Increase Decrease (review & giveaway)
So that secret suspicion you had? That feeling that maybe TNNA was an awful lot like a birthday party with lots of goody bags for everyone to take home? Yeah, there’s actually some truth to that! One of the things that came home with me was a stack of lovely books to review and give away. And today we’re starting with Judith Durant’s marvelous Increase Decrease: 99 Step-by-Step Methods.
The short version of the review is ‘oh my woolly goodness, if you like to experiment with your knitting instead of just following instructions, go get this right now.’ I have more to say, but really, this is a nifty book, and I suspect you’re going want it on your shelf.
So, do you remember how, some time early in your knitting career, you learned to yarn over, ssk, and k2tog, and all of a sudden you felt like the world was yours? You were no longer confined to straight lines, you could make things swoop this way and that at will (or, if you were like me, sometimes not at will). You had a new superpower and all was right with the world.
Then, somewhere along the line, you started wanting to tweak those increases and decreases. You wanted stitches you could work on the purl side. Or that you could work in a column of twisted stitches. Or that were a bit showier (or a bit more invisible). So you learned a few new tricks, or maybe a pattern taught you something fun somewhere along the way. But I bet you always suspected there were even more options.
Well, you were right! Judith Durant has gathered together a lovely pile of increases and decreases, provided clear and careful photos of each, and aranged them in a delightfully tidy fashion. The result is a fabulously useful little reference guide.
The thing that makes Increase Decrease so helpful is its organization. Judith shows you how to work each stitch on both the right side and the wrong side of your fabric and, when appropriate, shows you how to work both left-leaning and right-leaning versions of the stitch. So you get a right-leaning knit decrease, a left-leaning knit decrease, a right-leaning purl decrease, and a left-leaning purl decrease, all presented one after the other so you understand the relationship between them. Then she does the same for twisted versions of all those stitches, and for lifted increases, and make one increases, and for oodles of other increases and decreases. Grouping them like this helps you develop a better understanding of how your knitting actually works, which makes you a more confident and resourceful knitter.
And of course it’s not just single increases and decreases (where you create one new stitch or turn two stitches into one). She’s got options for twos and threes and more. The section on working increases and decreases while maintaining larger stitch patterns clarifies a subject an awful lot of folks seem to dread, and the section on decreasing a two-color circular pattern is a special treat (I swear any of the swatches she shows there could be turned into adorable hats). This really is a marvelously thorough guide.
And while it doesn’t cover every conceivable combination (twisted centered double decreases are the one thing I really missed), it gives you the pieces to put together the things it doesn’t cover. You could easily spend an hour or so walking through all the stitches in one section (say, the lifted increases or the double decreases) and come away a stronger knitter.
This is going to have a permanent place on my technique shelf. It will live right next to Cast On Bind Off, which is another offering by the same publisher in the same handy spiral bound format. (I dearly hope they do a whole series like this, perhaps cables should be next!)
And I’ve got an extra copy to send to one of you to add to your shelf. Just leave a comment telling me where you are on your increase/decrease adventure. Are you happy with a little handful of techniques? Are you ready to learn a few more? Or do you get an unreasonable amount of glee from picking exactly the right decrease for a given situation?
Comments left between now and the end of the day Saturday, July 18 will be entered to win a copy of the book. I’ll pick a winner, contact them to get their addresses, and arrange to send yarn their way. Be sure to use a real email address so I can contact you if you’ve won (I won’t do anything with those email addresses besides notify the winner). If I do email you, I need to hear back from you within 72 hours or I will pick a new winner and contact them. Sorry, but I can only ship physical prizes to US addresses.
The image of the book’s cover at the top of the post belongs to Storey Publishing and is used with their permission.
Oh would love this! Looks like a great book and I’m always trawling websites instead of referencing a physical copy.
I’m fairly happy with my little group of ssk and k2tog, but I sure wouldn’t mind some suggestions for good increases. And I wouldn’t mind seeing what she has to say about m1L and m1R–not to mention all the other good stuff.
