24 September 2016

Choices, choices...

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In recent years, I have begun to really appreciate the joys of a phone with a good-sized screen or an iPad. In addition to all their other wonders, it is so good being able to read books or knitting patterns when you are out and about.

Just being able to quickly check some detail or search for a stitch for that perfect yarn you have just found is invaluable. It is so good being to zoom in to see small details too. No more squinting at tiny little stitch charts in a print book!

Then when you get back home, you can park your iPad back into its holder and use the same stitch information while you are planning your next project. It really is the best of both worlds – use your computer when you are at a desk, or a mobile device when you're not.
Samples using stitches from Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So when we were planning our new book, Reversible Knitting Stitcheswe wanted to make sure that it could be used both when you're at home on your computer and on the road too! You can dip in and out of an E-book, jump ahead, go back to where you just were or read something in depth. It just makes life so simple.

So we formatted the book to maximise the capabilities of mobile devices. This includes a set of formatted bookmarks for the different Chapters and Sections so you can easily navigate around the book. There are also thumbnail images of all the pages so it is easy to scroll through those to help locate stitches you'd like to investigate.

I also love the "search" function on a phone and often use that to hunt for stitch patterns that we have noted would be good for a blanket or a tea cozy, for example. That is such a powerful tool.

For more information about this brand-new book, please click here.

And thanks to everyone for all the great messages about the book – it's so good to hear that everyone is as enthusiastic as we are ourselves!

Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira and Anna
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches,
reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible stitches,

19 September 2016

And it's here!

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Our new E‐book, Reversible Knitting Stitches, has just been published! I've been talking about it for a few weeks and now here it is.

The idea behind the book was to provide a sourcebook for double‐sided stitch patterns so that you can dip into it any time you are designing a new project. The stitches are arranged in twelve chapters according to the appearance of the stitch, so that there are separate chapters for diagonal stitches, cabled patterns or lace stitches, for example.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The book features more than 250 reversible knitting stitches with photos of both the front and reverse sides. Each pattern also includes notes about the stitch, suggestions for its use and full information for working the pattern, including both stitch charts and line-by-line instructions.

Here, for example, is Tricolour Seed Stitch, which is a wonderfully colourful stitch worked with three toning colours. 
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In addition, the book contains examples of more than 80 projects showing the stitches in use. They include clothing, accessories and items for the home. Hopefully they will act as jumping-off points to spark your own ideas for how you can use these stitches for your future projects.

For more information about reversible knitting and to see more sample pages from the book, please click here, and to purchase a copy of Reversible Knitting Stitches, please click here. The book pdf file is available for immediate download from the site.

You can then open it on any computer, tablet or phone. You can “pinch and zoom” to view any details at a larger magnification and can also turn your phone sideways if you prefer to use it in a landscape mode.

I have shown a picture of the book on a phone at the top of this page and will be back next time to show it also on an iPad.

Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira

​Publication Information:

Reversible Knitting Stitches – A Sourcebook of 250 Double-Sided Stitch Patterns
by Moira Ravenscroft and Anna Ravenscroft
Published by Wyndlestraw Publishing, 2016
Current Version: v2.1 August 2022, ISBN: 978-1-944921-25-5
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches,
reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible stitches,

14 September 2016

A different kind of Stitch Book

Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
I love books of knitting stitches. I have quite a number of them now and regularly look through them all. I purchased the first of these when we were living in Japan a few years ago and it's still one of my favourites. This features large photos of the stitches, clear stitch charts and extra project photos scattered throughout the book, including inspiring jackets, cardigans and sweaters.

So when Anna and I decided to publish a book about Reversible Knitting Stitches, that was our starting point – to really explore every stitch and to add a good number of project photos too. In short, we wanted this to be not just a stitch book but instead a reference sourcebook on reversible knitting.
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
So here's the very first stitch in our brand-new E-book, Reversible Knitting Stitches

This is Seed Stitch and it rightfully takes the first place in our new book as it has always been one of my favourites. It is such a neat and precise stitch forming into a wonderfully regular dotted pattern. It adds stability when used as a border, but is also a strong stitch in its own right so can be used for bags, placemats and other items.

The example page above shows the format that we have used throughout the book, with:
  • a difficulty symbol to show if this is a good stitch for a beginner or a more experienced knitter,
  • photographs of both the front and the back of the stitch, and
  • stitch charts together with full line‐by‐line instructions, so you can choose which you prefer.​​
Baby Blue Sweater by Anna Ravenscroft, Anna Alway Designs
We have also added suggestions for using each stitch. It is, after all, almost impossible to tell from a photograph whether a stitch would make a cozy baby blanket, or if it would be better‐suited as a firm teapot stand. So every stitch includes a number of project suggestions.

