Customer Reviews

Knit Fix

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're a relatively new knitter without a seasoned 24 x 7 knitterly support staff at your disposal, this is the book for you. It will save you hours of grief and help you identify and fix many mistakes without frogging your project all the way back to zero.

Kartus, a seasoned knitter and excellent writer, patiently walks you through the very basics of goof repair. Undoing stitches, unraveling entire rows, and specifically targeting one or two mis-formed stitches several rows below. Problems are illustrated in clear photographs, and fixes shown in illustrations.

Kartus also goes deeper into issues like pucker-free Intarsia, fixing color mistakes in Fair Isle, and even re-turning a cable that you either forgot to turn or turned in the wrong direction - always showing just one or two common fixes.

Most experienced knitters will have already tackled many of the problem scenarios listed in this book -- and they may even have a larger list of their own fixes. But for relative newcomers who haven't yet faced the slings and arrows of outrageous knitterly fortune, this book will be your new friend.

This book is the best "fix it" book I've ever come across. Lots of books tell you, "If you dropped a stitch then do this..." or "If you twisted your stitches then do this..." and so on. But most of the time, for me anyway, I know there's a mistake, but I don't have any idea what I've done- if I did then I wouldn't have done it in the first place!

This book is layed out differently. It has FULL COLOR photographs, not just drawings, and says "If your knitting looks like this (see picture) then you probably made this xyz mistake... and this is how you fix it. Then it goes on to explain what you probably accidentally did to cause the mistake and how you can go about avoiding making the same mistake in the future. Excellent! And everything is written in very simple easy to understand language, unlike some books who use so much knitting jargon it's like they're written in code. Plus, this book covers simple errors, like dropped stitches, to complicated problems, like stranding in intarsia, and everything in between- making it useful for all skill levels of knitters.

I checked this book out from the library initially and was so impressed that i bought a copy for myself and my grandma immediately. I would highly and unreservedly reccommend this book to anyone who has ever made a mistake of any kind when they were knitting.

I am both dyslexic and left handed -- and after many years of false starts at learning to knit, I finally found a very patient woman at the local yarn store who stuck it out with me until all the left, right, back, front, yarn-in-back, yarn-in-front basics took hold.

What I was not prepared for was the continuing confusion of slants, slips, drops, and other directional-dependent problems that inevitably occur throughout a project.

After digging through all the books at the local library, the yarn store, and the local book stores, this book jumped off the shelf at me the first day it arrived after publication -- and voila! A book written in un-confuseable English, with an abundance of clear and concise illustrations!

It is spiral bound, small enough to carry in my bag and go wherever I take my knitting.

Another Interweave Press book -- "Compendium of Finishing Techniques..." is the perfect counterpart to this book -- also spiral bound and compact, it covers the seams, attaching, finishing/polishing info that keeps me fromknitting a 27 foot long mitten.

I have 4 very widely recommended beginning knitters reference books on the shelf, but this is the book I keep at hand.

I was so excited when this book arrived in the mail today. I immediately flipped through it to see if it was what I was looking for. I was so excited to find it was better then I hoped! I'm a new knitter and was desperately looking for a book that would be chock full of photos and diagrams (step-by-step, not just beginning and end). Knit fix has plenty of both. Everything is very clearly labeled and highlighted.

The Table of Contents include:
Knitting Foundations (great step-by-step instruction for newbies)
Fixes You'll Use Again and Again
Troubleshooting
Solving Problems Before They Grow
Extreme Fixes: Altering When You're Done Knitting
Test Driving (making your own patterns)

The book is very well designed with easy to follow step-by-step instructions that follow the photos or diagrams. In the troubleshooting section they have Problem followed by Diagnosis and then the Fix.

What's also nice about this book is they show you what something should look like when it's correct and how it looks when it's wrong, so you can see dropped or twisted stitches, etc. The book also does an excellent job of explaining how to count stitches and rows, showing you from both the "right" and "wrong" side.

The spiral binding makes this book very easy to use. The layout is very well done and very appealing. The writing style is fresh and quick, not too long winded or too stuffy. The feeling is like having an experienced knitting friend sitting next to you giving you suggestions and tips.

