
Chapter 15: Anatomy of a Sweater Pattern 251
Chapter 16: How to Knit a Sweater, Step by Step 259
Chapter 17: Getting It Together: Blocking and Assembling Your Pieces 275
Chapter 18: Finishing Touches: Neckbands, Edging, Buttonholes, and More 303
Chapter 19: Starter Garments 319
Part 5: The Part of Tens 339
Chapter 20: Ten Quick Knitting Projects and Gifts 341
Chapter 21: Ten Unkinking Exercises for Knitters 353
Part 6: Appendixes 357
Appendix A: More Stitches and Cool Effects 359
Appendix B: Knitting Resources 373
Index 377
About the author
Pam Allen is a knitwear designer and founder of Quince & Co.
Shannon Okey is an author and knitwear designer. Find her at knitgrrl.com.
Tracy L. Barr is a professional writer and editor.
Marlaina ‘Marly’ Bird hosts her own You Tube channel, where she instructs viewers on knitting and crochet.
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