Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 3
Where to Go from Here 3
Book 1: Getting Started 5
Chapter 1: Needles, Hooks, and Other Tools 7
Selecting Knitting Needles 7
Exploring needles 8
Sizing them up 9
Accounting for needle makeup and tip type 11
Choosing a Crochet Hook 12
Surveying the anatomy of a crochet hook 12
Looking at the make and size of hooks 14
Collecting Gizmos and Gadgets 16
Stocking up on the essentials 16
Examining nice-to-have extras 20
Chapter 2: Yearning for Yarn 25
Understanding Yarn Fundamentals 25
Fixating on fiber 26
Considering yarn weight 31
Reading Yarn Labels 33
Label talk 33
Ball, skein, or hank? 36
Choosing Yarn for a Project 38
Working with color and texture 39
Choosing natural or man-made fibers 40
Substituting yarns 40
Creating your own yarn combinations 41
Chapter 3: Right-Sizing with Gauge 43
Why (and When) Gauge Matters 43
Knowing What Affects Gauge 45
Making a Gauge Swatch 46
Knitting a gauge swatch 47
Crocheting a gauge swatch 48
Measuring Your Gauge 49
Measuring a swatch made with a repeating pattern 50
Measuring stitches and rounds 51
Matching Your Pattern’s Gauge 52
Designing with Gauge in Mind 53
Chapter 4: Reading Patterns 55
Understanding Knitting Patterns 55
Deciphering Knitterese: Common abbreviations and shorthand 56
Following written stitch patterns 59
Reading charted stitch patterns 61
Following Crochet Patterns 62
Knowing the sections of a crochet pattern 63
Figuring out written instructions 64
Not just a pretty picture: Stitch symbols and diagrams 71
Book 2: Knitting Basics 77
Chapter 1: Knitting Fundamentals 79
Casting On 80
Two-strand (or long-tail) cast on 80
Cable cast on (cable co) 83
Thumb (or e-loop) cast on 83
Now You’re Knitting and Purling 85
Knitting know-how .87
Perfect purling 90
Knitting and purling, Continental-style 92
Binding (or Casting) Off 96
Standard bind-off 96
Yarn-over bind-off 97
Helpful hints for binding off 98
Chapter 2: Basic Stitches 99
Go-To Stitches: Garter, Stockinette, and Seed Stitches 99
Garter stitch 100
Stockinette stitch 101
Seed stitch 103
Adding Stretch with Ribbed Stitches 104
1 x 1 ribbing 106
2 x 2 ribbing 106
4 x 2 and 2 x 4 ribbing 107
4 x 4 ribbing 108
Chapter 3: Techniques Every Knitter Should Know 109
Slipping Stitches 109
Making a Yarn Over 110
Between 2 knit stitches 111
Between a knit and a purl stitch 112
Between 2 purl stitches 113
Between a purl stitch and a knit stitch 113
Twisting Stitches: Knitting through the Back Loop 114
Working Increases 116
Bar increase, or knit in front and back 116
Working a make 1 117
Knitting into the stitch below 119
Making a double increase 120
Increasing at several points in a single row 121
Doing Decreases 122
Knitting 2 stitches together 122
Purling 2 stitches together 123
Slip, slip, knit 124
Pass slipped stitch over 125
Making double decreases 126
Chapter 4: Knitting in the Round 129
Going in Circles Can Be a Good Thing 129
Choosing Needles for Circular Knitting 130
Casting On for Circular Knitting 131
Joining the Round 133
Joining on a circular needle 133
Joining on double-pointed needles 133
Tidying up the first and last stitches 134
Working Common Stitches in the Round 135
Using Steeks for a Clean Break 135
Sewing in a steek 136
Crocheting a steek 136
Cutting your fabric after you steek 137
Measuring Gauge in the Round 138
Chapter 5: Fixing Common Mistakes 139
Stopping Mistakes or Catching Them Early 139
Dealing with Dropped Stitches 140
Finding and securing a dropped stitch 141
Rescuing a dropped stitch in the row below 142
Saving a dropped stitch with a crochet hook 145
Ripping (Your Heart) Out 148
Ripping out stitch by stitch 148
