I knit a lot and I would say that I already know my way around knitting quite well in many areas. Still, I've probably mastered just about 10% of all possible techniques and tricks, and that's what's so great about this hobby. If you get into it, an incredible world and variety of techniques opens up to you. It really never gets boring. I am also one of those people who like to get a comprehensive overview. And when it comes to knitting, that's not so easy. So today I'm going to show you a book that I think is really great - Knitting: The Standard Work
It's a really good reference book that also contains a DVD with moving pictures of the most important techniques. I personally don't need this, but I find it useful for beginners. I really like the layout of the book. The font is not too big, a lot of text and pictures on one page, which helps to keep the overview. I like that. In addition, the pictures are actually photos, which I very much welcome in contrast to graphic representations (but that is certainly a matter of taste).
The book is divided into 8 parts plus (that's what I call them) 2 appendix parts:
1. yarns, needles, utensils.
2. always the right stitch
3. stitches & designs
4. the final touch
5. the high school
6. socks, gloves & hats
7. decorative details
8. mistakes & drop stitches
A1. Pattern valid
A2. Good to know
Pretty much everything is covered and all topics are treated in - in my opinion - appropriate depth. I really enjoyed reading the yarn section - which I'm currently working on intensively. It deals with material science, spinning and twisting and much more.
Techniques are explained in all variations, if possible. Different forms of the edge stitches (clear!), weaving in the ends of the thread, different finishes (bind-off, decorative finishes, cord edges, etc.), turn-ups, drop stitches, increases and decreases, turning stitches, knitting pleats and tucks (gathers), and much much more.
There are even tables with different sizes for all clothing sizes in the appendix. If you don't have the right toddler to measure the back length (or it can't be measured, haha), you can simply refer to the table to calculate your knit yourself.
Only the part with the different patterns I find in a knitting bible of this kind not absolutely necessary. If I'm really looking for a pattern, I'd rather pick up a comprehensive pattern book.
By the way, the author Stephanie von der Linden started out in the natural sciences, but after studying chemistry and civil engineering, she turned to knitwear design at some point. I find it really exciting that in this hobby, which still struggles with a dusty image, you meet so many women with such mathematical, scientific backgrounds.
All in all, this is a really successful book - for beginners as well as for experienced and advanced users. Great buy or wish list recommendation for all those who like to have a reference book on the bookshelf.
Whoosh, a week gone and already there's another Saturday coffee rummage round today. Since I have not come to my Quicksilver post, today again with a picture of the chained Quicksilver.
Who is going to sew up my stitches? I have gaaaar no desire to. This will be my weekend project. There are already a few beautiful finished scarves. Eeva's yellow-grey Quicksilver has pom poms, how great does that look? I think Carina's colors are super nice too! She also linked a tutorial for sewing threads. Thanks, Carina, I'll take a look later. Maybe that will give me the necessary kick. Magdalena chose a bright yellow for the lace pattern. Jane from jetztkochtsie and Susanne from Millefila used pretty much the same colors, but combined them differently. There you see again how different the cloths then work!
At the Woolspire Knit Along was knitted not only the Quicksilver, but also the Moonraker. I find the one from Mrs. Böcklein so great!
Who now thinks, I also want to knit the scarves: The kits are of course still available at Woolspire! The Moonraker kit and the Quicksilver kit. Rebekka from Queens Handmade has also just started, looks beautiful!
Otherwise, I'm very confident that I'll soon be able to chain off my pink secret cloud. Unfortunately, I had to rib countless rows, otherwise the secret would already be revealed - well, even with the simplest stitches sometimes stupid mistakes creep in. Or maybe just with the simplest stitches... Never mind. After that, I can finally get back to my actual April project, the Anna Cardigan.
Discovered I yesterday still the thoughts of knitting spleen about vegan wool. This is a very big topic and I also encountered it in various conversations at the fair the other day. She also mentions RosyGreenWool's GOTS certified wool, which I also admired at the fair and is very high on my will-knit-with-me list. Strickspleen's post is well worth reading and thought provoking.
This week was very turbulent with me and I'm hardly come to browse and read blogs. Therefore, a small, abbreviated espresso round today :).
On Woolspire I was able to unlock a few new kits from two Norwegian knitwear designers the other day, yes, the kit section is really starting to take off! And these two designers both blog on the Norwegian Woolspire site. The ballerina dress might appeal to my Miss, I'd love pink with green! Super cute and totally easy is the jacket (also for kids) called "Pure Spring", a quick spring project. And then there is a spring scarf in the kit according to a tutorial of the brand "Mayflower", to start in the sale.
