Details

Introduction 1 <p>What You Can Do In A Day  1</p> <p>Conventions Used in This Book  1</p> <p>Foolish Assumptions  3</p> <p>Icons Used in This Book  3</p> <p><b>Chapter 1: Knitting Need-to-Knows 5</b></p> <p>Why Knit?  5</p> <p>Knitting your worries away  5</p> <p>Gaining a feeling of accomplishment  6</p> <p>Keeping your mind and hands occupied  6</p> <p>Creating a one-of-a-kind piece  6</p> <p>Sorting Out What Knitters Need  7</p> <p>The tools  7</p> <p>An understanding of the basics  8</p> <p>Selecting Yarn: The (Quick) Consumer’s Guide  9</p> <p>Fiber fundamentals  9</p> <p>A weighty matter 11</p> <p>Yarn packaging 12</p> <p>Reading labels  12</p> <p>Choosing a ball, skein, or hank  13</p> <p>Picking Up Knitting Needles  14</p> <p>Sizing up needles  14</p> <p>Seeing what they’re made of  15</p> <p>Grabbing Must-Have Gadgets  16</p> <p><b>Chapter 2: Deciphering Patterns and Gauge         17</b></p> <p>Reading Stitch Patterns  17</p> <p>Deciphering common abbreviations and shorthand 18</p> <p>Following written stitch patterns  20</p> <p>Measuring Gauge to Get the Size Right  21</p> <p>Considering what affects gauge  23</p> <p>Making a gauge swatch  24</p> <p>Measuring your gauge  25</p> <p>Matching your pattern’s gauge  25</p> <p><b>Chapter 3: Essential Skills: Casting On, Knitting, Purling, and Binding Off       27</b></p> <p>Casting On  28</p> <p>Now You’re Knitting and Purling  31</p> <p>Getting a knack for knitting  32</p> <p>Pushing forward with purling  36</p> <p>Binding (or Casting) Off  37</p> <p><b>Chapter 4: Basic Stitches You’ll Use Again and Again   41</b></p> <p>Starting with Garter Stitch  42</p> <p>Knitting and Purling Stockinette Stitch  43</p> <p>Creating Box Stitch  44</p> <p><b>Chapter 5: Applying Your Knitting Knowledge with Three Scarf Patterns          45</b></p> <p>Ribbed Scarf 46</p> <p>New skill: Switching from knit to purl and back again 46</p> <p>Materials and vital statistics  47</p> <p>Directions  48</p> <p>Box-Stitch Scarf  48</p> <p>Materials and vital statistics  49</p> <p>Directions  49</p> <p>Double-Wrap Garter-Stitch Scarf  50</p> <p>New skill: The double wrap (and beyond)  50</p> <p>Materials and vital statistics  51</p> <p>Directions  52</p> <p><b>Chapter 6: Oops! Fixing Common Mistakes          53</b></p> <p>Stopping Mistakes or Catching Them Early  53</p> <p>Dealing with Dropped Stitches  54</p> <p>Finding and securing a dropped stitch  55</p> <p>Picking up a dropped stitch in the row below  56</p> <p>To make a knit stitch  57</p> <p>To make a purl stitch  58</p> <p>Rescuing a dropped stitch from several rows below  60</p> <p>In stockinette stitch  60</p> <p>In garter stitch  61</p> <p>Ripping (Your Heart) Out  63</p> <p>Ripping out stitch by stitch  63</p> <p>Ripping out row by row  64</p> <p><b>Chapter 7: Where to Go from Here 67</b></p> <p>Taking Your First Steps  67</p> <p>Visiting dummiescom  68</p>

<strong>Pam Allen</strong> has been designing sweaters since 1985. Her patterns appear in <em>Vogue Knitting</em>, <em>Family Circle</em>, and <em>Women's Day</em>, among other publications. She is the author of the best-selling <em>Knitting For Dummies</em>. <p><strong>Shannon Okey</strong> (Cleveland, OH) is the author of nearly a dozen books on knitting and other fiber arts, a columnist for knit.1 magazine, and a frequent contributor to other craft magazines. She hosts a call-in podcast about knitting and has appeared on many television shows, including <em>Knitty Gritty</em>, <em>Uncommon Threads</em> and <em>Crafters Coast to Coast</em>. Okey can be found online at knitgrrl.com.

US