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See highlights of our trip here.
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See highlights of our trip here.
When you need to know something - here's where to find it
The Natural Knitter
How to Choose, Use, and Knit Natural Fibers from Alpaca to Yak
Barbara Albright
Photography by Alexandra Grablewski
Hardbound
$32.50
The Natural Knitter is a true labor of love, each page alive with enthusiasm, bearing the author's invitation to share in her delight and wonder at nature's gifts and the knitter's craft. Barbara Albright, who passed on in 2006, was an avid knitter and knitting writer who was passionate about the value of natural fibers for knitting and for the world.
As a basic resource, The Natural Knitter is overflowing with information about each fiber Albright covers ("Alpaca to Yak" is a pretty good description). The abundance of tips on spinning, knitting, caring for these fibers, each in its own way is a marvel -- I have turned to it multiple times since our copies arrived and each time learned not only what I was seeking to know, but also much, much more of interest and of use.* If you've ever wondered about the differences of wool and camel or angora and alpaca, or would like to understand which fibers are best suited to different types of knitting and different applications, The Natural Knitter knows all and tells all. It is a treasure chest of knowledge and love for the animals and fibers.
As a palette of knitting design and creativity, you just can't do better than The Natural Knitter. Albright called together some of the most exciting natural fiber artists and designers around and clearly infused them with her vision for this book: their contributions are exhilarating, and form an array of creative and beautiful ideas ranging from felted meditation mats to masterpiece sweaters -- and everything in between. There are garments for every member of the family, some breathtaking, others wonderful in their simplicity. The Shetland Fern sweater (one of the masterpieces of the book) is a perfect match for our Elemental Affects Natural Jumper Weight (fingering) Shetland, and Darlene Hayes of Nature's Palette offers up a Modular Hat, Socks and Half-Gloves that in her plant-dyed fingering Merino that are simply wonderful.
*The single, solitary, fairly minor (so far as the book is concerned) concern I would share with you involves the chart of USDA Standards for Producing Organic Animal or Plant Fiber reproduced on page 13. I want to be clear that in the context of The Natural Knitter, this is pretty much a non-problem; in the context of the world, however, I think it is a great problem indeed and am taking this opportunity to share my concerns with you. I'm sure Albright researched this chart and equally sure that she was told by USDA authorities that it was accurate. And, it's not that it is incorrect, precisely; it is just that the real-life certification process is much more complicated and much less straightforward than this chart implies. The fact is that it is almost impossible for those wishing to produce organic fiber to get a copy of the requirements from the certifying agencies -- in large part because these agencies haven't settled upon requirements, leaving producers in the hands of whoever the individual agent is and what his or her preferences in the matter might be. In other words, capriciousness is the order of the day. The situation becomes even more haphazard when one factors in international certifications -- the standards of which range country by country from the clear and consistent standards of IFAM to a system of pay-offs to officials for permission to use the word "organic" on fibers that would otherwise never be consider as such. In other words, "organic" is not always "organic" and almost never means the same thing twice. (Can you tell I'm a little passionate about this subject?)
Stepping off the soap box and wishing you joyous knitting,
Nancy
Invisible Threads in Knitting
Annemor Sundbø
Softbound
$55.00
Annemor Sundbø's "rag pile" discoveries, which she recorded so beautifully in Everyday Knitting, have led her far beyond the rag pile, this time into the heart and soul of folk knitting and the people whose lives were poured into the crafts their hands produced. Invisible Threads in Knitting is simply a splendid book - I have never read a crafts history that told me as much about how those who came before us, and who created the pathways we now walk in modern knitting, thought, lived and created. Sundbø has managed to carry into each an every passage a quality of warmth, of kindness even, as she decribes with a depth of understanding that is sometimes startling the lives of those whose hands created our knitted heritage.