A beautiful tutorial for a summer sweater I discovered on Ravelry, if you are still looking. Apparently also a Norwegian. How is it that so many wonderful knitwear designers come from this beautiful little country? I already noticed on Instagram...
My projects here are once again progressing much too slowly, because there is a lack of knitting time, especially in the evenings. If you then have to rib 10 rows to fix a mistake that was discovered too late, that doesn't really contribute to the desire to knit. Do you know such phases? But at the beginning of the week there will be an update on the Quicksilver Knit Along, I promise!
And if you still want to browse now, then just click quickly to On the needles April in, because there are new projects added daily!
What were your favorite links of the week? I would be happy to read them!
I am very happy about my visit today! Marion and Steffi have been on Ravelry almost daily for many years and run their own online store called Yarn over Berlin, where you can get exclusive yarns from all over the world. They are also responsible for bringing knitters from all over the world to Berlin in a month to participate in this year's wool festival, the Berlin Knits Festival on May 16-17! Someone should do that for you... all respect!
How infinitely sad I am that I myself will not be in Berlin this weekend of all days to participate in the great workshops and browse the stands of the exhibitors. But I am all the more happy now that I have them here in the blog today and can already ask them all the important questions!
Read through, click on and register quickly for the Berlin Knits Festival! And if you are there! Let me know, Diana from Woolspire will travel from Copenhagen for one day and is happy to have company!
And now have fun reading!
You both live in Berlin and founded the online store Yarn Over Berlin together over three years ago. How did it come about and how did you meet?
We got to know each other through Ravelry - where else? First online and then in 2008 at a Berlin knitting meeting. We quickly realized that we tick quite similarly - we both love precious yarns. But they weren't available in Germany - we brought them back for each other from private trips to the USA.
In the firm belief that there are more like-minded people out there, we decided to start an online store in spring 2011. It then took a few months, first we had to find both a name and logo, as well as suitable software. Then came the selection of the desired yarn companies and finally the creation of the website ! In January 2012 Yarn over Berlin finally went online!
We rely on very high quality yarns and offer them worldwide online or also in private offline sales (by prior arrangement).
So you can order the goods online, or pick them up in person at one of your knitting meetings. When, how often and where do you hold your knitting meetings?
We meet twice a month at Starbucks at Hackescher Markt in the heart of Berlin. But you can contact us at any time and suggest another date or place, we've done many a "deal" at train stations ;-). (Note: On Ravelry you can find the current dates in the group of Yarn over Berlin).
At a workshop with Mariann Isager.
Will you both tell me how you got into knitting in the first place?
Marion: I first learned crochet from my grandma as a child, then knitting from my mother in my teens. And I am one of those who ALWAYS knitted under the table during school hours, in training and in college. Then came the great wool shop death, but that has not touched me - I have continued and now hang "on the needle" for about 30 years.
Steffi: I learned to knit in elementary school, both my grandmothers welcomed and encouraged it very much, my mother is not so fit in terms of needlework. At the age of 12 I knitted my first sweater and then always in phases sometimes more, sometimes less. With the internet of course came a revolution, suddenly wool was available online and pattern too - and (very important!) like-minded people. When I moved from Munich to Berlin 10 years ago, I already knew quite a few knitters and so it was quite easy to find connections.
Is there a favorite yarn that you reach for over and over again?
A German classic is certainly always Wollmeise, if we look beyond the German borders, Madelinetosh Merino light (TML) is always a good choice. But we are both "easily seduced" by beautiful yarns and are currently very fond of the yarns from The Uncommon Thread - and also our new addition: de rerum natura.
With Stephen West! On the left Steffi and on the right Marion.
How long have you been on Ravelry and how has it influenced your (knitting) life?
Steffi: I was Raveler number 12105, I think it was in the summer of 2007, the waiting list was endless and every day you hoped to finally be invited in ;-). As described before: this of course also revolutionized my knitting life. Before that, there was the knitting network, the Yahoo mailing lists and blogs (I had one, too). One was already quite well networked. But Ravelry is of course a whole other league. I especially appreciate this great database and inexhaustible supply of information. New techniques? No problem. A discontinued yarn brand? Just search there, someone might still have a remnant. What does this jacket look like in my (Rubens) size? I'm sure someone has already made it, and if not, we'll do it together as a KAL. I'm on vacation in Crete - is there a yarn store? Of course, and in the Cretan group on Ravelry, they welcome me and show me the way. And anyway, what does Joji Locatelli look like? I met her in Amsterdam ;-)Would all this exist without Ravelry? Yes maybe, but it would be much more tedious and not find everything in one place.
