Knit Wit: 30 Easy and Hip Projects (Hands-Free Step-By-Step Guides) [Spiral-bound]

Amy R Singer (Author)

Book Description

Series: Hands-Free Step-By-Step Guides | Publication Date: September 28, 2004

The newest title in Harper's stand-up series, Knit Wit features 30 hip, creative knits that are easy and fun to make. A beginner's class (or refresher course, if you're a lapsed knitter) offers the equipment advice, step-by-step instructions on basic techniques, and expert tips you'll need to knit with wit. Then on to the projects -- arranged by order of difficulty so you can match your skill level and time constraints. Each one is vividly photographed and, when necessary, accompanied by clear diagrams to ensure happy results. Best of all, the stand-up format allows handsfree perusal so you can knit without dropping a stitch, referring to the instructions as you go.

Projects Include:
postmodern legwarmers • rockstar scarf • pixie hat dreadlock hat • ice cream pint cozy • sound-system snugglers • water-bottle sling • birdless boa • surf & turf skirt • girly boxers • purple haze cardigan • coral bikini • AND MANY MORE!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since knitting’s become cool again, a number of purportedly hip books have burst onto the scene. While none have matched the blockbuster success of Debbie Stoller’s Stitch ‘N Bitch, some—like this one—have at least come close to duplicating that book’s sassy, upbeat approach. Singer founded the Web community Knitty.com, and her book will appeal to beginning and intermediate knitters. She explains the basics, and her drawings and illustrations are comprehensible. Still, there’s no shaking the feeling that she’s imitating Stoller, with comments like, "Now that you can knit and purl, you know almost everything necessary to follow any pattern. No, seriously. Stop looking at me like that." Her funky patterns instruct readers on making hats, scarves and other warming devices, such as the "too good to pass up" Postmodern Legwarmers; apparel (including a vest, skirt, pullover and bikini); as well as somewhat less useful items such as boas and cozies for items like ice cream pints and laptops.
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Review

Amy Singer’s lively introduction to knitting is well organized, and thorough. -- Pam Allen, Editor, Interweave Knits

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Spiral-bound: 128 pages
• Publisher: Collins (September 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060740701
• ISBN-13: 978-0060740702
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #621,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Amy R Singer is the editor of the online knitting magazine Knitty.com which has welcomed more than 72 million site visits since its launch in 2002. Most people who learn she's a knitter and knitting magazine editor who is allergic to wool think it's hysterical. Ha. She's perfectly happy knitting with cotton and silk, and wrote a book on the subject (No Sheep for You; Interweave Press, 2007).

When Amy puts down the knitting needles, she picks up her ukulele, and hopes the yarn won't be jealous. Amy lives in Toronto with her husband and their two rabbits, Boeing and Squeeze.

[author photo by Margaret Mulligan at http://margaretmulligan.com ]

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not my cup of tea...., January 30, 2005

By 

Dianne Foster "Di" (USA) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Knit Wit: 30 Easy and Hip Projects (Hands-Free Step-By-Step Guides) (Spiral-bound)

Need a felted bucket for your kniting/crocheting supplies? Ever thought about making a nose warmer for these cold winter days? Have you or someone you love got a svelte figure that would look good in a knitted skirt? If you can say yes to these questions KNIT WIT by Amy Singer may be the book for you.

Singer says she is horribly allegic to wool, however, several of the projects in this book appear to be constructed from wool fibers (are they synthetic, or did soomeone else knit them?). Several of the projects involve felting, which refers to the process that takes place when you accidently wash your favorite sweater in hot-hot water. Her book looks like a steno pad which you can stand up to read a page. Thus the claim to be a no-hands set of instructions.

For a novice knitter like me, much of the information found in "Stich and Bitch" and other books illustrating the primary knitting steps proved invaluable. I used a combination of the `Dummies" book and S&B to teach myself how to knit and purl. You won't find much elementary information in Singer's book, but it is interesting if you have moved beyond the Dummies book. Singer's projects appear to be created with the more skilled knitter in mind, but even if I claimed to be such a person I would not be interested in making most of them.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for Beginners, March 24, 2005

By 

bmmillss (CA, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knit Wit: 30 Easy and Hip Projects (Hands-Free Step-By-Step Guides) (Spiral-bound)

This is a good book--the projects are great, hip, and interesting, and they make you really want to get to work. But one problem was that in one of the first projects, an 'easy beginner's' project (the nosewarmer), the whole project depends on the knitter's knowledge of Wrap-and-Turn, or Short Rows. Beginners will not have this knowledge, especially not if the information in the "basics" section is new to them. In addition, nowhere in the book is there an explanation of Wrap-and-Turn, and only after consulting three other how-to books and the internet was I able to get a grasp of what that meant. To do this to a beginner can be quite discouraging. And it's too bad, because the book is overall very good, and the knitty.com site is great.

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knitty.com right in your hands, November 10, 2004

By 

Kate Chambers "Knitty Fan" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knit Wit: 30 Easy and Hip Projects (Hands-Free Step-By-Step Guides) (Spiral-bound)

As a big fan of Amy Singer's knitty.com, I already knew that some of the patterns on the website would be featured in this book. However, there are so many new patterns and some "old" patterns have been, thankfully, upsized so I don't have to do it myself or "tweaked" a little. Also, I have a tendency to lose patterns printed off the internet, but I almost never lose an entire book (almost never!). These are great patterns for beginners and more experienced knitters alike and although I do tend to forget how to get to the next page, the stand-up format is great and sits neatly on my desk while I knit. I highly recommend this book.