(Long overdue) Book Review: 60 Quick Knits by Tanis Gray

I'm a bit overdue on this, but in April, Tanis Gray (formerly of Vogue Knitting/Soho Publishing) released a book called 60 Quick Knits: 20 Hats*20 Scarves*20 Mittens in Cascade 220 (Sixth & Spring Books 2010) (MSRP $17.95; available via the link for $12.21 at the time of the writing). This is such a handy little book that I wanted to get a book review in, even though I'm a teensy bit late.

The concept of the book is brilliant: Cascade 220 is one of the most popular yarns around, regularly at the top of Ravelry's "Most Popular Yarns" ranking and carried in yarn shops all over the country. It's an extremely versatile yarn, knitting at 4.5 to 5 sts per inch, it's well-priced, it's 100-percent wool, and it comes in a gazillion colors -- including variegated and heathers. There's even a superwash version. Tanis has collected 60 patterns that all use Cascade 220. And the patterns are all for scarves, mittens/gloves and hats, some of the most popular items to make, wear and give. So let's take a look inside.

Cabled-Cuff Mittens by Cheryl Murray

60 Quick Knits is a paperback, about 160 pages, full-color. The book contains a brief introduction, telling readers about Cascade 220's background, a one-page "Things to Know" section, containing abbreviations and suchlike, and then jumps right into the patterns. There are twenty patterns for hats, twenty for scarves and twenty for mittens/gloves/gauntlets, and there are no chapters -- just pattern after pattern. One of the nice things about the book is that there is something to tempt just about any knitter. You'll find simple, easy patterns for newbies, like basic stockinette hats and ribbed gauntlets, as well as more complex patterns for adventurous knitters, including cables

Textured Tam by Jacquiline van Dillen

stranded colorwork (see the mittens below), lacy stitches

Leaf Scarf by Mary Beth Temple

slip-stitch patterns, modular knitting

Mitered Scarf by Amy Polcyn

and more. Personal favorites of mine are these colorwork mittens

Spotted Fair Isle Mittens by Cheryl Murray

the simple-but-chic Ribbed Keyhole Scarf

Ribbed Keyhole Scarf by Angela Juergens

and this clever Cable Brim Tam.

Cabled Brim Tam by Therese Chynoweth

Will you vomit copiously if I engage in shameless self-promotion by pointing out that I have two hat patterns included in the collection? One is the Scalloped Edge Beanie


and the other is the Ribbed Pillbox




As with any pattern book, it's all a function of taste. Checking out the photos will give you a sense for whether these patterns work with your taste, although given that you can easily find this book for twelve dollars, it's hard not to beat approximately twenty cents a pattern even if you don't like them all.

In other respects, the book contains exactly what you would expect: mainly one-size patterns (given that items like scarves and hats are so flexible in fit), charts where necessary (black and white charts for textured/cable patterns, color ones for stranded and other colorwork), clear photos of the garments with close-ups of the stitch patterns.

Striped Graduated Scarf by Jean Suzuki

For under twenty bucks (and depending on where you purchase, well under fifteen bucks), 60 Quick Knits gives you a whopping sixty patterns in an extremely versatile yarn (one that is easy to substitute for if for some strange reason, you just used up your last ball of Cascade 220 but have other worsted-weight yarn in your stash), with a variety of styles and techniques, at skill levels ranging from basic to adventurous. How can you beat that? And if you are someone who knits for charity or likes to knit gifts for others, this book would be an excellent way to play around with some new patterns.

A real live FO

I can finally show you a project I worked on this past spring. As part of Ted's Fiber to Scarf Exchange, I received a mass of Louet Northern Lights top in the mail from a mystery sender. Made of 100% wool and space-dyed, the colorway was called "Marmalade": golden yellow, dusky orange and sage. Part of the fun was not knowing who sent me the fiber and being given purposely vague instructions (unisex scarf).

You have probably heard me say that I'm still a fairly new spinner and when I spin, I need to let the yarn take me where it wants to go (generally it wants to go in the thicker direction) rather than to decide "I'm going to spin a four-ply DK and knit X pattern with it" ahead of time. I was delighted to find that his wool spun very easily. The spinning was fast and enjoyable, and made me feel like a much more experienced spinner than I am, with fairly consistent and smooth singles.

Here's a photo of the singles on the bobbin:



and here is what it looked like after being plied:

and after setting the twist:



and after putting it into a ball:


I ended up with a yarn around chunky weight without major variations between thick and thin. I chose the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern by Hello Yarn, making one modification: I omitted one of the cables, so that my finished scarf had two instead of three. I needed to do that given that my handspun was thicker than the worsted weight yarn called for by the pattern.

I really enjoyed this pattern. It was fun and easy to memorize but gave a very professional looking result:


It was especially satisfying for me to do the whole thing, beginning to end, from spinning to selecting a pattern, to knitting the scarf, and to be pleased with the way the yarn came out and the way the yarn looked knit into the pattern.

I was highly amused to see that the recipient of my scarf was (drumroll, please) Ted himself. I suspect he assigned me to himself in case I blew the deadline. Which I did, but mostly because I couldn't find my blocking wires and didn't want to send the finished scarf unblocked. I hope he will forgive my tardiness. It took me a little while to get over the notion of sending my beginner's stuff to someone who spins as exquisitely as Ted, but since I consider him a friend and an absolutely wonderful person, I gave up obsessing over it.

You can see some of the other finished scarves (including the gorgeous one I got from Katherine) at Ted's summary page here. (He has a few more to add, I think, in addition to mine, but I know he's been on vacation and had some computer mishaps so check back in a little while to see the rest.)

All in all, I heartily enjoyed participating in this project and would gladly do so again. I felt a great sense of satisfaction at having done a project from beginning to end and also felt that it was a good way to appreciate how much my spinning has improved over time. A huge thank-you to Ted for doing all the thankless work of collecting roving, mailing it out and keeping us all on track.

A thing of beauty

I have not participated in too many knitting or fiber-related swaps, but when Ted asked me to be a part of his Fiber-to-Scarf exchange, I was intrigued. I mailed off 8 ounces of fiber to Ted, as did several others; Ted then sent my fiber to some unknown crafter and mailed some unknown crafter's fiber to me. The goal was simple: to spin the fiber into yarn and then knit or crochet it into a scarf. The time frame was long: six months. You were not told whose fiber you were working on, or who was given your fiber, just to make it a little interesting.

Lo and behold, I received a box in the mail last week. Inside was this:



I was speechless.



Ted must truly love me, because he sent my fiber to Katherine. Katherine spun this gorgeous yarn (she even sent two balls of it that she didn't need to complete the scarf) from my BBF fiber (it was an 80% merino/20% silk blend). She then knit it into this gorgeous and huge scarf. The especially observant among you (and the fellow-Avery obsessed) may recognize this as a pattern designed by Véronik Avery, yes, my Ve-Ve. Talk about fate: Katherine had no idea that the Lace Ribbon Scarf was ultimately meant for me when she knit it!



I will strive to get a photograph of me wearing the scarf and post it, too, but thank you, Katherine! I love it and I am touched at how beautiful it is and how perfect for me. You can see some more photos of the scarf in progress at Katherine's blog here.