Marion: I've been a "Raveler" since October 2007 and can't imagine a knitter's life without Ravelry. It has completely turned my knitting world upside down. I have learned new techniques and found like-minded people, developed my own designs. I know that wool does not have to be industrially produced, but that there are many "Indie Dyer" who produce and sell your wool with a lot of heart and soul - exactly those I want to support ! I get to know foreign cities off the beaten track, on the way to the Local Yarn Stores ! You meet knitters from all over the world, first online - and then often in real life - and you are immediately familiar.
And finally, we started an online store and now host this Yarnfestival - none of this would have happened without Ravelry !
With Veera Välimäki in Edinburgh. On the left Marion and on the right Steffi.
Tell us a little bit about how the idea of hosting a "Yarn Festival" in Berlin came about.
We had the idea to bring a wool festival with an international touch to the capital years ago, but didn't have the courage. In October 2012, we were both at the "New York Sheep & Wool Festival" in Rhinebeck - and completely thrilled by a "worldwide knitters' meeting", the huge yarn selection and the opportunity to meet designers "up close and personal". Since then it was clear that we will dare to do it in Berlin one day. If not in Berlin - where else?
The final decision was made at the Wool Festival in Hamburg last September, where we participated as exhibitors. The people of Hamburg did a wonderful job.
Shortly after that we sat together with Katharina, an event manager friend with her own event agency, told enthusiastically about Hamburg and decided very spontaneously to organize a wool festival in 2015 in Berlin. That same evening we fixed the date (May 16/17) and booked the location ! And since we have very good contacts to many designers, it was easy to set up a great workshop offer. The exhibitors lined up immediately after the publication of the date and we unfortunately even had to turn down some for space reasons.
What do your visitors expect and how many visitors do you actually expect?
24 renowned exhibitors from Bilum to mylys and Siidegarte. These present us hand-dyed yarns and staple fibers, but also classics like Malabrigo, Madelintosh and of course a few rarities will be on display.
Our visitors can also expect 33 workshops with a total of 666 participant places. Among them are top international designers such as Joji Locatelli, Veera Välimäki and Rililie, and also German designers such as Janukke and Isabell Krämer. But we also put a lot of emphasis on techniques and are happy to be able to offer workshops on topics such as "photo shooting", "using Ravelry properly" or "understanding English pattern". We expect about 300 to 400 visitors per day.
When and where can one register for the various workshops? And how many participants are admitted per workshop?
You can book the workshops and tickets directly on our website, but be quick, some of them are already fully booked! The number of participants depends on the specifications of the workshop leaders, usually there are around 20 participants, but for some workshops even less.
Is there anything else that might interest my readers and potential visitors (e.g. supporting program)?
Outside the workshops there will be some activities at the HO itself, e.g. a Knit-Along with Anke a.k.a "Fallmasche" and one with Isabell Krämer a.k.a "lilalu". And you will have the opportunity to meet Joji Locatelli and Veera Välimäki and admire all 24 designs of the Interpretations collections in the original. And maybe Mr. West will visit us to add even more color to the already colorful wool festival ...
Thank you, Steffi and Marion for your answers. I wish you a lot of fun and hope we meet soon times knitting in real life :).
It's going to be a great wool festival, here in Berlin on May 16/17! Click through the main links to browse further, have fun!
A beautiful good spring morning to Saturday coffee, today with a few links to the beginning of spring.
Are you looking for a new spring project? At Ankestrick you can always find something. I find the top Nightswimming and Boe! super great. Or this chipmunk top by Dolores, also made from a tutorial by Ankestrick, namely Friday again.
Great I find this interplay of mohair silk and Marino silk. Very similar to what we find at BeauB and very inspiring for possible spring projects.
Are you looking for a cotton in beautiful spring colors? Woolspire has one of the Mayflower yarns on super sale right now - Cotton 8/4 Retro. I don't know it (yet), but maybe you do?
Do you have a special new spring project in mind? Tell me about it, I'm curious!