Her section titles will give you a glimpse of the breadth of her discoveries and reflections:
Delightfully, Sundbø has also slipped little patterns of some of the more charming and useful items she has encountered in her travels throughout the world of knitting. There are slippers, hats, mittens, coffeepot cozies. edgings and more -- all of them charming and inviting. My prediction is that you will often find yourself setting your reading aside in favor of participating in Annemor's discoveries with needles and yarn.
This is a book that already has an honored place on my bookshelf and in my life - it is a book that I have loved deeply from the moment I first saw it. Sharing it with you is truly a privilege.
Rather than try to offer commentary on each of Lucy's DVDs, I will tell you that to watch Lucy and learn from her is to sit at the feet of a master. Truly. It is clear from her presentation that she has studied pretty much everything there is to study about knitting -- but this is not what is so exciting about Lucy's work.
What is exhilarating beyond words, what make every knitter who watches her want to dance as they learn, is that she has gone on to discover new techniques, unknown tricks, and some amazing approaches. In fact, her discoveries constitute most of her DVD presentations -- regardless of which DVD you are watching. Somehow, no matter what segment I viewed, Lucy was able to cover everything I've ever learned about a given technique in about 5 seconds, and from there on it was all new territory, even for things as simple as I-cord! This is truly must-have material for anyone who loves knitting
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Knitting Gems 1 - 2 hours 03 minutes
Contents:
Applied Edges
Buttonhole Essentials
I-Cord Basics
More Cords, Braids and Bobbles
Presenting the Picot Family
Twists, Kinks and Bias
Knitting Gems 2 - 1 hour 45 minutes
Contents:
Becoming Ambidextrous!
Steeks, Shapings, Scissors
The Mysterious Gully
Short Row Techniques
Knitting Gems 3 - 1 hour 46 minutes
Contents:
Beading Techniques
Cable Talk
Lace Basics
Yarn Handling Tricks
Knitting Gems 4 - 1 hour 54 minutes
Contents:
Cool Cast-Ons
Fancy Bind-Off Methods
Even More Increases
Daring Rescue Techniques
Odds and Ends
A Knitter's Journal
Journal Design and Drawings by Meg Swansen
Advice, Techniques, Thoughts by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Hardbound
$12.00
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I have looked for a knitting journal I'd want to offer for a long, long time. Despite about two years of "test driving" a variety of journals, none of them really spoke to me as being what I was really looking for. Until now, that is.
Meg Swansen has designed an beautifully useful knitter's journal - with lined pages, blank pages and graphs of different sizes. None of which makes A Knitter's Journal much different from any of the other available journals. What makes it a stand-out, hands-down winner is that in addition to all the pages for you to use for your notes and designs, there are shining pearls of information tucked throughout the book that offer the knitter all sorts of help, support and inspiration. Here's a bit of what you'll find:
Regardless of which cover photos you choose, the inner contents are the same. The book itself is an invitation to create and delight in your knitting. And it is the journal I have been waiting for.
A Knitter's Companion
Knitting Essentials 1
Lucy Neatby
DVD - 2 hours 10 minutes - Full jump-to menus and sub-menus for every technique and concept demonstrated
$29.00
I've been knitting flat out for thirty-four years, and I learned something during the first four minutes of Knitting Essentials. Chock full of reassuring common sense and intelligent short cuts, A Knitters Companion is what every knitter has always wanted: Lucy Neatby, warm, intelligent and funny, now forced to live in your living room. Go put on a pot of tea. Lucy's coming over and she's bringing her knitting.
Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, The Yarn Harlot
And, I've been knitting for over 40 years and also learned something in the first four minutes. And in the next 4 minutes. In fact, it didn't matter what I watched, Lucy taught me something new. Sometimes, it was an energy saving discovery; other times it was more life saving, like how to absolutely prevent some of the most common knitting gaffs I have been know to make. And then, there's the demonstration of her mattress stitch finishing technique -- in my opinion, worth the price of admission in and of itself.
I also love that she tells you about some of the things in knitting for which there are no absolutely certain formulas: take picking up stitches for a cardigan button placket, for instance. There are general principles about this, and she shares them with you, but absolutely rules? She tells you to look at your knitting and see for yourself whether or not it works as you've done it. To me, this is liberation. See her demonstration and explanation set me free to experiment, another step toward letting my knitting speak to me directly.
