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Knitting Rules!
The
Yarn Harlot Unravels the Mysteries of Swatching, Stashing,
Ribbing &
Rolling
to Free Your Inner Knitter
by
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Rating:
5 sheep (excellent)
Stephanie
Pearl-McPhee's third book is not just anecdotes and amusing
notes, but also actually has some tips for knitting!
If
you're looking for some simple patterns, you'll be disappointed.
However, if you want to actually understand how Hats, Socks,
Scarves and Shawls, and Sweaters can be constructed (and
there are several ways for each), then this will certainly
help, and to my mind,understanding the construction will
make you a better knitter.
Stephanie
starts the book by helping you determine what kind of knitter
you are, letting you know why non-knitters just don't "get
it", and by giving you some material to help you defend
your hobby/obsession. She also helps you understand yarn,
and how to identify the ball whose label was lost years
ago, and gives information on other knitting tools you will
need.
Then
she describes the importance of gauges and swatching! I
know, I'm sure you've heard it before, but the included
"cautionary tale" not only demonstrates just how
important it is, but also had tears rolling down my cheeks,
I was laughing so much!
Then
comes the real meat of the book, starting with Hats. Hats
are, she says, the best thing for a beginner to learn with,
because there's not nearly so much stamina needed as there
is for a scarf. The scarf, for a beginner, can be pretty
tedious, and goes on entirely too long once the basics are
mastered. Not just that, but many scarves these days use
eyelash yarn, or similar, which is not the best yarn for
seeing the stitches.
Having
said that, the first style of hat is for someone who's started
a scarf, but just can't see themselves overcoming the tediousness
of it. The solution is simple - turn this scarf into a hat!
Next
up are the socks. With these, as with the other items, she
lists 10 reasons why you should knit them. These reasons
are not only quite sensible, but also amusing in some cases.
Again, she describes the process without getting hung up
on a pattern, which is particularly ideal for sock knitting.
Then
it's the turn of the Scarves and Shawls. With several different
construction styles for each, she gives you some good ideas
to get different looks, pretty simply.
Lastly,
but certainly not least, comes the Sweater. Many people
think that's a pretty big task, but really, it still just
comes down to two stitches - knit and purl. It can all be
broken down to smaller tasks to make things manageable.
With
a little, very amusing, glossary of knitting terms to round
it out, this book has excellent tips, has improved my understanding,
and given me a number of ideas for future projects. It's
also very readable, and I couldn't put it down. I know I'll
be coming back to it when I want my memory refreshed on
some of the project ideas.
Respectfully submitted,
Timothy Hunt
Buy
this book from Amazon.com
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