Patty Lyons' Knitting Bag of Tricks: Over 70 sanity saving hacks for better knitting

Absolutely accessible, simple yet informative. It’s also a delight to read with her friendly fun comments. I’m a lifelong knitter and this book has totally informed my knitting. I bought copies for the knitters in my life and now consider it as the best reference tool for general knitting that one could give space for on a book shelf.

First impressions...I really love the quality of this book. The paper is smooth and heavy...the cover looks durable and the binding top notch. I love how it is a sewn binding so that the pages lay flat when you turn the pages. I can imagine being able to throw this into my knitting bag and not worry about it falling apart and getting frayed. I really appreciate how Patty has a combination of photos with illustrations which place emphasis on the action being performed. I normally have a hard time processing illustrations and prefer photos...just the way my mind comprehends things...the way the action is showcased in a different color is brilliant! Of course, the whimsical drawings by Franklin are a nice added touch as well! Patty delves into the why behind the stitches and really helped me gain an understanding of the anatomy of the stitches and how that makes the knitted fabric behave. It is almost like a fiber physics class. Instead of just telling me to do an action...but why I am doing it... it is creating a mindset for me to help solve some problems I may encounter on my own as well. Honestly I feel like a have a teacher in my knitting bag ready to guide me through any project I may have on my needles. I have been knitting for over 18 years and I have to say...I have learned so much from reading this book. I only wish I had it as a reference when I was a novice. I honestly think that if Elizabeth Zimmerman was alive today..she would be giving Patty and five star review and saying way to go Patty!

If you’d told me a year ago that not only would I buy a book about how to knit better, but that I would ENJOY it, I would have said you were full of it! But I’d started to learn how to knit a while back, and I was still struggling with some things. Saw this recommended on the Purl Together channel, and the lady there is great, so figured worst case scenario, it just ends up in my unread stack. But I was honestly hooked from page one, and this was a quick read for me. After not quite half-way thru, I started a new practice swatch, and omg, this one was so much better than what I normally put out! It was totally flat (I wasn’t twisting my yarn anymore!), and when I read the section about pattern knitting, it was like when you’re playing a video game, and you open up a new section of map and can suddenly see all this stuff that was hidden to you before. I’m still very much a beginner (haven’t finished anything bigger than a washcloth!), but I found this book to be a very valuable resource. Really helps you understand the mechanics of knitting, from how you hold your needles, how you pull your loops, and how twisting in different directions will all affect your stitch. Very cool!

Patty Lyons' Knitting Bag of Tricks was exactly what I was looking for as a beginner knitter! I am pleased to have this eye-opening, must-have knitting information all in one place in book form. I finally understand the why of knitting! I highly recommend Patty Lyons' Knitting Bag of Tricks as a worthwhile addition to any beginning knitter's library!

As an experienced but self-taught knitter, I found this book to be absolutely wonderful. She solved many problems I had pondered, some I had given up as unsolvable, and some I had just chalked up to be "just the way things are". I slightly modified the way I cast on and bind off, and things are suddenly looking much better - square and simple to stitch together. This is definitely one I am going to keep with my other main knitting reference books. The ideas that she presents are ones that once you learn, you know, and won't need to keep looking up, if you keep knitting, and keep knitting similar things. But, many of us like to knit different things for variety. I sometimes like to knit lace, and she shows how to make your various yarn-overs the same size, no matter what kind of stitch you are coming from or going to. No more lopsided lace, just because one side is followed by a knit and the other by a purl. I docked it one star, because while the content of the book is stellar, the binding leaves a bit to be desired, and came unstuck from the back cover on the first reading. This makes the book a tad annoying to read, and makes me worry for the continued health of the pages, and how many might accidentally fall out.

This is an insightful and well-written guide to the whys of knitting. It has some basic instructions but is not a how-to-knit book. It instead walks you through common mistakes and misunderstandings and shows you why they happen, when you might do those things intentionally, and how to not do them when you don't want to. I struggled a lot with crossed stitches when I've tried knitting in the past but the illustrations on stitch direction and various knitting styles were life changing and I'm now well into my first hat, not with no crossed stitches but with the know-how to see and fix them.

I've only had my copy a couple of weeks and have already used several tips. Some of these tips seemed like common sense once Patty Lyons explained them, yet in my many decades of knitting, they hadn't yet occurred to me. Love it! I also love the way the book is bound, so it can be laid flat (or at least easily weighted to lay flat). As a younger knitter, I was a product knitter, meaning I was all about the end result — the sweater, the hat, the blanket, or whatever. Now as a more mature knitter, I've become more patient, taking pleasure in the whole process. I'm ripe for learning the "why" of knitting instead of just the "how," and Patty Lyon delivers. I'm going through a few pages at a sitting, highlighter and Post It tabs in hand. I suspect my copy is going to be well-thumbed in no time. ETA: I took my time reading, and just finished. What a great resource. My copy is bristling with Post-it flags, but I'm learning the index at the back can generally get me where I want to go. I've implemented her advice on swatching, joining new yarn, and creating a jogless stripe. And I'm particularly interested to try her advice on binding off stitches at the neckline. There were some sentences I had to read multiple times (and refer to Franklin Habit's excellent illustrations), but I've been ultimately successful with every tip I've had the opportunity to apply so far. The author's POV is that once you understand how knitting works — how stitches are built, how yarn moves through the project — it's pretty easy to figure out why a particular "fix" works, and also to be more confident in every aspect of your knitting. I can testify that even if you don't share her enthusiasm for the engineering underpinnings of the craft, you can skip merrily through the text, picking up great tips for great looking projects that fit.

I've been knitting for many years, but have never figured out how to pick up a dropped stitch from a cast-on row. Patty just explained it to me (page 79). Before that, though, on page 69, she showed me how to cast-on without a slip-knot (well, she explained and Linda Schmidt illustrated in a way that made it clear). I now know how to increase into the row below (page 124) and bind off in pattern without that stupid loop at the end (page 175). Most exciting to me: I believe I *can* do short rows. For me, pages 151-155 were so enlightening & encouraging that I think my eyes welled up a bit. I mentioned just 5 that immediately leaped out, but there's so much more I'll be putting into use, including finally learning to read my knitting now that I know what I should be looking for. The photography clarified the information throughout the book, too, and of course Franklin Habit's illustrations were charming. I've read a lot of instructions over the years (Lucy Neatby & Carol Sunday are just two whose explanations have helped me in many ways, e.g., how stitches work), but somehow I never was able to put into practice the specific actions I've mentioned here. This book came along at exactly the right time for me, and it will remain in my knitting basket for quick reference. Patty Lyons is a genius, and I hope she continues to share her discoveries with us.

Beautiful book. Unfortunately it arrived damaged with a page torn…. This is not really for complete beginners. It will not show you how to get started. More of a progression book once we already have some skills

Freakin’ awesome!

Very well written and entertaining. This author offers lots of suggestions for a better looking result for all your knitting projects

Es muy buen libro pero es mas para tips que para aprender

Great book. Full of very useful information, great illustrations and a fancy stay open binding. Every knitter should have this book.