cover image Add One Stitch Knitting: All the Stitches You Need in 15 Projects

Add One Stitch Knitting: All the Stitches You Need in 15 Projects

Alina Schneider. Barron’s, $18.99 trade paper (128p) ISBN 978-1-4380-1089-2

Blogger Schneider’s slim but attractive book encourages knitters to branch out from basic knit and purl stitches with simple yet elegant projects that require the know-how of only one additional stitch. The book includes 15 projects, each of which introduces a new stitch and provides instructions for making a practice swatch and a project using the new technique. Projects include slip-stitch mittens, the seed stitch headband, and a basic throw pillow cover. Schneider writes that the book is suitable for absolute beginners; however, many of the projects require knowledge of knitting abbreviations and basic knitting and purling. Some projects, like the one using basket-weave stitch, which includes a complicated sequence of three variations of stitches, are difficult for even advanced knitters. The book is filled with appealing photos of finished projects in earthy tones, but the instructions for the projects themselves are text heavy and, as a result, hard to follow. Intermediate or advanced knitters will welcome this book; beginners should steer clear. Color photos. (Mar.)