To help illustrate these qualities, we have included photos of more than 80 different projects through the book to show actual examples of the stitch in use. For example, in Anna's lovely Baby Blue Sweater above, she has used Seed Stitch as a pretty trim for the cuffs, neckline and lower edge. 
Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
The book is formatted so you can read it on your computer, iPad, tablet or phone and of course you can pinch and zoom the display to really look at the details clearly.

​This is great for anyone preferring larger print, of course, as you can enlarge the page to check on any specific information.
I hope you all enjoy this brand-new book and that it will give you lots of inspiration for your future projects! If you would like to read more details about the book and see a gallery of sample pages, then please click here. To purchase a copy, please click here.  It is available for instant download from the site. 

I’ll be back next time with some more photographs from the book. 

Until then – Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches,
reversible knitting, knitting stitches, reversible stitches, Seed Stitch,

07 September 2016

And then there were lots!

Samples, Reversible Knitting Stitches by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
In my last blogpost I reported how my knitter‐daughter Anna and I had decided to take our fascination with reversible knitting to the stage of writing an E‐book. So having decided to do this, we then set to in earnest. Since Anna lives in England and I spend most of my time in the States, this was an interesting exercise!

We scoured our local libraries, dived into previously unexplored knitting tomes and unearthed School Knitting Primers from Victorian times. We swapped ideas and samples, spent endless hours on Skype, and filled many a happy day knitting, knitting, knitting.

By the next time we got together there were hundreds of knitting samples filling boxes and overflowing into cupboards and onto shelves. Then we started the fun part: trying to reduce them down to our favourite 200 reversible samples.

Now we had our starting material it helped us crystallise our ideas. We decided that we wanted this to be a knitting stitch compendium but with a vital difference: we wanted to really explore the stitches and give inspiration on how to use each of them – in short to be not just a list of stitches, but a sourcebook of reversible knitting.

More about this next time . . . . .

Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira and Anna
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches,
reversible knitting, reversible stitches, knitting stitches, reversible patterns,

01 September 2016

A hint of what's to come

Samples for Reversible Knitting Stitches book by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Some years ago, I was convalescing in bed after a series of operations. Of course, being a knitter, I didn't see that having to be immobile meant I couldn't knit, or at least peruse magazines looking for knitting patterns and ideas.

So I started re‐reading old magazine clippings I had been hoarding for ages. I went through looking for interesting stitch patterns and glueing them onto pages to put in a box file. By the time I was done, I had three files full of stitch patterns, notes and patterns.

This was before there were stacks of knitting magazines in every newsagents and a shelf‐full of knitting books in the local library. In fact, I didn't own a single knitting book, so a file full of stitches was a tremendous resource.

I started experimenting and making up some new stitches and adding extra ones I came across, and that's when I noticed something: I loved the ones that were reversible.
Beckenham Scarf by Moira Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs – Chunky version
Reversible stitches just drew me – the way they look great from both sides, their drape, their usefulness.

Of course there are thousands of knitting stitches, and most of these look good from the right side. But when the wind blows your shawl and you see the other face then it can often be quite disappointing. Your beautiful design is hidden and you see a series of bumps instead. I suppose it has the name "wrong side" for a reason!

A scarf made from a reversible stitch, however, can be draped around your neck in a playful fashion without any regard to which side is on view, since both sides look good. Sometimes both faces are identical, and sometimes they have a differing character on one side than the other, but both sides have an attractive appearance.

The scarf above, for example, is the Beckenham Scarf, a man's scarf featuring a wonderfully textural reversible stitch, Seeded Chevron.

So I started to gather the samples that were especially lovely on both sides. At first I had just a few swatches ... then a few more ...
Samples for Reversible Knitting Stitches book by Moira Ravenscroft & Anna Ravenscroft, Wyndlestraw Designs
Then my daughter Anna, herself a lifelong knitter, joined in and before we knew it we had a table‐full! We stood looking at the growing pile for a while, then Anna said "We should gather these into an E‐book!" and that's what's coming this month!

More info next time...

Happy Reversible Knitting!

Moira & Anna
Keywords: Book/Reversible Knitting Stitches,
reversible knitting, reversible stitches, knitting stitches, reversible patterns,

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