I have Cast on Bind off in my library and can never have enough technique books to improve my knitting. I’m constantly knitting as my husband and 4 children are always asking for new knits. And with our first grandchild on the way, I’m having lots of fun choosing baby knits for my queue. I believe there are appropriate techniques for every project and love learning new and/or better ways of doing things so this would definitely be a useful book to add to my bookshelf (or knitting bag as I suspect that’s where it’s home will be). Thanks for doing this giveaway.
Oh, I’m SOLD! If I don’t win, I’m buying this for certain!
I love learning new techniques. I am easily distracted and having new ways of working with a piece definitely makes me happy.
Whoa! I organize a knitting event called Knitters Anonymous, and this topic would be so perfect for one of our sessions! We did the “Cast On, Bind Off” one our first year. Thanks for offering this opportunity!
I would love to be more advanced in my increase/decrease technique! This little book would open up a whole new world of knitting for me.
I enjoy doing lace with increases and decreases, usually using the standbys, ssk and k2tog. I’d love a whole book dedicated to more and different methods.
What a great book! I am always ready to learn something new !
Thank you for the review. I wasn’t aware of this series and they both sound excellent. I am never satisfied with my ssk’s. Maybe there will be a solution in here for me. Christmas wish list, unless I win this one!
My knitting mentor has the cast on and bind off book like this- She’d really appreciate the book as she designs patterns as well.
Personally, I like knit on front back and knit two together or a center double decrease, but it NEVER hurts to have more skills.
I need more of these skills in my knitting vocabulary!
Pick me, pick me! 🙂 I’d love to learn a few increases and decreases.
This book looks fantastic! I’m at the point now where I’m wanting to switch up the increases and decreases in patterns do this would be an invaluable resource for me. Thanks for the fantastic review!
I can use as much help as possible and this would help with that!
I’m fascinated by different kinds of stitches. Sometimes I like to research and try new things and sometimes I want to mindlessly follow a pattern with just plain old k2tog and ssk. It depends on my mood. : )
Thanks for sharing!
Be still my heart, for I love to know not only the *how* of doing things, but the *why*. This looks like a tremendous resource that I will add to my collection. Thanks!
It gives me great joy to explore the sculptural aspects of increasing and decreasing, or how a fabric’s character can be reinvented with creative use of increases and decreases.
I would love to learn some new increase and decrease techniques. Thanks for the chance to win the book.
Lmecoll on Ravelry
I am always surprised at how many increase and decrease stitches there are, and just when I think I know all the basics, another one is introduced to me in a pattern…I just did the Elizabeth Zimmerman yarn over increase and it added so much stretch to the start of a crescent shawl…although it worked well in garter stitch and not likely in stockinette, so that’s why I would love this book, knowing when to use which stitch for which effect. Thanks for the chance to win!
I’m usually happy with my standard collection of increases and decreases, but every now and then I’m trying to get a certain look and nothing works quite perfectly. I’d love to have this book to refer to in those situations. Oh, and being the knitting geek I am, I’ll probably spend hours swatching all the different increases and decreases just for fun.
I get an unreasonable amount of glee from finding the perfect increase or decrease. This is going on my buy list. Thanks for the review.
I love Cast On Bind Off. Now I really need to have this. I may not be able to wait to see if I win it :^)
Thank you for your review. This is a great book and I a use it often to check my “techniques” to get hints for increases decreases. For those who don’t own it, I highly recommend!!! Glad to hear that cast ons and cast off’s is as good. I have a few dvd on the subject, while I like being able to “see” the technique live, I find that it is often difficult to remember where the instructor is doing a particular cast on and then go back and match the cast off. I will put the book on my wish list.
This book looks like something that needs to come live with me! I’m a fairly confident knitter, but I’m always up for a new technique. I really like that the book shows the relationships between the knit-wise and purl-wise decreases and increases – this is something I am trying to learn. Thanks for recommending this book!