Today, instead of a pattern feature or a little bit of what I am working on, I am presenting you with a book review. This book, Japanese knitting Stitch Bible: 260 Exquisite Patterns, written by Hitome Shida and translated by Gayle Roehm, is the absolutely most amazing resource. Written for advanced knitters, it could be an inspiration to beginners as well.
If you love knitting lace as much as I do, and cables come a close second to that, then this is the book for you. All of those amazingly intricate patterns that are featured over and over on Pintrest are all laid out here for you. This is apparently the resource for all of those really beautiful Russian garments that are so popular.
A caution, the book is all chart based patterns. There is not a written pattern in sight so, if you are not a chart lover, then you should have a very good look before you buy as I suspect that this lovely to look at book will be an exercise in frustration for you.
The book is available on amazon and elsewhere at a good price for a stitch library. I bought the Kindle version as I have limited space on my book shelf. Just so you know, I have my bookshelf stacked with yarn and my poor books crammed onto the bottom shelf two deep! Ebooks and digital patterns are the way to go, for me at least.
If you love intricate knitting, even just to look at, this book is a great investment.
I wrote last week about my poor lace cardigan and the errant buttonhole. I tore out just the centre of the buttonhole band and reworked it with a couple of DPN’s. It looked okay but I had missed one strand at the beginning of the repair and the stitches, because they were stretched, were quite loose looking. I know that I could have teased the stitches back to the right size but that missed loop really bothered me.
After some internal debate, I tore out about thirty rows (I thought it was just fifteen, but I had only counted the right side rows!) and am now reworking it. The last picture shows that darn buttonhole finally worked correctly. It sounds drastic, but I would never have worn the sweater without having my hand across the incorrect buttonhole to hide it. It is funny (and not haha) how such a minor mistake becomes so huge in your mind.
I am glad to know that someone as talented as you also wants her work to be correct. And is willing to undo whatever portion is necessary to correct an error. I recently learned about lifelines and plan to begin using them because I usually ‘unknit’ my work to where the mistake was made. Using a lifeline will save so much time, and stress on my hands. We often think that yarners like you are perfect. Thanks for sharing that you also make mistakes and undo your work. Pam
Thank you for your lovely comment; I am blushing! Lifelines are indeed a life saver. I rarely use them as I like to walk in the danger zone so to speak but have regretted that many times. This time the rip out worked well because I am using a yarn with some mohair in the blend which makes the stitches stay put. When I work with anything slippery a life line is a must.
Barb
Oh I’m sorry the easy fix didn’t work, but it will be good to know it’s definitely right this time.