Book Review: Super Easy Knittting for Beginners by Carri Hammett

 Super Easy Knitting for Beginners

by

Carri Hammett

 

Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group

 

Imprint: New Shoe Press

Publication date: 2nd August 2022

 

Genre: Craft / Hobbies

 

Pages: 144

 

RRP: $14.99USD (paperback)

 

Format read: eBook

 

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

 

My review of Super Easy Knitting for Beginners

 

I have been knitting for a few decades now but I approached this book as if I was a complete beginner.


The book takes you from simple basic stitches to more advances techniques. It starts with the basics of knitting with crystal clear step by step instructions and lots of tips and helpful photos. It includes everything you need to know before you start including yarns, tolls and handy extras. There is so much in this book that I would have loved to know when I started knitting! 

All projects state what you will learn and what you will need at the start of each pattern.
 

Each new chapter builds on previous skills learned and adds additional skills so you are advancing your knitting prowess. There are chapters on stripes, colour blending, stranded knitting and adding beads. You won’t just be knitting scarves and beanies.
 

Hand knitting is making a comeback with online groups to give a helping hand, charity groups and face to face groups popping up everywhere.
 

I liked that needle size is given in US sizing and mm, as sizing is different in Australia. Google did come in handy with some of the wool weights.
 

Super Easy Knitting for Beginners is a comprehensive and well explained guide to knitting that I would recommend to anyone wanting to learn the craft.  

My rating 5 / 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I am knitting this gorgeous little baby blanket from a pattern in the book. Perfect for beginners with a simple knit and purl stitch. The wonderful thing about a blanket is you don't have to worry about size, just match your needles to the wool you are using and knit away. I used an 8ply pure cotton.

About the author

Carri Hammett is the original owner of Coldwater Collaborative, a gem of a yarn shop in Excelsior, Minnesota. Carri loves to collaborate with both her customers and her readers as together they express their love of knitting and expand their knitting knowledge and skill. She is the author of Mittens and Hats for Yarn Lovers; Scarves and Shawls for Yarn Lovers; Ready, Set, Knit Cables; and Knitting 101.

 

 

 

 

Mailbox Monday - August 23rd

Mailbox Monday is the gathering place for readers to share the books that came in their mailbox during the last week. It now has a permanent home at the Mailbox Monday blog.

 

 

Happy Monday!

 

Lock down has been extended for us in NSW until end of September. Today I am focusing on some happy things. My husband and son are currently rocking their new 70's hair styles. I'm not game to cut their hair! We still get to walk everyday and the weather is gorgeous. Below are some snaps from my daily walks.

 

  

 

I've finished the blanket I've been knitting for Jay. The squares waiting to be sewn together and the finished blanket drying outside.

Books I've received and purchased over the last month.

 

 

The Heron's Cry by Ann Cleaves (release date 7th Sept 2021)

 

Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty (release date 14th Sept 2021)

 

Exit Through the Gift Shop by Maryam Master (Publication 27th July 2021)

 

The Cat Who Saved Books by Sosuke Natsukawa (release date 14th September 2021)

 

Do any of the above peak your interest? What have you received in your mail box recently? 

 

 

Book Review: Big Book of Baby Knits by Marie Claire Editions

 Big Book of Baby Knits

by

Marie Claire Editions

 

80+ Garment & Accessory Patterns

 

Publisher: Fox Chapel Publishing

Publication date: 24th August 2021-US

                      4th November 2021-AUS

Genre: Non Fiction / Craft

RRP: $22.99US

Preorder on AmazonAU: $26.19AUD

Pages: 192

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

 

My review

 

I can't go past a knitting book and The Big Book of Baby Knits has a gorgeous cover which would immediately entice me to pick it up and have a browse.

 

In the front of the book is a section on getting started with basic stitch terms and abbreviations.

Each finished item is beautifully photographed. 

The book includes a vast array of baby items including: 

Blankets

Booties/shoes/socks 

Hooded jackets

Toys

sleeping bags

Beanies

Pants

Tops

Tunics

Overalls/rompers

 

Patterns have instruction for age ranges: newborn to 6months or 3months to 12 months.

There are only two patterns that go beyond the 12 month age. 

 

The majority of patterns are simple stocking stitch pattern with a couple of cable stitch patterns and one Intarsia pattern. 

 

I loved that this book features a modern take on classic baby knitting patterns with the colours of grey and navy used. I also liked the hoodie patterns and the long knitted baby pants. I would probably buy this book just for these patterns.

 

There are 7 patterns for toys that each match one of the clothing patterns. They are a cute addition although I don't have any interest in knitting toys. 

 

As babies have moved from booties and bonnets to shoes and beanies The Big Book of Baby Knits features lots of up to the minute patterns for the modern baby.

 

As I looked through the patterns for something to knit I found that the instructions are not fully explained leaving a lot up to the assumption that the knitter knows what to do.

