Hi there,
how are you?
I mean that question in all honesty, if you need to talk, just reply to my email and we can chat. It doesn’t have to be about knitting or the current situation.
We’re all affected by it and I’m here to lend a sympathetic ear or two if you need it / them.
In quite a few ways, I am quite predictable: I am drawn to very specific hues of very specific colours (a friend calls them “Frauke-Farben“ (Farben - colours)), I will order „Maracujaschorle“ when out for dinner (passionfruit juice mixed with sparkly water) and if I want to inform myself about a new to me topic, I get a book.
Quite a while ago I started a series in which I plan on showing books I find useful as a knitter, designer and technical editor. I thought it was time for a new instalment as I don’t think you can call it a series with only one :-)
When I learned to knit, I was taught two types of decreases and no increase at all (as I knitted mostly socks I didn’t need those anyway). The two decreases I learned were “k2tog” and ”(sl1, k1), pass slipped stitch over knitted stitch”. As k2tog leans to the right and the other one leans to the left, I could do paired decreases.
As an aside: I disliked knitting two stitches together, so I always used the other decrease which is very visible. Even in my first jumper which I freestyled, I used that visible decrease and my mother telling me that I shouldn’t have used that one only lead to me being more determined to do it my way. It’s an interesting effect - I wouldn’t call it design feature because I did the decreases entirely randomly but “interesting effect“ is a good way to put it (and I still wear that jumper).
When I started knitting lace patterns, I learned some increases at last and the ssk decrease. And when I got more systematic in my approach to knitting, I encountered this book which now is one of my most used books:
Judith Durant: Increases - Decreases. 99 Step-by-Step Methods
The tagline reads: “Find the perfect technique for shaping every knitting project.“
Isn’t that a great promise and a dream come true?
I love this book. It is very practical in more than one sense:
The book itself is ring-bound so you won’t lose your page because the books stays open where you want it. I love when people pay attention.
There is a content page and every part has its own introduction. Lists of common abbreviations and common symbols as well as an index are included.
As the name suggests, there are increases (36) and decreases (43), some are neutral, some are leaning. They can be open or closed. You can pair them to get mirrored increases or decreases. There are single ones and double ones, and even more (e.g. reducing 4 stitches to 1 in one go).
Every technique has lots of photos: One shows a swatch of the technique and for every step of the instruction there is a very clear photo to illustrate that step.
There is a short introduction to every method and characteristics and uses are stated. This is what I find most helpful. The characteristics will remind you in which direction something leans, so you can easily find a paired increase or decrease for both sides of your knitting. The stated uses give you a first idea how to use them.
Even more about that you can find in the third part of the book called “Combinations and special circumstances“. If you want to do more than just shape your fabric, this is the part you need. Here you find how to use increases and decreases for decorative effects like bobbles (if you find those decorative ;-)), ruching or lace.
And the special circumstances show you how to shape in patterns whether they are textured, lace or colour patterns. This is especially great for everyone starting to design their own patterns. There are very useful tips in there although the book with its 256 pages can’t go into too much depth, obviously.
I can wholeheartedly recommend this book. It will be a very useful addition to your knitting library.
Which book do you find particularly helpful? Let me know, I’m always on the lookout for new books :-)
Talk soon,
Frauke
P.S.: If you are not (yet) interested in nerdy books about a very narrow topic in knitting, this could be an argument to at least look at the book in the library: For you as a designer this book might proof especially useful if your pesky tech editor insists on you explaining how a ssk is worked ;-)
Judith Durant (2015): Increases Decreases. 99 Step-by-Step Methods. Storey Publishing
ISBN: 978-1-61212-331-8