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About Knitspeak

As a knitting teacher, Andrea noticed that her students easily picked up the basic set of skills that would allow them to go on to create fabulous things, but once they encountered patterns, they threw down their needles in frustration. The barrier? Obtuse Pattern Language! Would they be doomed to a life of knitting scarves and potholders (not that there is anything wrong with scarves and potholders…)

How could they access the incredibly varied and rich world of patterns? How indeed, when the teacher herself (Andrea) had problems with patterns? Knowing what a trial it is to pore through a pattern to try to make sense out of it, she figured she could help others by writing a book that translates Knitspeak into plain English and thereby help other knitters move from confused to confident.
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Customers will only knit so many scarves before they want to make more interesting and varied projects. Helping knitters learn pattern language will encourage them to try new and more challenging projects and many will keep knitting (and buy more yarn!). 		.
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Even long-time knitters can get stymied by the strange and perplexing language of knitting patterns. Sure, you can go to the web for answers, but you often have to sift through a lot of text for a simple explanation.		 .
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 Why another Knitting Reference?

Knitting books may devote one or two pages to how to read patterns, but there is no other comprehensive book on how to translate knitting language into English.
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Knitspeak Causes

Knitspeak is designed to help you figure out what LLI (left lifted increase) means at 2am, but it does not do much to repair the rest of the world.

I will be distributing a portion of the proceeds of Knitspeak among these three causes; please join me in knitting together a better world.

Heifer International

Heifer International provides gifts of livestock along with training to people all over the world.

Donate now via our Gift Registry.

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http://www.somaly.org/

Somaly Mam foundation advocates to change laws, policies and customs to prevent girls and women from being sold into slavery; they rescue girls from prostitution and provide job training and employment services.  As part of their job training, the girls learn to sew and make bracelets.  If you donate $25. through the store, you receive one of the bracelets as a thank-you gift. 

Donate now via somaly.org.

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To sign up on the Knitspeak mailing list for notices (not often, I promise) about the book’s arrival in stores, book signings, workshops, etc.: info@knitspeak.com
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Thanks!
A great number of people have contributed to this book.  Some were students, some are members of my local knitting circle, and others participated as members of three focus groups in Olympia, WA and at the Yarn Garden in Portland, OR. 

Thanks to all of you for co-creating this book!