Vickie Howell - Step It Up Knits: Take Your Skills to the Next Level with 25 Quick and Stylish Projects

Take Your Skills to the Next Level with 25 Quick and Stylish Projects VICKIE HOWELL photographs by Jody Horton

I assume that everyone is as busy as I ambalancing home, parenthood, career, and whenever possible, creative fulfillment. Finding time to be creative can be tough sometimes. In the stolen moments of a busy knitters lifeneedles in hand, clicking away in line at the grocery store, on the sidelines of a kids game, or at the office during lunch breakits often difficult to fathom finding the time and brain space to make more than a ribbed scarf or a stockinette beanie. The pure commitment needed to knit a complex Fair Isle sweater, a multicabled coat, or an intricate lace shawl can seem so daunting that its tempting to just never try.

But, my frazzled friends, theres no need to settle. You can brush up on skills, learn new techniques, and up your overall stitching skill ante while making beautiful yet absolutely doable projects in the process. You can have your yarn-y cake and knit it, too! The trick is to make small projects that pack enough punch to challenge you, but not so much that youll need to lock yourself in a closet just to finish one row. Like with everything else in life, you can find a balance in your knitting so it fits into your own life. This book features patterns for twenty-five quick-to-knit accessories, especially designed to take beginning knitters to the intermediate level while still being engaging enough for the more advanced knitter. Each pattern will require a few higher level skills to complete, but will be backed up by a comprehensive techniques section at the front of the book to guide you.

Well discover a love of lace, go cuckoo for cables, get into intarsia, step lightly into short rows, fawn over felting, and so much more! Stepping up your knitting skills doesnt just mean learning new tricks, though. Its also about boosting your confidence so you can figure out what a pattern means and intuitively solve problems on your own. To that end, many patterns within these pages have been written in a less rudimentary style than you might find in a beginners book. I use lots of abbreviations, give multiple directions at once, leave out some row-by-row stitch counts when theyre unnecessary focal points (because sometimes if youre off by a stitch one way or another, it wont really matter), and dont spell out reverse shaping for you. These challenges will be good for you, will help you build your skills, and I promise Ill be gentle. No worries: If you get stuck, the Terms & Abbreviations and the Techniques sections will give you a hand.

Its my hope that each knitted project in this book will teach you something new and offer you a sense of accomplishment. If you pick up a new technique or two and end up with a finished project (or twenty-five), then my job is done. I believe in you. Knit forward, knit on!

beg begin(s); beginning bk1 brioche knit stitch (Knit together the slipped stitch and yarn over.) BO bind off (cast off) bp1 brioche purl stitch (Purl together the slipped stitch and yarn over.) cb cable back CC contrasting color cf cable front ch chain circ(s) circular needle(s) cn cable needle CO cast on cont continue, continuing dec(s) decrease (k2tog is best choice unless noted otherwise), decreasing dpn(s) double-pointed needle(s) est established inc(s) increase (M1 is best choice unless otherwise noted) join connect for working in the round k knit k2tog knit 2 stitches together as one stitch k2tog-tbl knit 2 stitches together through the back loops kf&b knit into the front and back loop of same stitch ktbl knit stitch through the back loop LC left slanting cable LPC left cable with purl stitches in between m marker/stitch marker M1 make 1 (increase 1) stitch (Using the RH needle to pick up loop at the base of the next stitch on the LH needle, place loop on LH needle. Treat loop as a new stitch and work normally.) MB make bobble MC main color p purl p2tog purl 2 stitches together p2tog-tbl purl 2 stitches together through back loop p4tog purl 4 stitches together (With yarn in front, insert right-hand needle into next 4 stitches.) patt pattern pm place marker prep prepare, preparation psso pass slipped stitch over purlwise (Purl all 4 stitches together. Youll then have a triple decrease.) RC right slanting cable rem remaining rep repeat, repeating rev reverse, reversing rev St st reverse stockinette stitch rib ribbing rnd(s) round(s) RPC right cable with purl stitches in between RS right side RT right twist s2kp slip 2 stitches together, knit 1, pass the 2 slipped stitches over sc single crochet skp slip 1 knitwise, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over sl slip sl-w-t slip, wrap, turn ssk slip, slip, knit ssp slip 2 sts knitwise, one at a time, to RH needle (Slip them both purlwise back to LH needle.

Purl them together through their back loops.) st(s) stitch(es) St st stockinette stitch tbl through the back loop waste yarn scrap yarn WS wrong side wyib with yarn in back wyif with yarn in front yb yarn back yf yarn forward yo yarn over * starting (or ending) point to repeat instructions rep from * repeat all the instructions following the asterisk rep ** repeat the instructions between the asterisks work even work in pattern without increasing or decreasing any stitches