Contents at a Glance Introduction... 1 Part I: 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 II: 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...87 Chapter 7: Oops! Fixing Common Mistakes...107 Chapter 8: Knitting in the Round...121 Chapter 9: Practicing with Simple Projects...131 Part III: Techniques for the More Experienced Knitter...147 Chapter 10: Adding Interest with Stripes...149 Chapter 11: Cable Musings and Interesting Twists...167 Chapter 12: Let the Sun Shine In: Knitting Lace...189 Chapter 13: Fair Isle and Intarsia Techniques...209 Chapter 14: Fulling Fun: Making Your Project s Presence Felt...231 Part IV: Making Knitted Garments... 243 Chapter 15: Anatomy of a Sweater Pattern...245 Chapter 16: How to Knit a Sweater, Step by Step...253 Chapter 17: Getting It Together: Blocking and Assembling Your Pieces...269 Chapter 18: Finishing Touches: Neckbands, Edging, Buttonholes, and More...299 Chapter 19: Starter Garments...315 COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL Part V: The Part of Tens... 335 Chapter 20: Ten Quick Knitting Projects and Gifts...337 Chapter 21: Ten Unkinking Exercises for Knitters...347
Part VI: Appendixes... 351 Appendix A: More Stitches and Cool Effects...353 Appendix B: Knitting Resources...367 Index... 371
Table of Contents Introduction... 1 About This Book...1 Foolish Assumptions...2 Icons Used in This Book...3 Beyond the Book...3 Where to Go from Here...4 Part I: Getting Started with Knitting... 5 Chapter 1: Two Needles, a Ball of Yarn, and a Little Know-how.....7 Why Knit?...7 Knitting up good karma...8 Inspiring a feeling of accomplishment...8 Keeping your mind and hands occupied...8 Creating a one-of-a-kind piece...9 What Knitters Need...9 The tools...9 An understanding of the basics...10 An understanding of knitterese...11 Teaching Yourself to Knit from a Book...12 Swatching...13 Putting it into practice...13 Chapter 2: Tools of the Trade...................................15 Yearning for Yarn: The (Quick) Consumer s Guide...15 Fixating on fiber fundamentals...16 A weighty matter: Considering yarn weight...20 Looking at yarn packaging...21 Choosing yarn for a project...25 Selecting Knitting Needles...27 Exploring needles...27 Sizing them up...29 Accounting for needle makeup and tip type...30 Collecting Gizmos and Gadgets...31 Stocking up on the essentials...32 Examining nice-to-have extras...34 Eyeing Blocking Equipment...37 Organizing Your Equipment...38
vi Knitting For Dummies, 3rd Edition Chapter 3: Taking the Mystery Out of Patterns and Gauge.........41 Reading Stitch Patterns...41 Deciphering Knitterese: Common abbreviations and shorthand...42 Following written stitch patterns...45 Reading charted stitch patterns...47 Gauge: Getting the Size Right...48 Knowing what affects gauge...50 Making a gauge swatch...51 Measuring your gauge...52 Matching your pattern s gauge...53 Designing with gauge in mind...54 Part II: Knitting Primer... 55 Chapter 4: The Fundamentals: Casting On, Knitting, Purling, and Binding Off.......................................57 Casting On...58 Two-strand (or long-tail) cast-on...58 Cable cast-on (cable co)...61 Thumb (or e-loop) cast-on...62 Now You re Knitting and Purling...64 Knitting know-how...65 Perfect purling...68 Knitting and purling, Continental-style...69 Binding (or Casting) Off...74 Standard bind-off...74 Yarn-over bind-off...75 Helpful hints for binding off...76 Chapter 5: Basic Stitches You ll Use Again and Again.............77 Go-To Stitches: Garter, Stockinette, and Seed Stitches...77 Garter stitch...78 Stockinette stitch...79 Seed stitch...81 Adding Stretch with Ribbed Stitches...82 1 x 1 ribbing...84 2 x 2 ribbing...84 4 x 2 and 2 x 4 ribbing...85 4 x 4 ribbing...86 Chapter 6: Techniques Every Knitter Should Know................87 Slipping Stitches...87 Making a Yarn Over...88 Between 2 knit stitches...89 Between a knit and a purl stitch...90
