Do you knit? I am a simple knit kind of girl. I tend to do things that don't require much of a pattern. I also tend to only do things that need me to knit and purl. I don't even change colors and really think of myself as a beginner even though I have been knitting for decades. For my Mommy Time Post I thought I would share a resource that has been helping me expand my knitting talent or at least trying to. The resource is Japanese Wonder Knitting by Nihon Vogue.
This book teaches fourteen different stitch patterns. They are all relatively simple and involve knit and purl as well as wrapping techniques. There are one to two projects to go with each stitch pattern. The projects include bags, hats, blankets, scarves and more including this hot water bottle cover.
I did not try any of the projects, but I did try some of the stitches. I tried the herringbone stitch but was not very successful.
I'm going to try it again and try to figure out what I'm doing wrong. I also tried the Leaf Stitch.
I had more success with this one after some tries. I still need some practice before I try a project with it.
I also tried the Elongated Loop Cross Stitch. Again I need more practice but had some success with it. I am thinking this one would make a nice summer shawl. Maybe I'll practice some more and give it a try!
Unfortunately I don't have a sample photo of this stitch. However I want to share some of the other projects in the book and thus some of the other stitches.
I love this blanket design but think it may be out of my skill set and definitely beyond my no to little pattern rule. I like to be able to do my knitting somewhat mindlessly.
This project doesn't even look like knitting but more like crochet. Such a fun stitch.
I found the instructions for the most part easy to find. A few (like the Herringbone) got a bit confusing as they try to tell you how to wrap the yarn in a different direction than normal. Of course knitting is also easier to understand when shown the steps in person or at least on a video, but this book is a great start for learning more about knitting!
I love the variety of projects in the book as well. Once you master a stitch you can move onto one of the projects and they are fun and useful for the most part. Which is your favorite of the ones I have shared?
Japanese knitting instructions are different than American. They have a different manner in how they knit projects but it will make sense with the book. Be sure to also check out my review of another Japanese knitting book. Also check out my other knitting reviews and projects.