Ripping out row by row 149
Book 3: Crocheting Basics 151
Chapter 1: Focusing on Fundamental Stitches 153
Preparing to Crochet 153
Hooking with the correct hand 154
Getting a grip on the hook and yarn 154
Working a slipknot 157
Wrapping the yarn over the hook 159
Tied Up in Stitches: The Three Basics 160
The (almost) universal starter: Chain stitch 160
The utility stitch: Slip stitch 164
The old standby: Single crochet 166
Foundation Stitches: The Chain and the First Row All in One 168
Your first foundation single crochet 169
Your second foundation single crochet and beyond 170
Taking Things to the Next Level: Row Two .172
Turning your work 172
Climbing to new heights with turning chains 173
Starting the next row 174
The Anatomy of a Stitch 176
All’s Well That Ends Well: Fastening Off 177
Cutting the yarn 177
Weaving in the end 177
Troubleshooting Mistakes as You Crochet 178
You struggle to fit your hook into the stitches 178
The fabric edges are shrinking 179
The fabric edges are getting wider 180
The foundation edge is tighter than the rest of the fabric 180
The corners are curled 180
Luxurious Washcloth Projects 181
Simple Luxurious Washcloth project 181
Luxurious Washcloth with Border project 182
Chapter 2: Expanding Your Stitch Choices 187
Doing a Double Crochet 188
First things first: Row 1 188
Turning around and beginning again: Row 2 190
Trying Your Hand at the Triple Crochet 192
Starting with Row 1 192
Moving on to Row 2 194
Diving into Double Triple Crochet 195
First things first: Row 1 195
Turning around and beginning again: Row 2 197
Hooking a Half Double Crochet 199
Starting with Row 1 199
Moving on to Row 2 201
Adding Height with Extended Stitches 202
Extended single crochet 202
Extended double crochet 205
Creating a Foundation Double Crochet 208
Running on Empty: Joining a New Ball of Yarn 211
Joining at the end of a row 212
Joining in the middle of a row 212
Chapter 3: Increasing and Decreasing Stitches 215
Increasing Stitches .216
Increasing anywhere with single crochet 216
Increasing with double crochet at the beginning of a row 217
Increasing with double crochet in the middle or end of a row 218
Decreasing Stitches 219
Decreasing with single crochet 219
Decreasing with double crochet 221
Decreasing with a half double crochet stitch 223
Decreasing with slip stitches at the start of a row 224
Decreasing by skipping stitches 225
Decreasing by stopping and turning before you reach the end of a row 226
Simple Ripple Blanket Project 226
Materials and vital statistics 227
Directions 227
Optional directions for different sizes 230
Chapter 4: Crocheting in Circles 231
Lord of the Center Rings 231
Joining chain stitches into a ring 232
Working stitches in the chain stitch 235
Working stitches in an adjustable ring 236
Uniting Your Ring 238
Single crochet 238
Double crochet and other stitches 239
Adding Rounds 240
The second round of single crochet 240
The second round of double crochet 241
Another Option: Spiraling Up and Up 242
Adding Another Dimension 244
Starting to add dimension 244
Deciding how to wrap up your work .246
Slouch Hat Project 246
Materials and vital statistics 247
Directions 247
Chapter 5: Multicolored Crochet 249
Bringing Designs to Life: Joining Colors 250
Changing color at the beginning (or end) 250
Changing color midstream 251
Hitching a Ride: Carrying the Yarn 252
Carrying on the wrong side 253
Working over a carried strand 254
Carrying on the right side 254
Carrying up the side 255
Demystifying Color Codes and Charts 256
Abbreviating color names in patterns 256
Charting color change 257
Crafty Math: Understanding the Fibonacci Sequence 258
Mod Pillow Project 259
