Stitch 'n Bitch: The Knitter's Handbook

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Authors: Debbie Stoller

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Stitch ’n Bitch

THE KNITTER’S HANDBOOK

by Debbie Stoller

Illustrations by Adrienne Yan

Fashion photography by John Dolan

WORKMAN PUBLISHING • NEW YORK

Dedicated to Johanna Cornelia Borsje-Gorissen
May 26, 1899 – March 20, 2003

Acknowledgments

Lots of people helped to make this book come together. At Workman, I thank Jessica Firger for approaching me with the idea in the first place and getting this knitting party started. I am deeply indebted to Ruth Sullivan, whose careful and patient editing greatly improved the copy and helped to make my words make sense. I’m particularly amazed that she—a nonknitter—was able to get through the many rereadings of the technical portions of the text, even though they made her eyes glaze over. Thanks to Janet Vicario for creating the exceptionally cute ’n sassy design, and for holding my hand through the cover shoot, and to Leora Kahn, for putting together a photo shoot that made the projects look so cool. Rebecca Schiff has been a great help, especially in pulling together a resources section when other demands kept me from being able to do so myself. Thank you to Betty Christiansen, a fine knitter and possibly even finer copyeditor. Finally, I’m very grateful to Eve Ng, who served as technical editor on the patterns in this book—if it weren’t for her attention to the knitty-gritty details, some of these scarves might have turned out to be sweaters, and vice versa.

I wish to thank the many designers who contributed their patterns and their time—they deserve such a huge part of the credit for making this book what it is—as well as the helping hands who volunteered to knit some of the projects included here: Molly Steenson (Skully), Anna McElheny (red Pippi Kneestockings), Galit Ben-Baruch (blue Pippi Kneestockings), Marney Anderson (bunny Punk Rock Backpack), Tracie Egan (Ribbed-for-Her-Pleasure Scarf), and my late-night, last-minute knitting crew: Meema Spadola, Jackie Broner, Stephanie Sterner, Barbara Pizio, and Sonya Laska.

Melanie Falick is one of my knitting in pirations and was gracious enough to share her invaluable advice with me on this book, and I’m also thankful that Mark Mann agreed to take a break from his usual celebrity work to take some pictures of me for the cover.

I want to thank Johanna and Bernard Stoller, and especially Michael Uman, for supporting me throughout the emotional process of writing a book and trying to meet seemingly impossible deadlines, and I’m particularly grateful to my awesome business partner, Laurie Henzel, and the rest of the staff of
BUST
magazine for allowing me the time I needed to get this cat in the bag.

Finally, I want to give a special shout out to everyone who’s attended New York City Stitch ’n Bitch sessions over the past four years; you all have kept knitting fun and alive for me.

Contents

Part One: Stitch ’n Bitch

Take Back the Knit
Why Young Women Are Taking Up Knitting Once More

My Crafty Family
•
I Knit, Therefore I Am
•
The New Knitting Craze

Plus:
A Stitch in Time: A Brief History of Knitting

What a Girl Wants, What a Girl Needs
Tools of the Trade

Everything You Need to Know About Yarn (and Sheep)
•
Yarn Weights
•
Tools of the Trade
•
The Long and Short of Needles
•
How to Read a Yarn Label
•
Making a Center-Pull Ball

Plus:
Managing Your Stash

The Knitty-Gritty
Learning to Cast On, Bind Off, and Knit

Casting On Using the Double Cast-on Method
•
Knitting in Both English and Continental Styles
•
Yarn Holds
•
Binding Off Your Work
•
Starting a New Ball
•
Changing Color
•
Making Stripes
•
Weaving In Yarn Ends