Table of Contents vii Between 2 purl stitches...90 Between a purl stitch and a knit stitch...91 Twisting Stitches: Knitting through the Back Loop...92 Working Increases...93 Bar increase, or knit in front and back...94 Working a make 1...95 Knitting into the stitch below...97 Making a double increase...98 Increasing at several points in a single row...99 Doing Decreases...100 Knitting 2 stitches together...100 Purling 2 stitches together...101 Slip, slip, knit...102 Pass slipped stitch over...103 Making double decreases...104 Chapter 7: Oops! Fixing Common Mistakes.....................107 Stopping Mistakes or Catching Them Early...107 Dealing with Dropped Stitches...108 Finding and securing a dropped stitch...109 Rescuing a dropped stitch in the row below...110 Saving a dropped stitch with a crochet hook...113 Ripping (Your Heart) Out...116 Ripping out stitch by stitch...117 Ripping out row by row...117 Chapter 8: Knitting in the Round...............................121 Why Going in Circles Can Be a Good Thing...121 Choosing Needles for Circular Knitting...122 Casting On for Circular Knitting...123 Joining the Round...124 Joining on a circular needle...125 Joining on double-pointed needles...125 Tidying up the first and last stitches...126 Working Common Stitches in the Round...126 Using Steeks for a Clean Break...127 Sewing in a steek...127 Crocheting a steek...128 Cutting your fabric after you steek...129 Measuring Gauge in the Round...129 Chapter 9: Practicing with Simple Projects.....................131 Everywhere Bag in Garter Stitch...131 Materials and vital statistics...132 Directions...132 Variations...134
viii Knitting For Dummies, 3rd Edition Bias Knit Scarf...136 Materials and vital statistics...136 Directions...136 Variations...137 Scalloped Scarf...137 Materials and vital statistics...137 Directions...138 Variations...138 Button Pillow...139 Materials and vital statistics...139 Directions...139 Variations...140 Mistake Rib Scarf and Fingerless Mitts...140 Materials and vital statistics...140 Scarf directions...141 Fingerless mitts directions...141 Variation...141 Projects Knitted In the Round...141 Simple Textured Cowl...142 Two-way Hat...143 Part III: Techniques for the More Experienced Knitter...147 Chapter 10: Adding Interest with Stripes........................149 Seeking the Story on Stripes...149 Textured Stripes, or How to Stand Out in a Crowd...150 Reverse stockinette stitch stripes...151 Garter stitch stripes...152 Knitting Colorful Stripes...153 Picking colors for your project...154 Counting rows...154 Joining colors...155 Dealing with old colors and loose ends...156 Knitting Stripes in the Round...158 Stirring Up Stripes: Combining Texture and Color...159 Varying your stitch pattern...159 Making waves...160 Striping any which way...160 Practice Striped Projects...160 Bold and Bright Scarf...161 Slouchy Hat with Pompom...162 Two-row Striped Shawlette...165
Table of Contents ix Chapter 11: Cable Musings and Interesting Twists...............167 Cable Basics...168 Twisting to the right or left...168 Reading cable charts...169 Checking gauge in a cable pattern...170 A Cornucopia of Cables...171 Standard (rope) cable...171 Open cable...173 Double cable...175 Wave cable...176 Chain cable...177 Honeycomb cable...177 Braid cable...178 Varying a cable...179 Making Twists...180 Twisting to the right...180 Twisting to the left...182 Practice Cable Projects...183 Cable Hat with Pompoms...183 Horseshoe Cable Hand Warmers...185 Horseshoe Cable Cowl with Buttons...187 Chapter 12: Let the Sun Shine In: Knitting Lace..................189 Reading Lace Charts...189 Yarn-over increase and decrease symbols...190 No-stitch symbol...191 Knitting Different Kinds of Lace...192 Eyelet patterns...194 Open lace patterns...195 Faggot lace...198 Incorporating Lace into Other Pieces...199 Lace insertions...199 Lace edgings...200 Avoiding and Correcting Mistakes When Working Lace Patterns...200 Finding the error...201 Ripping out lace...202 Blocking Lace...203 Practice Lace Projects...203 Scarf with Faggot Lace...203 Lace Leaf Shawl...204 Simple Eyelet Lace Market Bag...205 Chapter 13: Fair Isle and Intarsia Techniques...................209 Knitting Fair Isle...209 Charting the Fair Isles...210 General rules for successful Fair Isle knitting...213 One-handed or two? Ways to work Fair Isle...214 Managing the back: Catching floats...217
x Knitting For Dummies, 3rd Edition Painting with Yarn: Getting into Intarsia...219 Charting intarsia...220 Knitting intarsia...220 Using intarsia in motifs...222 Ending the Ends...222 Weaving as you go: The quick method...223 Weaving in later: The slow method...223 Practice Projects...223 Hit the Slopes Headband...224 Fair Isle Leg Warmers...226 Intarsia Tooth Fairy Pillow...228 Chapter 14: Fulling Fun: Making Your Project s Presence Felt.....231 Distinguishing between Fulling and Felting...232 Creating the Right Conditions to Full Knitted Fabric...232 Finding a fulling-friendly project...232 Choosing your fiber...233 Getting the right fabric gauge...234 Controlling water temperature, soap, agitation, and time...235 The Fulling Experience: How to Full...236 Hand fulling...236 Machine fulling...237 Practice Fulling Projects...239 Fulled Cabled Bag In-the-Round...239 Fulled Scarf in Horseshoe Lace...241 Part IV: Making Knitted Garments... 243 Chapter 15: Anatomy of a Sweater Pattern......................245 Picture This: Studying the Garment Photo...245 Assessing the Pattern at a Glance...246 How hard is easy? Level of difficulty...247 How big is big? Knitted measurements...247 Materials...248 Gauge...249 Special pattern stitches...249 Schematics and charts...250 Knitting instructions...252 Finishing...252 Chapter 16: How to Knit a Sweater, Step by Step................253 Gathering Your Materials...254 A good pattern...254 Yarn...254 Knitting needles...255 Other supplies to have handy...255
