Simple Knits for Easy Living

by Erika Knight

This volume takes the best of contemporary design and shows you how to create luxurious textiles - throws, cushions, shawls, cot covers and bedspreads among them - in natural yarns using the simplest possible stitches and patterns.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, Crafts

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Keep it simple, chic and contemporary! So says Erika, textile designer and fashion design consultant, whose trademark has been the traditional with a twist. Coming into knitting via fine art training, she is highly regarded in her field and works for many international companies designing ready-to-wear ranges. Author of Comforts of Home (Martingale), her latest book is Simple Knits for Cherished Babies (Collins & Brown).

Reviews

[CJ]

Gorgeous book with beautiful projects that I must get around to do for real some time.

[Amanda]

Found a copy today at S books and read it in the reading room. Probably a mark of the times, a nice collection of home use knit patterns very beginner friendly, emphasis on simple stitch patterns and colours, but would be able to find similar things to most online these days. Found the layout of the book would be a little hard to use if trying to knit from it as the pictures were rather large and the print text quite small.

[Lexi]

The elegant cover design attracted me to this particular knitting book - a cool calm interior with a simple grey throw rather than a crazy multicoloured extravaganza. I wasn't disappointed when it arrived - every item has a classy modern feel to it - you could easily find them in Habitat.

So far I have made several knitted string baskets for the bathroom (the string is tough on the fingers but it looks fab), a textured button cushion cover (my teenaged niece has "borrowed" it for her room which is a clear sign of approval), and started the throw pictured on the cover.

The instructions are very easy to follow - the only problem is choosing which one to make next as they all look great. If you have never knitted before, the help section at the front is actually very clear, and because most of the patterns are basically squares it's a lot easier than tackling a jumper or socks!

Highly recommended.

[Ligaya]

I love and appreciate Erika Knight's aesthetic and think her books are lovely. But after you get past an intermediate (or intrepid beginner) level of knitting, you find that these patterns are something that you could (easily) figure out on your own. The photography is beautiful. The projects are simple and classic. Sometimes you just need to take a peek at these types of knits to remind yourself that you can do these if you wanted!

[April]

I loved the projects in this book.

[Mckinley]

Seems to be a lot of cross over with Comforts of Home: simple knitted accents by same author.