Laura Nelkin - Knockout Knits New Tricks for Scarves, Hats, Jewelry, and Other Accessories

Copyright 2014 by Laura Nelkin

All rights reserved.
Published in the United States by Potter Craft, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, a Penguin Random House Company, New York.

www.crownpublishing.com
www.pottercraft.com

POTTER CRAFT and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House LLC.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Nelkin, Laura.
Knockout Knits / by Laura Nelkin.
First edition.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. KnittingPatterns. I. Title.
TT825.N366 2013
746.432dc23
2013038706

ISBN 978-0-385-34578-1
eBook ISBN 978-0-385-34579-8

Cover design by La Tricia Watford
Photographs by Lauren Volo
Cover photographs by Lauren Volo

The author and publisher would like to thank the Craft Yarn Council of America for providing the yarn weight standards and accompanying icons used in this book. For more information, please visit www.YarnStandards.com.

v3.1

to my Ravelry group, for your knitting passion, desire to learn, and heartfelt humor

I am obsessed with innovative knitting techniques and I adore playing with stitch patterns and constructions that explore the mechanics of knitting. This passion sparked the idea for this book of small knits. My hope is that I can help you stretch your knitting repertoire with these novel skills! Whether its making a bead-embellished necklace for your best friend or a complex lace shawl just for you, the end result will make you smile and feel proud, of all that youve learned as well as of what you made. These are projects to knit as gifts, keep for yourself, or stockpile for the perfect occasionsuch as Laxo Hat for a chilly ferry ride, Halli Shawl to throw over your shoulders at a formal event, or Quadro Convertible Shrug, your new favorite lace cover-up.

Over the course of three chapters, Ill share my favorite techniques: creating wrapped stitches, advancing lace skills, and knitting with beads. Each section begins with an introduction explaining the technique, why I love it, and why I think you will, too! Ill teach you the basic skills you need to know with step-by-step visuals before delving into the patterns. Within each chapter, the early patterns are relatively simple, always starting with a cuff as my teaching tool, and then they become progressively more complex. If youre like me, you seek a challenge and want to push the limits of what yarn and needles can do! You might find that you arent interested in the first simple pattern, especially if youve already mastered that technique. It is perfectly fine to skip ahead to a design you loveyou can always backtrack, if necessary, to hone a skill.

Consider yourself warned: By knitting the designs in this book, you are embarking on a potentially addictiveand definitely creativejourney!

Once you decide on a pattern to follow, before you even cast on, you need to choose your yarn. There are many yarns on the market to pick from and I offer the following information to help you make a good decision.

Choosing yarn is one of my favorite parts of designing and knitting. Huge decisions are made about the final piece at this critical first step. , as you must consider the fibers durability and construction.

Glancing through the book, you will notice many hand-dyed yarns, both tonal and variegated. Commercially dyed yarns can sometimes seem flat by comparison, so I tend to gravitate toward hand-dyes. On larger pieces the subtly solid tonals definitely help a design come to life.

Wildly variegated yarns can obscure some stitch patterns; theres just no point spending hours on intricate stitches if no one can see them. The or a stitch pattern that plays well with several colors can help you skirt this dilemma. A number of my projects, such as the Reversible Undulating Waves Scarf and the Traversus Socks, work wonderfully with playful variegated yarns. For gradient yarns that have long color repeats, I designed the Halli Shawl, the Juego Cowl, and the Las Cruces Shawl, all of which showcase shifts in color without hiding your hard work.

Most of us (myself included) love to wear black, but knitting with it can be an awful drag without adequate lighting. Its easier on the eyes to knit with lighter- or brighter-color yarns, which also help stitch patterns show up better.

When shopping for yarn, think about the need a wool yarn with some structure. Pure cashmere yarn would feel sublime, but the mitts wouldnt stay up on your arm and they would pill the first time you wore them. I encourage you to experiment with lots of different fibers, but consider why the type of fiber used in the sample suits that design.

In each pattern, I list the yarn used by its weight. Take a look at the CYCA Standard Yarn Chart (opposite). Its a system of measuring weight and gauge that will better help you understand how to evaluate my choice.

I have a penchant for light fingering-weight yarn, known as three-ply yarn in the UK and Australia. Between lace- and sock-weight yarn, its perfect for scarves and shawlslight and airy, but still substantial!

If you are familiar at all with my workshops or patterns, youll know that I am passionate about , the gauge is denser than usual so that the hat has structure; if your fabric is too loose, the hat wont fit correctly. You may also knit more loosely (or tightly) and need to adjust your needle size to achieve the patterns gauge.

All the specified gauge measurements are given based on blocked swatches. Wondering why this is? Gauge can shift after blocking, thanks to fiber content and styles of knitting. A cotton yarn knit on the same size needles as a wool yarn might have the same gauge preblocking, but those fibers will behave differently in the blocking process. It only takes an extra second to block a gauge swatch, and its worth ensuring that your final knit will fit and that you have enough yarn.

That said, the more knitting experience you gain (which, for me, is directly related to how many knitting failures Ive had), the more likely it is that youll know when you can get away with shifting the gauge called for in a pattern. It is possible, but proceed with caution!

If you want to knit the , but would rather stab your eyes out than knit it in a laceweight yarn, you can substitute a fingering-weight yarn. (Note that this does not apply to fitted items, which are beyond the scope of this book.) All you have to do is get the exact same gauge, blocked. Go up a needle size to test-knit a matching gauge swatch! Keep the following rules in mind:

Gauge is measured over stitches and rows.

As a typical rule, match stitch gauge first and row gauge second. For the designs in this book, stitch gauge is more important than row gauge.