Table of Contents xi Before You Cast On...256 Step 1: Pick a size...256 Step 2: Find your gauge...257 Knitting... at Last!...258 Knitting the back...259 Knitting the front...263 Putting the front and back together...264 Knitting sleeves...264 The Big Picture: Keeping Track of Where You Are...267 Chapter 17: Getting It Together: Blocking and Assembling Your Pieces......................................269 Tying Up Loose Ends...270 Weaving ends up the sides...270 Weaving the ends horizontally...272 Weaving ends into a bound-off edge...273 Better Blocking...275 Getting your blocking equipment together...276 Steam, dunk, or spray? Deciding which blocking method to use... 276 Wet blocking...277 Spray blocking...281 Steam blocking...281 Three-dimensional blocking...282 Basic Techniques for Joining Pieces...282 Three-needle bind-off (head to head)...283 Grafting stitches (the Kitchener stitch)...286 Mattress stitch...290 Sewing seams with backstitch...292 Determining the Order of Sweater Assembly...294 Joining back to front at the shoulder...295 Attaching a sleeve to a sweater body...295 Making side and sleeve seams...297 Chapter 18: Finishing Touches: Neckbands, Edging, Buttonholes, and More.......................................299 Picking Up Stitches to Knit...299 Picking up stitches along a horizontal edge...300 Picking up stitches on a vertical edge...301 Picking up stitches on a diagonal or curved edge...302 Picking up: A reality check...303 Bring on the Bands...304 Bottoms up! Vertical bands...304 Horizontal picked-up bands...305 Hole in One: Buttonholes...307 All-purpose horizontal buttonhole...307 Simple vertical buttonhole...309 Round (eyelet) buttonhole...311
xii Knitting For Dummies, 3rd Edition Button Up!...312 Plotting button placement...312 So happy together: Keeping your buttons buttoned...313 Sewing on buttons...313 Chapter 19: Starter Garments..................................315 Women s Easy Top-Down Raglan...315 Materials and vital statistics...316 Directions...317 Finishing...319 Baby s Layette: Cardigan, Booties, Hat, and Blanket...319 Cardigan...319 Booties...322 Hat...323 Blanket...324 Chunky Cabled Vest with Hood or Collar...325 Materials and vital statistics...326 Special stitches...326 Stitch patterns...326 Directions...328 Finishing...331 Option: Hood...331 Option: Ribbed Collar...332 Variations...333 Part V: The Part of Tens... 335 Chapter 20: Ten Quick Knitting Projects and Gifts................337 Large-Gauge Wrist Warmers...337 Materials...337 Directions...338 Log Cabin Swatch Potholder...338 Materials...338 Directions...338 Swatch Scarf...339 Materials...339 Directions...339 Braided Novelty Yarn Scarf...340 Materials...340 Directions...340 Knit Journal...341 Materials...341 Directions...341 Recycled Sweater Mittens...342 Materials...342 Directions...342
Table of Contents xiii Thrift Store Sweater Bag...343 Materials...343 Directions...343 Drink Cozy...344 Materials...344 Directions...344 Felted Checkbook Cover...345 Knitted Flower Pin...345 Materials...346 Directions...346 Chapter 21: Ten Unkinking Exercises for Knitters................347 Five Ways to Slough Stress from Your Shoulders and Arms...347 Five Ways to Relax Your Hands and Wrists...348 Part VI: Appendixes... 351 Appendix A: More Stitches and Cool Effects....................353 Moss Stitch...353 Double Seed Stitch...354 Basketweave Stitch...354 Double Basket Pattern...356 Twisted Rib and Garter Stitch Check...357 Ripple Stitch...358 Diamond Brocade...359 Guernsey Knit-Purl Pattern...360 Bobbles...361 Chevron...362 Fancy Ribs...363 Mistake stitch ribbing...363 Interrupted rib...364 Diagonal ribbing...365 Fisherman s rib...366 Appendix B: Knitting Resources...............................367 Online Resources...367 Beginner websites...368 Yarn, supplies, patterns, and more...368 Online audiobooks and technique demonstrations...368 Software...369 Magazines...369 Index... 371
xiv Knitting For Dummies, 3rd Edition