Sneak Peek: I Can't Believe...Knit-Style

I thought I'd take a break from posting random thoughts and stealing another blog's content to post some sneak peeks as we are actually still working around here. The first one comes from the Land of Knit where we had the unprecedented (OK, maybe not true. I didn't really take time to look it up and all.) three-peat of "I Can't Believe" titles. At the SAME TIME! I had writers who weren't sure that they'd survive the experience. These kinds of books are challenging. Having 3 going at one time...

So the first Sneak Peek is from "I Can't Believe I'm Felting." The cool thing about this book is that Maggie Pace from Pick Up Sticks walks you through felting old wool sweaters to make into projects as well as knit-from-scratch projects that will also be felted. The kinds of projects: hats, scarves (with ruffles!), bags, slippers, pillows. There are great projects included with all the how-to. If you've never tried felting, this is a great collection of instruction and projects for $11.95 and it should be available in February. I'll be studying it feverishly to prepare for my first demo at the Knit Out (Mall of America, Minneapolis, President's Day weekend, come see me. Please.)









Next up is "I Can't Believe I'm Knitting Cables". One of the dangers to me and the reason I try to knit such difficult projects is that I read it once around here and think "I can do that." That happened to me with this cable book. As I read it, I realized that cables aren't as hard as they look. Really. So I attempted my first cable project. I think I need to re-read this before I try again. Mostly I had operator error (because I forgot where I was, made a mistake, and I can only un-knit when I'm dealing with stockinette stitch. I totally need to work on that.) This has an excellent tutorial on a simple cable to get you started and also shows you how to read charts. Charts for knit seem to be popping up in the books and magazines I'm checking out so reading charts is a handy skill. The kinds of projects; bags, scarf, afghans, hats, sweaters. The projects are great if you're an old hand at knitting cables. And if you aren't, you should check this out. If I can (almost) do it, anyone can. And after I kill the brown sweater, the cable project is back on top. This book is available NOW for $14.95 so you can go ahead and get started!



And the third is "I Can't Believe I'm Chain Knitting" by Guiness Book of World Records fastest crocheter Lisa Gentry. This is a new technique where knitters can add chains to their projects without picking up a crochet hook (good news for non-crocheters like me. I should really work on that.) This is another book that starts out with a tutorial where you work through a swatch to learn all about adding the chains and then a collection of nice projects. As you can see, this book includes a hat, scarf, pillow, some sweaters. It's got a project for everyone. This one should also be available in February for $12.95.