Knitting from the Center Out by David Yuhas

“I created each project in this book with the excitement of a new discovery, a miniature creative revolution, and I want to share that head-spinning feeling of wonder, possibility, and fun with you.”

Now, honestly, wouldn’t that have hooked you? Well there’s more.

I literally received this book yesterday from my friendly UPS man … started it this morning and finished the text about two hours later. It was like eating chips — I couldn’t stop reading and thinking and now my creative juices are revving. Why? It seems Yuhas has written a book akin to the rule-shattering books of Elizabeth Zimmermann. He takes the idea of starting from the center out (a great place to start since you usually have just a few sts and increase as you knit more and more and more … AND the benefit of usually knitting all right side rounds!) … and explores the many ways to design hand-knits, both garments and home-accessories. He has some projects in the book that include the standard in the round items: blankets, shawls and caps. But these all have a unique twist (see my “picks” below). He then expands on these shapes to make “heel-up socks”, a hoodie that starts at the top and works down, a seamless teddy bear, and mittens that knit from the thumb out..

As a designer, the great value of the book is the creative inspiration — he has the math facts in here so that I can expand my design horizons. I can develop his simple principle that, for MOST knitting, if you increase 4 sts every round, you will have a flat piece of knitting. But you can increase 8 every 2 rnds, or 12 every 3 rnds, or 32 every 8 rounds … this simple math rule means that I can design even more cool in the round projects.

This hardcover volume, with it’s 28 projects and detailed instructions and clear photographs and drawings is definitely worth the cover price! Here are some of the projects that particularly inspire me:

a round blanket with a twist: Dahlia Blanket

socks that start at the heel and go up and over … in the self-striping/patterning sock yarns these would be amazing

a hoodie that starts AT THE TOP of the hood and is knit seamlessly … the silhouette is spectacular

teddy bear … since it’s seamless, this is a great option for all those baby gifts I need to whip up

thumb-up mitts … very creative

Cool, huh?

So come join the revolution and learn to knit in the round. For more of Yuhas’s designs and creativity, check out his website http://www.superfunknits.com/book/

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