Here's a short list of the contents - with the note that behind each thing listed are about ten I don't have room to mention:
- Bind-off methods - about seven
- Cast-on methods - for every eventuality - about ten
- Decreases - what they are, when to use which ones
- Finishing Basics - not so very basic in that these are the foundations to a beautifully constructed garment
- Gauge - she right, it matters
- Increases - more about this than I thought possible
- Miscellaneous good advice
- Odds and Ends - what to do with them
- Resuce Remedies (whew!)
- Secrets of a Contented Stitch
- Garment Gallery (WOW!)
Anyway, Lucy's DVDs are the most essential knitting resource you could have, right after yarn and knitting needles. As the cover says, "take Lucy home!" You'll be ever so happy with her as your constant knitting friend.
A Knitter's Companion
Knitting Essentials 2
Lucy Neatby
DVD - 2 hours 30 minutes - Full jump-to menus and sub-menus for every technique and concept demonstrated
$29.00
As you would expect, in Knitting Essentials 2 Lucy takes us deeper and farther with our knitting. Here the focus is on more advanced techniques.
In short, Lucy has served up a feast of knitting know-how - and is warm and funny as she does it. Another must-have for any knitter's library!
Sock Techniques 1
Lucy Neatby
DVD - 2hrs 55min
$29.00
Everyone we know has been barely able to contain themselves for impatience to see this DVD - sight unseen, we all knew it would be great (what else could it be with Lucy at the helm?). Now, having seen them, I can state unequivocally that Sock Techniques 1 & 2 ARE great! In fact, I have never seen so many techniques so beautifully demonstrated before. It's my own opinion that if there is a sock making technique that is not on Sock Techniques 1, then it can be found on Sock Techniques 2. If it isn't on either of them, it's probably because no one knows it. That's just how complete and astonishing these DVDs are!
To show you what I mean, I'm printing the detailed chapter lists for each DVD here - they say more than anything I can write. Just look at this:
(NOTE: Page references relate to Lucy's book Cool Socks Warm Feet)
Introduction
Bind-Off Methods
Cast-On Methods
Cuffs and Edgings for Top-Down Socks
Cuffs and Edgings for Toe-Up Socks
Finishing Techniques
Common Heel
Toes - Common Wedge
Working in the Round with Double Pointed Needles
Working in the Round with One Long Circular Needle
Working in the Round with Two Circular Needles
Tips for Great Socks (p.7)
Garment Gallery
The Small Print
Sock Techniques 2
Lucy Neatby
DVD - 2hrs 55min
$29.00
The fun and the learning continue! Check this out - it's hard to believe how much is packed into this one DVD:
NOTE: Page References relate to Lucy's book Cool Socks Warm Feet
Introduction
Bind-Off Methods
Cast-On Methods
Cuffs and Edgings for Top-Down Socks
Inserted Heels
Miscellaneous But Useful
Toe-Up Toes : Bosnian
Toe-Up Toes : Garter Stitch Short Row
Toe-Up Toes : Stocking Stitch Short Row
Turning and Facing Rounds
Garment Gallery
The Small Print
Double Knitting Delights
Lucy Neatby
DVD - 2hrs 27min
$29.00
Contents
What is Double Knitting?
How we create two layers
Knitting Tubes on Straight Needles With a Single Yarn
DK Cast-On Methods
DK Bind-Off Methods
Shapings
Circles Within Circles
DK & Ribbing are Cousins!
From Single to Double Fabric
From Double to Single
Pockets and Patches
Two Yarns, Sides, Hands!
Edges & Ends
Colour Patterning and Quilting
A Knitting Glossary - DVD
Over 130 Handknitting Techniques Demonstrated
Elizabeth Zimmermann & Meg Swansen
With "Jump-to" Menu!