Have a great weekend!
I love my little Instagram knitting journal. A review always shows me how productive I am. In everyday life, I have the feeling that I'm progressing much too slowly with my projects. You know that, right? My Insta-March was first of all very marked by the two Prince sweaters (1 to 3). The mustard yellow was still missing the sleeves, the red was born from the happiness about the first and has also become great.
The letter carrier brought me the beautiful Quinte & Co. yarn for my Anna Cardigan (4), which is now here on the needles. In between I had to play the bobble doctor (5). The Fräulein has the habit to dissolve the bobble thread by thread. The caps look very sad afterwards. So it had to quickly get new pom-poms.
Then were diligently knitted stitches and color samples for my Quicksilver (6). When the color combination was decided, it was knitted directly (7). At the h&h I had a lot of meetings and gathered a lot of impressions (8) and my personal highlight was the moment when Stephen West told me about the beautiful pattern in my diamond scarf (9)! There's also finally soon the tutorial to (as a project for the hot months, hahaha, what the heck!) and then there's finally some nice pictures of the scarf, I promise!
How was your March?
PS: The lucky winner of the Makerist video "Raglan from above" is fixed, see over there! Franziska, you got a mail from me!
A good morning to Saturday coffee, again with some inspiration for you!
At the h&h fair, I picked up a color card of Cardiff Cashmere and have been reveling in the beautiful colors ever since, with lots of ideas of what you could knit with it. Have you ever knitted with it? Can you recommend it? Sophia has it in her store and swears by it!
Rililie has a new sweater tutorial out - Rhombing Around. Great!
Via Instagram I recently came across the Norwegian Marianne Bjerkmann and find her designs quite wonderful, especially Mary's Jacket! She has a very own handwriting. Unfortunately, the pattern are only available in Norwegian so far, but who knows....
Do you still need a last minute Easter project for tomorrow? Daniela has a beautiful, fixed bunny crochet tutorial for you! At all, I think she has rearranged (or do I usually just read too often only mobile?). On the start page you can find all tutorials at a glance! I think that's great!
Have a great Easter!
My Quicksilver is growing, I have now reached the fifth triangle (the blue hole pattern). I really like the color combination, it is special and certainly not everyone's thing, but it suits me.
I realize I'm leisurely on my way. Jane, for example, is already done! Wow! But I also two more projects on the needles. On Instagram you can find under the hashtag #quicksilverKAL many designs in all imaginable color combinations. Such a Knit Along is great!
Carina, who notes that as a focal crocheter she would clearly prefer mercerized cotton or sock wool to the soft silk/alpaca blend "Fin", has posted her intermediate status and is busily passing me by I think, I need to get on it! But I see others have other things on the needles, too. Sophie, for example, is still knitting a summer jacket and a granny blanket in parallel. But her colors for the Moonraker look promising! Eeva is knitting with yarn from Purl Soho and showed how she winds the skeins herself. It never looks that neat on me!
How are you getting on with the WoolspireKAL? I am curious and link me over there!
Whoosh, hello April, we have already recognized you by the weather! Yesterday it snowed again for a change, so we don't need to worry about summer projects yet, the knitter's heart is happy about that! In March there were many beautiful knitting projects to see in the link collection and also on Instagram under the hashtag #aufdennadelnmärz. Just yet this so incredibly cozy version of the BeauB.
I have of course also in April my Quicksilver for the Woolspire Knit Along on the needles. He grows and I am very much in love with my color combination and the beautiful alpaca-silk blend Fin! But I'll tell you more about the Quicksilver tomorrow.
Here I show you my Anna Cardigan, which has also progressed quite a bit. The yarn Piper, a mohair-wool blend, is rather more difficult to knit for my taste. I have to look very closely. But it feels wonderful and I'm excited about the result. Excited especially because the pure kraus rechst optics just somehow for the cardigan not so much appeals to me. Maybe that changes but when the part is then finished as a whole.
And now to you! What do you have in April so on the needles? What has become of your projects? Will you tell me? I look forward to it! You can link all month long! Attention: You have to put a backlink to this post or blog in your post, otherwise it won't work with the link tool. A backlink is nothing more than a link to this blog :)!
On Instagram I use the hashtag #aufdennadelnapril. Join in there too!
In the mood for spring? Here you can find spring yarns 
Esther Sweater Baby 
We have new Muud products in the store 
You can find all Maschenfein pattern here