This book is a must have for new knitters, and probably an excellent aid for experienced knitters as well.

I was thrilled to get this book, hoping it would reveal the secrets of fixing my own work WITHOUT having to rip out row after row. And while the pictorial guides and explanations of what can go wrong are invaluable, in fact the advice the author offers, more often than not, is to "rip back to the mistake." Bah!

All the same, while this guide has not saved me from frogging, it is a great addition to my knitting library. Now when something goes wrong, I can at least diagnose what it was, with the hopes I can avoid it the next time around.

A great volume to include in any knitting book collection.

I taught myself to knit from books when I was a teenager. Now that I'm in my 50s I've knitted for many years, but still didn't know some of the common "tricks of the trade" I might have learned if I had been taught by an old pro or if I had taken classes. This book fills in the gaps and gives me lots of ideas about how to work around problems. It also increased my understanding of some technical details of knitting that I would never have figured out on my own. Easy to read, well organized, and a useful reference book to keep on hand.

I'm by no means an expert knitter. In fact, I still consider myself a beginner. I already have the Vogue Knitting Quick Reference guide, which covers pretty much everything in this book. I was hoping for the "next step" in knit fixes. Unfortunately this book does not provide. Also, if you're looking to save money, much of what can be found here can also be found on the internet (with video even).

On the plus side, the book is really well put together. The pictures are very clear and the instructions easy to follow. Also, it's a great design - like the vogue guide it has a spiral binding that lays flat while you fiddle with your sticks trying to figure out what went wrong!

Bottom line: It's a good beginner's guide book, but others cover the same issues and more. Meanwhile, I'm still searching for a book that explains how to avoid holes when using short rows in the round...

This is a good basic help for most problems one tends to run into while knitting. However, it is not as detailed as other similar books. The size is a bit bulky to carry with one in his/her knitting bag. The spinal type is handy, and does enable the book to lay flat. Overall a good basic book, just not comprehensive enough for "everything".

Today I had the pleasure of knitting in the shop where Lisa works. My friend and I were chatting and knitting when I suddenly discovered that I had made a Big mistake. It was on a cable four rows back...this is only my second project with cables. Lisa grabbed the book and opened it to the section on "Cables Crossed Incorrectly". I was told to read it and then we'd go over any questions I might have. I actually was able to understand what I read and figured out my mistake and corrected it myself! I still cannot believe that I did it myself! I love this book. I welcome it as a valuable addition to my knitting resource books. It is clearly written with helpful photos to guide you. The spiral binding is wonderful. The book lays flat so that you can easily open it and tackle your knitting problem while you read.

Prior to today, I never would have attempted this...I would have ripped back the four rows. Lisa has given me a great tool to increase my knitting confidence.

I highly recommend this book as one to keep in your knitting bag as a valuable resource.

I have to confess, I purchased this book at my favorite knitting shop because I had been sitting there so long I thought I should pay rent! I had been working on a kitchner stitch and someone recommended The Knit Fix. Well, a knitting store cannot live on bread alone...so out of courtesy I bought the book...and what a great book to have!

This is my absolute favorite "go to" knitting book. I have reached for it again and again, and each time I think "I love this book"!

I would consider myself at least an intermediate knitter, but with so many of us who learned at our mother's knee (or friend or neighbor) there was a lot I had just never learned, that I discovered in The Knit Fix.

Every time I read something from the book I find it to be not just clearly illustrated, concisely written and completely explained, but Ms. Kartus' writing is polished and witty. I really appreciate the witty part, because a little humor goes a long way when a fix is needed.

Thanks to Ms. Kartus, I can fix a miscrossed cable without ripping out week of work, kitchner stitch the toe of a sock without tears and tell a skipped stitch from a twisted stitch from an inadvertent yarn over.

Finally, the engineering of the book has been thoughtfully designed with the knitter in mind. The cover is heavy duty with wire interior so the book will travel well and STAY OPEN when you need it. It is helpful to be able to knit and read at the same time.

If you are looking for a knitting manual, that is easy and fun to use, this is your book!