$40.00
Tradition meets modern technology in the best possible way with this new DVD edition of Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Glossary. I can't begin to tell you how much fun I've had (and how much help I've received!) thinking of a technique, surfing through the menu and then "click," finding Elizabeth and/or Meg showing me exactly how to do it. Plus, in addition to the original 100 techniques that Elizabeth demonstrated, Meg has added another 30!!! If you have put off buying the old VHS version because of price (it was $30 more expensive) or just because futzing with VHS tape is not your cup of tea, I can guarantee that you will love this DVD. Sleek, simple, and packed, just packed with knitting knowledge - from 13 ways to Cast-On to Steeks to Grafting to 15 I-Cord variations to 7 ways to Cast-Off, it's all here!
Knitter's Handbook
A comprehensive guide to the principles and techniques of handknitting
Montse Stanley
Softbound
$19.95
Montse Stanley approaches knitting with clarity, precision, knowledge, and, yes, love that inspires the same in everyone who has come to know her work. I consider Montse Stanley and Elizabeth Zimmermann to be the most synergistic combination of knitting teachers available -- each one approaches the art and craft of knitting from diametrically opposite perspectives. Combine the two viewpoints and you've pretty well covered the possibilities of design and technique.
Knitter's Handbook is an encyclopedic treasure - in it you will find clearly illustrated and described techniques for anything you can do with yarn and two needles. You'll also be treated to full-color photos of museum pieces, the author's inspiring designs and more. In addition to knitting technique, Stanley shares her command of design principles in a way that will empower you to take on any design you can envision. It is hard to think of any area of our craft that Stanley doesn't cover exhaustively - this is an amazing resource.
If you don't already have this one on your shelf, you will want to add it!
Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop - DVD
Elizabeth Zimmermann
The full 6 hours of the original 1981 PBS Series - with chapter menu!
2 DVD discs
$48.00
The television show that launched a million knitters! It's hard to imagine it, but until Elizabeth Zimmermann came along, knitting was actually on the verge of extinction. Few people did it, almost no one could sit down and design their own sweater, and the idea that knitting was a creative endeavor, well, there was a thought few entertained for long. Knitting had become something that people who enjoyed and were skilled at reading line-by-line directions did -- the rest of the world found other ways to occupy their time.
Elizabeth changed all of that, and we are still reaping the fruits of the seeds she sowed. By 1981 her books were already pretty well known, but with the broadcast of this video, suddenly it seemed like worlds opened up that stretched into corners her books had not yet gone. Yarn stores stopped languishing and expanded, people began to see knitting as something that allowed them to create what they wanted, the way they wanted it, and a whole new day dawned on the world of fiber arts. In fact, it was this series that inspired the original Knitters magazine - which used to be not just a good magazine, but a truly great one (those first 20-30 issues are like walking into a room of knitting geniuses, all of whom want to sit down and teach you something wonderful).
This newly-produced DVD is just as wonderful and useful today as it was back in the 80s. You can begin at the beginning with Elizabeth showing you what has to be the very best way to wind a ball of yarn, move through casting-on and the basic stitches. And then, the real fun begins as you discover with her the magic of circular knitting, knit your own hat based on your own yarn and gauge, and dive head-long into sweater design. It is no exageration to say that by the time you finish, you will be a master at the honorable, creative, artistic craft of knitting. And have a pile of sweaters and hats to show for it, too.
Inside, you will find:
Learn from the master, with the master. What could be better?
Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop
Elizabeth Zimmermann
The companion volume to the PBS Series above
Hardbound
$18.00
Elizabeth's Knitting Workshop book provides the basic material of her PBS Series in written form. Great by itself or as a way to reinforce what Elizabeth just showed you - this book is not just a classic, it is perhaps the most comprehensive, easy-to-follow knitting how-to ever written. Go from beginner to master in a little under 200 pages!