I'm a lazy knitter and I just want to follow a pattern stitch for stitch and not have to work out each step.

The stitch pattern is definitely for beginners but you may want to have an experienced knitter on hand to go through some of the instructions. One pattern I simply gave up on because I had no idea what the instructions meant.

 

 The jacket I knitted

 

3 / 5  ⭐⭐⭐

 

 

 

Book Review: The Woolly Hat Knitting Club (Chick Lit)

The Woolly Hat Knitting Club

by 

Poppy Dolan 

 

Publisher: Canelo

Publication date: 25th September 2017

Pages: 300

Format read: eBook

Source: Courtesy of the publisher via Netgalley

Finding happiness one stitch at a time

When Dee Blackthorn’s brother, JP, breaks both wrists not only is he in need of a helping hand – or two – but the knitting shop he owns can’t function. Sisterly duties take Dee away from her demanding job and she is unceremoniously fired amidst rumours of inappropriate behaviour. Dee is certain that her hot-shot nemesis, Ben, is behind it all but has no proof.

When Dee bumps into an old friend who is new mum to a premature baby she convinces JP to enlist his knitting pals to make lots of tiny woolly hats. Then Ben turns up denying involvement in Dee’s sacking and she ropes him into helping the knitting cause.

But before long Dee’s good intentions backfire and she risks losing her friends, her family and Ben, who’s turned out to be not so bad after all…

A feel-good romantic comedy about learning what life is really all about, The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is perfect for fans of Cathy Bramley, Tilly Tennant and Carole Matthews.

 

Delilah, Dee to her friends and family, has a high powered corporate job that she loves. She knows she is the best at her job always working long hours, going above and beyond for clients. Work is her life!

Dee gets unexpectedly fired, over rumours of her behaving inappropriately, which leaves her free to help her brother with his knitting and haberdashery shop.

I really enjoyed Dee and JP’s relationship. Dee is the big sister and it was plain to see she would do anything for him. JP had found his niche in life after dropping out of the corporate world following a break down. Initially knitting was used as JP’s therapy but he loved it and was good at it. With Dee’s financial help he opened a haberdashery and also started a knitting blog called “About a (Knitting) Boy”.

Dee throws everything into helping JP boost his business. This is what she is good at. But she always thinks she knows best and forges ahead without consulting JP. Cracks start to appear in their relationship. Cracks she may not be able to mend.

Dee is still seething over losing her job. She knows exactly who back-stabbed her and she is going to make him pay. But is she right?

The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is the perfect read for any knitting enthusiast. The story is filled with knitting, humour, community spirit and a tiny bit of romance.

Dee catches up with a friend that recently gave birth to a premmie baby and a scheme slowly develops across the plot to knit hats for premmie babies, getting the whole community involved in the venture.

There are plenty of familiar features for knitters, like CraftCon, knitathons and beginner knitting classes. All with a good dose of humour included.

The main characters are all likeable and relatable. Dee and JP have a wonderful relationship, they tease each other and bicker occasionally but you can see the closeness there. Ben, Dee’s work nemesis, knows Dee doesn’t like him and can’t understand why. He never gives up on her. Best friend Beckie is the quintessential new mum; she is scared, tired, and rundown but totally in love with her new baby boy. Maggie, the adopted Grandma, is the epitome of selflessness; she looks after her own ageing mother but always has time for Dee and JP, never once complaining.

The Woolly Hat Knitters Club is a feel-good story about finding what makes you happy, with themes of knitting as therapy, new motherhood, premmie babies, judging people by appearance, work overload, community spirit and men who knit.

‘Turns out that knitting is pretty perfect for those times when your head is reeling and your hands need something to do.” – Dee Blackthorn

Do men knit? I think we all know that men knit but do they knit and blog? I thought I would do a quick Google search and this is the first one I found; Good for a Boy Knitting  www.goodforaboy.com  It’s definitely worth a look.

Content: Minimal swearing

                 Clean romance

My Rating    4/5       🌟🌟🌟🌟

Poppy Dolan is a rom com afficiando. After watching When Harry Met Sally at the impressionable age of 14, she’s never stopped dreaming of having the perfect ‘meet-cute’, that one-liner that steals your heart and the grand romantic gesture to end all grand romantic gestures. Since her real-life dating experiences were more often situated at Nando’s than the top of the Eiffel Tower, she turned to fiction and wrote romantic comedies of her own. She self-published her first novel,The Bad Boyfriends Bootcamp, in May 2012 and made it into the Kindle top 100.

Poppy lives with her other half in Buckinghamshire and now finds romantic value in a cup of tea appearing on her desk and someone who gives you the other bit of their Twix without being asked. Besides, the top of the Eiffel Tower is most likely very chilly and Ryan Gosling won’t return her calls.