Materials and vital statistics 260
Directions 260
Finishing 262
Book 4: Expanding Your Skills 263
Chapter 1: Knitting Stripes 265
Seeking the Story on Stripes 266
Textured Stripes, or How to Stand Out in a Crowd 267
Reverse stockinette stitch stripes 267
Garter stitch stripes 268
Knitting Colorful Stripes 269
Picking colors for your project 270
Counting rows 270
Joining colors 271
Dealing with old colors and loose ends 272
Knitting Stripes in the Round 274
Stirring Up Stripes: Combining Texture and Color 275
Varying your stitch pattern 275
Making waves 276
Striping any which way 277
Practice Striped Projects 277
Bold and Bright Scarf 278
Slouchy Hat with Pompom 279
Chapter 2: Creating Cables 283
Cable Basics 283
Twisting to the right or left 284
Reading cable charts 285
Checking gauge in a cable pattern 286
A Cornucopia of Cables 287
Standard (rope) cable 287
Open cable 289
Double cable 291
Wave cable 292
Chain cable 293
Honeycomb cable 293
Braid cable 294
Varying a cable 295
Making Twists 296
Twisting to the right 296
Twisting to the left 298
Practice Cable Projects 299
Cable Hat with Pompoms 299
Horseshoe Cable Hand Warmers 301
Chapter 3: Crochet Stitches That Create Pattern and Texture 305
Spicing Things Up with Pattern Stitches 306
Showing the V: The V-stitch 306
Seeing Xs: The crossed double crochet stitch 306
Spreading out: The shell stitch 307
Grouping multiple like stitches: The cluster stitch 308
Getting decorative: The picot stitch 308
Working backward: The reverse single crochet stitch 310
Moving into the Third Dimension with Texture Stitches 311
Gently bumping along: The bobble stitch 311
Not a magic dragon: The puff stitch 313
Forget the butter: The popcorn stitch 313
Feeling loopy: The loop stitch 315
Switching Up Your Stitch Placement 317
Working into the top and other loops 317
Stitching up the sides 318
Working Stitches in Spaces and Other Interesting Places 319
Squeezing into spaces 319
Going around the middle with post stitches 321
Solidifying fabric with linked stitches 324
Spiking into previous rows 328
Elegant All-Season Wrap Project 330
Materials and vital statistics 330
Directions 330
Finishing 333
Comfy Cowl Project 333
Materials and vital statistics 333
Directions 334
Finishing 334
Gingham Baby Blanket Project 335
Materials and vital statistics 335
Directions 335
Finishing 337
Chapter 4: Tunisian Crochet 339
Taking a Look at Tunisian Crochet Tools 340
Creating the Tunisian Simple Stitch 341
Starting with a foundation row 342
Continuing to the second row and beyond 343
Binding off 344
Shaping the Tunisian Simple Stitch 345
Increasing in Tunisian simple stitch 345
Decreasing in Tunisian simple stitch 346
Varying Your Tunisian Crochet 347
Tunisian knit stitch 347
Tunisian purl stitch 349
Coloring Your Tunisian Crochet .351
Crocheting with more than one color 352
Cross-stitching on top of Tunisian crochet 354
Absorbent Hand Towel Project 357
Materials and vital statistics 357
Directions 358
Finishing 359
Chapter 5: Crocheting Motifs 361
Granny’s a Square: Cornering Your Rounds 362
The first round 362
The second round 363
The third round and beyond 363
Don’t Be Square: Motifs of Different Shapes 364
The lacy hexagon motif 364
The flat flower motif 366
The layered flower motif 368
Flower Power Project 370
Materials and vital statistics 370
Directions 371
Finishing 372
Chapter 6: Making Lace 373
Reading Lace Charts 374
Yarn-over increase and decrease symbols 374
No-stitch symbol 375
Knitting Different Kinds of Lace 376
Eyelet patterns 378
Open lace patterns 379
Faggot lace 381
Incorporating Lace into Other Pieces 382
Lace insertions 383
Lace edgings 384
Handling Mistakes While Making Lace 384