Vogue Knitting
The Ultimate Knitting Book
The Editors of Vogue Knitting Magazine
Hardbound, Dust Jacketed
$38.95
Owning a copy of Vogue Knitting is like having a knitting encyclopedia at your disposal -- it really does have it all, and it is all presented clearly, completely and beautifully. It pretty much goes without saying that any knitting technique you can think of can be found here, simply described and fully illustrated with color photographs and line drawings. But there is more, much more to this treasure chest of knitting.
For instance, there's the chapter on the "History of Knitting" which features some of the same museum pieces that Mary Thomas included, but now they are reproduced in full color, for all of us to marvel at.
Then there are the chapters on Correcting Errors, a fully illustrated chapter on Blocking, Assembling and Finishing, even a Stitch Dictionary!
As if that weren't enough, the chapter on Designing will lead you through the steps of garment design and (this is wonderful!) includes a reproducable Worksheet that will keep your project organized and leave you with a complete record of what you have done and how you got there.
As a Grand Finale, there are the Modular Knitting Patterns and Traditional Knitting Patterns chapters. In the former, all you need do is decide what sort of sweater you want to make, find the size of the wearer, buy your yarn, determine your gauge and off you go! In the latter, Vogue has called upon some of the worlds top designers to leave you with a bouquet of garments and complete instructions.
For a one-book knitting resource, Vogue Knitting tops the list!
I consider Mary Thomas's Knitting Book to offer best knitting-information-for-dollar, hands-down. Iin terms of completeness, usability and, what is most important in my estimation, in terms of learning value, you will get a huge return on a modest investment.
What is so outstanding about Thomas's work is not just that it has endured and proven itself useful for nearly 70 years; but that rather than just rattle off the over 250 techniques that she covers and illustrates so well, Thomas has placed every single technique fully within the context of when and where to use it.
Thomas begins with a history of the craft and then presents the basics -- how to hold the needles, wind the yarn, control tension, gauge stitches, etc. Following chapters explain every operation in common knitting, from basic knit and purl, casting on and off, shaping and more. The remainder of the book is devoted to more advanced techniques both of knitting and garment construction. She ends with instructions and patterns for everything from shawls to gloves, socks, sweaters and skirts.
This is a classic for good reason, one I still turn to when I want a refresher on a techique, the only knitting guide I owned for years - a true knitter's essential.
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A Treasury of Knitting Patterns
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A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns
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Charted Knitting Design
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A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns
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A Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Vol. 1
Contents:
500 different patterns, including
A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Vol. 2
Contents:
700 different patterns, including:
Charted Knitting Designs - Vol. 3
Contents:
350 different charted designs, including:
A Fourth Treasury of Knitting Patterns - Vol. 4
Contents:
100 Charts and the complete text from Barbara Walker's book Sampler Knitting plus 82 new, hertofore unpublished designs and a brief autobiography.
Mary Thomas's Book of Knitting Patterns
Mary Thomas
Over 300 illustrations
Softbound
$11.95
While I truly believe that you can never have too many knitting pattern books, if you have to have only one (or, better, if you are looking for a place to start), this is the one to get. As with her Knitting Book, Thomas has not only thoroughly researched, described and illustrated these patterns, she has placed them all in context -- giving wonderful explanations of the patterns origins, where, how and why to use them, as well as the properties unique to each. This will enable even beginners to unite practicality with aesthetics in their choice of patterns.
An inexhaustible encyclopedia of patterns, methods and suggestions.
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Yarn yardage requirements for basic mittens, gloves, scarves, socks, hats, tams, vests, and sweaters at multiple sizes and multiple gauges.
Slip this laminated leaflet into your purse to have handy the next time you find a yarn you love but aren't sure how much to buy. The yardages given here are for sizes ranging from baby or toddler to large adult, and for gauges appropriate for fine to bulky yarn. A simple, great resource!
Don't let a language barrier slow your knitting. This newly revised and expanded edition of Knitting Languages translates knitting terms from Danish, French, Swedish, German, British, Icelandic, Italian, Japanese, Norwegian, and Spanish into English. The second half of the book also translates English knitting terms into all the above languages. The book is divided by language and listed alphabetically. Revised and expanded!