The nice people at Quadrille recently sent me a copy of Erika Knight’s new book ‘Simple Knitting‘ to have a look at. I was so looking forward to this because I’m a huge fan of ‘Simple Crochet’, her crochet book for beginners (and yes, I’m still making the stripy throw). My first thought when this new book popped out of the envelope was ‘oh dear me it’s beautiful’. That was just the cover – the contents did nothing to dispel that first impression.

The book is divided into two parts: 60 pages of how to and reference, and then 80 pages of projects, ranked in order of difficulty, from basic dishcloth to lovely cardigan. Mr J pointed hopefully at the cardigan but I think he might have to wait a while.

Looking through the book I was struck by how japanese it is in its styling (Kyoko thought the same, so it must be true). These lovely photos of stitch examples are one of my favourite things about the whole book – they are both beautiful to look at and give a perfect visual example of various stitch patterns. Each one is accompanied by a little chart and how to create it, making a brilliant reference library.

I also love the pencil drawings in the how to section. Knitting is just that bit more complicated for a novice wool wrangler, but I think there’ll be no trouble with these. I do know how to knit after a fashion, but I’m not convinced by my method of casting on, and am not really sure what I’m doing when I cast off, so the step by steps should be very useful.

An explanation of tension swatches, with visual guide. A real ‘A-ha!’ moment for me.

A couple of likely beginner’s projects for me. Do excuse the cat muscling in on the pictures – he likes to be where the action is. I love the notebook as a gift idea for Christmas (I’m giving myself some time here), and I really like the masterclass box for this project, which explains how to adapt the pattern for different yarn weights. There are masterclass boxes attached to most of the projects, which give handy tips and hints on upping your skills – much better than overloading the beginner at the start.

I’d really recommend this if you cannot knit a stitch. As a fairly clueless knitter I’m finding this book a real joy and inspiration to flick through, and each time I do I get more excited about knitting something. Once I’ve finished crocheting that blanket of course… Thank you, Erika!

Simple Knitting (from Quadrille Craft, rrp £16.99)

It must be ten years ago that I decided I wanted a sewing machine for Christmas. It was at the time another one of my whims, though as it happened it was a whim that stuck, one that now requires dedicated cupboards and drawers, and one little room of our house. I imagine that this Christmas there’ll be a fair few sewing machines under the tree for some lucky people just starting their fabric journey, but once you’ve unwrapped a shiny new machine what do you do? You want to try it out of course, and so race through the house looking for scraps of fabric and old clothes to practice on- I speak from experience here, you understand.

Alternatively you could also unwrap Cath Kidston’s Sew!, which your uber-savvy present giver will have also bought, and find you have your first project all cut out and ready for you, complete with buttons, so that you can have yourself a new shoulder bag in a few hours. (Though you might still want to practice on some old clothes first…Additional note to the sewing machine purchaser: get a spool or two of thread too or there’ll be frustrations on Christmas morning.)

I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this book, but when the nice people at Quadrille sent me a copy to look at I was very pleasantly surprised. As with lots of sewing books aimed at the beginner there are sections on necessary equipment and how to get on with a sewing machine…

…together with pages on essential techniques. There’s just enough information so that a beginner could feel stretched, and learn something useful, and not so much that you’d feel frustrated with terminology and wonder when you get to the fun part.

The projects themselves are ranked from one to three thimbles in difficulty, so it’s easy to pick one out to suit your level (or push yourself a little). As suits a new sewist starting out the projects are homewares and bags for the main part – they use relatively small amounts of fabric, & can be finished quickly so that you get to the warm glow of ‘I made it’ satisfaction sooner rather than later.

Lots of ideas to keep you busy, and all of it in Cath’s unmistakable style. This would be a great gift if you do know someone who’ll be getting their first sewing machine at Christmas, not least for the ready to go project tucked into the cover, and if that someone is you then it’s well worth thinking about as your first sewing book. (There will be more, have no fear of that.)

One last thing – don’t forget to enter Lisa’s competition to win a lovely shiny new Janome sewing machine. I already own a super spanking Janome so I’m refraining from entering – it’s only fair . So go – take your extreme sewing pictures and put yourself in the running!