M-Dub Gonna Knit Ya

The Knitting Answer Book
By: Margaret Radcliffe
Publisher: Storey Publishing (2005)
ISBN: 1580175996 (paperback: alk. paper)

Truth in advertising exists! The sub-title to The Knitting Answer Book reads: “Solutions to Every Problem You’ll Ever Face. Answers to Every Question You’ll Ever Ask.” I can’t speak to the future, but in my (admittedly very limited) past experience with hand-knitting, Margaret Radcliffe’s Answer Book did indeed answer every question I asked and sorted me through every problem I faced. Even better, I was able to consult it: in Bucharest, in the basement at my Dad’s house at 0200 hrs, all over my Mom’s house at all hours of the day and night, while sitting in the Red Carpet Club at the C Gates at Dulles, repeatedly through an IAD-MUC flight on United, and at countless other times over the last year or so. The point being, of course, that this little tome is eminently portable, even for a guy who doesn’t carry a dedicated knitting bag or purse. It lived very happily in the outer pockets of my backpack and jacket with no fuss. Roughly the length and width of my hand and weighing in at about 14 ounces, the book is pint-sized technical support for a knitter.

Now, I’m not a knitter. I’ve knit one complete project and will probably do a few more just ‘cause it’s relaxing and productive and because the woman I adore is rather into the whole yarn and needles thing. I still look at her rubbing some sticks together with string mixed in, see something useful emerge, and consider it a moderately benign form of black magic. That’s why The Knitting Answer Book has been such a find. It covers, clearly and concisely, all the basics of the craft. The illustrations leave little room for confusion and the text is light yet substantive.

For example: I needed to figure out which cast-on to use and…OK, let’s start at the absolute beginning. I needed to figure out what ‘CO 64, join in rnd’ might refer to. I looked it up, nodded sagely, picked up the needles and yarn, looked at them, set them down, picked up the book again and looked up “Casting On”. I then read the section, nodded sagely, set it down, picked up the needles and yarn, looked at them, set them down, picked up the book again and looked up “best cast-on for socks”. Read, nodded sagely, picked up needles/yarn, wrapped yarn around left hand, wiggled stick with right, paused regularly to count, cursed periodically, eventually reached 64, realized that while I had a nice long-tail cast-on (looked it up again to verify, nodded sagely), it did not appear to be “in rnd”. Looked up “rnd”, then “round”, then “casting-on in the round”, then “joining cast-ons”, read all of the above, nodded sagely, set down book, fetched aspirin to soothe soreness in neck from excessive nodding, picked up sticks and string, and joined the ends of my long-tail cast-on into a circle. Looked up “celebrating victory”, found no suggestions, decided my confidence level was high enough at this point to improvise, took two shots of Jack Daniels, grilled steak over coal, ate said steak, sat down again, picked up needles and string, realized I had several hundred rows to go just for the first sock, along with such mysterious procedures as “instep gussets”, “heel flaps” and “toe decreases”. Counted toes, realized I didn’t have enough to handle all the decreases that the pattern called for and looked up “using black magic to conserve body parts”. After a long session of reading, I pretty much determined that knitting is straightforward if you follow directions, don’t worry about Satanic influences too much, and don’t consume Jack Daniels early in the process. I also learned that there are two camps of knitters, English and Continental, whose relationship is roughly reminiscent of the East Coast and West Coast rap clans. Bought gun, renamed self “M-Dub” for increased street cred, and eventually knit two rather nice wool socks. Word.

Answers were available to the most basic and, eventually, more advanced questions I came up with. They were well-indexed, laid out in a sensible manner, and made sense even to a beer-guzzling, fumble-fingered lunkhead like me. When I ran into problems (read: badly screwed up and didn’t notice at the time), the book helped me solve them. When I didn’t have the right tools, it helped me improvise. It was a life-saver and is, in large part, responsible for the successful completion of my project. I strongly recommend it for starting and intermediate knitters, as well as advanced ones who like a little reassurance. Portable, inexpensive and oh-so-comprehensive, this book is a winner.

Coming up:
-Just Kick It by Mark St. Amant
-Dies The Fire by S.M. Stirling
-The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth by Benjamin Friedman

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