Review: Wendy Knits: My Never-Ending Adventures in Yarn

I was searching the shelves of knitting books at the library when I spied Wendy Knits on the spine of a book. Could that be Wendy of wendyknits.net whose toe-up sock pattern I’ve used? Examination of the front cover revealed the book was Wendy Knits: My Never-Ending Adventures in Yarn by Wendy D. Johnson, founder of WendyKnits.net.

Wendy Knits was an enjoyable and quick read. Sometimes I just didn’t want to stop. Wendy D. Johnson chronicles her knitting journey from the young girl taught by her mother to one of the best known knitting bloggers. If you enjoy her blog, you’ll enjoy the book.

A collection of patterns range in difficulty from dishcloths to a cabled sweater and a Swedish sweater worked in 2 colors of yarn. Some are similar to many other projects, but are good basic projects to learn or to customize to suit yourself. The patterns include:

• 3 dishcloths
• 4 scarves
• 1 hat
• 2 catnip mice
• 1 felted pet bed
• 1 pair of toe-up socks
• 1 lace shawl
• 1 cell phone cozy
• 1 pair of fingerless mitts
• 2 tank tops
• 6 sweaters

Black and white photos illustrate the projects. The sweater patterns have schematic diagrams with measurements. All stitch patterns are written out in words. When appropriate, they are also given in charted form.

If you’ve ever had a project go wrong, you’ll commiserate with Wendy’s stories and benefit from her tips on avoiding disaster. A good amount of knitting wisdom is wrapped in the wit of this book. But it is not a how to book; there are no basic how-to-knit instructions or illustrations.

Enjoy the book and be sure to check out WendyKnits.net.