Alterknit Stitch Dictionary

I recently got my hot little hands on Andrea Rangel’s latest book: Alterknit Stitch Dictionary and I love it! I wanted to share it with all of you.

Who is Andrea Rangel?

Andrea is a designer I’ve known….I think since I started designing! She lives near by (ish) in the Cowichan Valley, Vancouver Island, and Andrea draws inspiration from the beautiful world around her. I first knit her Dude sweater (which has since been upgraded to the Knitters Dude) during a KAL for the 2010 Winter Olympics. I have always liked her style; Andrea’s designs are often rugged knits, meant to be worn! I have also knit up a Little Dude sweater for Ellis, and it is oh so adorable.

Ellis’ Little Dude details: I knit up the 2-4 so he would have a little room to grow.

Yarn: Quince & Co Lark in ‘audoin’, ‘bark’ and ‘caspian’

The book

Andrea’s latest work is the awesome new: Alterknit Stitch Dictionary. The timing couldn’t be better for us as we are neck deep in Fair Isle these days! What is a stitch dictionary you ask? It is a big book of inspiration and, you guessed it: stitches. My personal knitting book shelves have a few choice pattern books and a whole lot of stitch dictionaries, a designers best friend. Some are texture heavy, some are full of cables and lace, and some are full of colourwork stitches. Andrea’s book is a very welcome addition, full of stitch patterns that are new and different, not an easy feat in the world of knitting! In addition to colourwork stitch patterns, this book is full of tips for choosing a colourwork palette as well as ways to manage your yarns and hands when knitting with multiple colours.

The process

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Andrea’s process for the book. She worked closely with her husband Sean, who isn’t really a knitter, but comes from a Fine Arts background. He would create a chart, she would bust out the needles and yarn and try it out. Motifs were tweaked and changed from there. This process is one that is somewhat familiar to Emily and I, designs often start out with a sketch, we will discuss changes after the prototype has been knit, charts or pattern writing will be tweaked etc. It is nice to have 2 minds thinking about the same project or idea, but often from different angles!

Combining Alterknits and Strange Brew

Alterknits and Strange Brew make a perfect combination. A book of inspiration to go along with all the sweater/hat/cowl math? The design possibilities are endless!