Finding the error 384
Ripping out lace 386
Blocking Lace 386
Filet Crochet for Newbies 387
Breaking down filet crochet stitches 387
Following a chart 388
Chaining the foundation 389
Creating spaces 390
Building blocks 391
Combining spaces and blocks 392
Shaping Your Filet Crochet Design 393
Increasing spaces and blocks 393
Decreasing spaces and blocks 400
Spacing Filet Crochet with Lacets and Bars 402
Getting fancy with lacets 402
Bridging the gap with bars 403
Practice Lace Projects 404
Scarf with Faggot Lace 404
Lace Leaf Shawl 406
Butterfly Runner Project 407
Book 5: Popular Projects 411
Chapter 1: Scarves, Wraps, and Hats 413
Box Stitch Scarf 413
Materials and vital statistics 414
Directions 415
Variation: Twins scarf 416
Variation: Two-yarns scarf 416
Longways Multiyarn Stole 418
Materials and vital statistics 418
Directions 419
Variation: Changing yarns 420
Making Fringe 420
A Scarf of a Different Color 421
Materials and vital statistics 422
Directions 422
The Most Basic Shawl Ever 423
Materials and vital statistics 424
Directions 424
Variation: Changing up your yarn 425
Variation: Making a poncho 425
Lacy Shawl 426
Materials and vital statistics 427
Directions 428
Variation: Knitting through thick and thin 429
Geometric Wrap 429
Materials and vital statistics 429
Directions 430
Variation: Why knot add beads? 431
Basic Beanies 431
Materials and vital statistics 432
Directions 433
Variation: Creating a cabled beanie 433
Red Velvet Crusher Hat 435
Materials and vital statistics 436
Directions 436
Chapter 2: Home Decor 439
Wooly Warmer Afghan 439
Materials and vital statistics 440
Directions 441
Variation: Supersize it! 441
Variation: Trying a different yarn 441
Wavy Chevron Throw 441
Materials and vital statistics 442
Directions 443
Variation: Highlight the stitches, not the colors 445
Throw Pillows 445
Materials and vital statistics 445
Directions 446
Variation: Retro check pillow 446
Variation: Bean sprout pillow 448
Shells and Lace Pillowcase Edging 449
Materials and vital statistics 450
Directions 451
Hemp Basket 452
Materials and vital statistics 453
Building the base 453
Working your way up the sides 453
Variation: Making the basket just the right size 454
Variation: Using different sizes of hemp cord 454
Chapter 3: Baby and Kid Projects 455
Retro Slippers for Baby 455
Materials and vital statistics 455
Directions 456
Variation: Using different yarns 457
Variation: Sizing up 457
One-Piece Baby Sweater 458
Materials and vital statistics 458
Directions 460
Baby’s Layette: Cardigan, Booties, Hat, and Blanket 462
Cardigan 462
Booties 465
Hat 466
Blanket 467
Tunisian Crochet Baby Blanket 468
Materials and vital statistics 468
Creating a couple of panels 470
Putting the panels together and adding the final touch 470
Variation: Making a bigger blankie 471
Variation: Picking a new color palette 471
Storybook Hats 471
Materials and vital statistics 471
Directions 472
Variation: Changing yarns 474
Chapter 4: Bags for All Occasions 475
Mosaic Bags 475
Materials and vital statistics 477
Directions 478
Variation: Other mosaics 482
Variation: Keeping your bag plain and simple 490
Variation: Striping your bag 490
Felted Messenger Bag 490
Working linen stitch by slipping stitches 491
Materials and vital statistics 493
Knitting the bag 494
Creating the straps 495
Finishing your bag 495
Crocheted Tote Bag 497
Materials and vital statistics 497
Crafting the tote 498
Getting the hang of the handles 499
Variation: Felting? Fuhgeddaboudit! 499
Book 6: Sweaters 501
Chapter 1: Anatomy of a Knitted Sweater Pattern 503
Picture This: Studying the Garment Photo 503
Assessing the Pattern at a Glance 504
How hard is “easy”? Level of difficulty 505
How big is “big”? Knitted measurements 505
Materials 506
Gauge 507
Special pattern stitches .507
Schematics and charts 508
Knitting instructions 510
Finishing 510
Chapter 2: Knitting a Sweater, Step by Step 511
Gathering Your Materials 512
A good pattern 512
Yarn 512
Knitting needles 513
Other supplies to have handy 513
Before You Cast On 514
Step 1: Pick a size 514
Step 2: Find your gauge 515
Knitting at Last! 516
Knitting the back 517
Knitting the front 520
Putting the front and back together 522
Knitting sleeves 522
The Big Picture: Keeping Track of Where You Are 525
Women’s Easy Top-Down Raglan 526
Materials and vital statistics 527
Directions 528
Finishing 530
Chapter 3: Knitting Neckbands, Edging, Buttonholes, and More 531
Picking Up Stitches to Knit 531
Picking up stitches along a horizontal edge 532
Picking up stitches on a vertical edge 533
Picking up stitches on a diagonal or curved edge .534
Picking up: A reality check 535
Bring on the Bands 536
Bottoms up! Vertical bands 536
Horizontal picked-up bands 537
Hole in One: Buttonholes 539
All-purpose horizontal buttonhole 540
Simple vertical buttonhole 542
Round (eyelet) buttonhole 543
Button Up! 544
Plotting button placement 545
So happy together: Keeping your buttons buttoned 545
Sewing on buttons 546
Chapter 4: Crocheting Your First Sweater 547
Choosing Stitches and Yarn for Your Sweater 548
Making the right pattern choice 548
Finding the right yarn 549
Selecting a Super Sweater Style 550
Baring your arms: Sleeveless sweaters 550
Going the classic route: Pullovers 551
Buttoning up: Cardigans 552
Getting visually interesting: Motifs and vertical rows 553
Sizing Up the Sweater Situation 554
Understanding sweater pattern sizes .554
Figuring out fit 554
Customizing your pattern .555
Shell Shock Project 557
Materials and vital statistics 557
Directions 558
Chapter 5: Crocheting Sweater Edges and Buttonholes 563
Adding Trims: Edgings, Borders, and Collars .563
Outlining your designs with edging 564
Bordering your masterpieces with ribbing 564
Gracing your neck with a common collar 568
Holding Things Together: Buttonholes, Ties, and Drawstrings 569
Making room for buttons: Buttonholes 569
Keeping your clothes on (or just spicing them up):
Ties and drawstrings 574
Book 7: Finishing Touches 577
Chapter 1: Blocking and Felting 579
Tying Up Loose Ends 579
Weaving ends up the sides 580
Weaving the ends horizontally 581
Weaving ends into a bound-off edge 583
Blocking Your Way into Perfect Shape 585
The essential tools 586
Wet blocking 586
Spray blocking 588
Heat blocking 588
Starch blocking 589
Shaping Three-Dimensional Designs 592
Fulling (or Felting) to Make Sturdy Fabric 592
Creating the right conditions to full knitted fabric 593
The fulling experience: How to full 596
Chapter 2: Joining Pieces 601
Sewing Pieces Together 601
Mattress stitch 602
Sewing seams with backstitch 603
Knitting Pieces Together 605
Three-needle bind-off (head to head) 605
Grafting stitches (the Kitchener stitch) 607
Crocheting Pieces Together 612
Joining with a slip stitch seam 612
Joining with single crochet 614
Joining with a row of stitches 616
Joining motifs on the last row or round 617
Assembling a Sweater 620
Joining back to front at the shoulder 621
Attaching a sleeve to a sweater body 621
Making side and sleeve seams 622
Chapter 3: Caring for Your Work 625
Keeping Care Instructions Handy 625
Cleaning Knitted and Crocheted Items 627
Handwashing 627
Machine washing and drying 628
Iron only if you must 628
Storing Your Work 628
Removing Those Pesky Pills 629
Index 631
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