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A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting
Readers of the first book in this two-volume series (A Treasury of Magical Knitting) have fallen in love with the new world of Magical Knitting, a dimension so simple yet so captivating that one could spend a year exploring the huge variety of designs which Cat offers. Beginning with Cat's unique Moebius Cast-On, which is so easy that she usually demonstrates it in workshops behind her back while twirling slowly around on one foot, the reader first learns to knit a Moebius band, or scarf. This is the magic key that opens the way to all the other designs. The Second Treasury includes felted baskets (with no inside or outside!), felted fringed bowls, felted and unfelted sling bags, six different felted cat beds (one with paws and a tail!), and the trifold designs, including a knitter's bowl with pockets for tools and a place to keep working yarn away from playful felines. The Felted Needle Cozies, colorful, highly textured sheaths to hold straight needles, and the felted wallets are both excellent patterns for beginners and first-time felters. The book includes detailed information on felting, designing, and yarn substitutions.
112 pages, Paperback
First published January 21, 2005
86 people want to read
About the author
Cat Bordhi
7 books22 followersCat Bordhi became a writer at age twelve when she discovered the power of writing to an audience that is hungry and fully present, which at the time was herself and her closest friends, and the form was shared journals and letters. Like a raccoon washing its food in a creek, Cat learned to wash her experiences in a clear stream of words that hummed with something deeper than the confusion and dreams they described. Her most valued writing tool is Roget's Thesaurus, the full, classic edition (not the one organized like a dictionary, which is a poor cousin), because it allows one to unpeel layers of obscuration from meaning simply by testing different pathways of words.
She also learned to knit a bit like a raccoon, beside a creek, at age eight. Although her first two sweaters were abandoned unfinished, and there were years when she scarcely knit at all and other years where she knit obsessively, she has always loved the mystery of pulling loops through loops to make a shaped fabric, and continues to delight in the endless possibilities that keep appearing. She likes nothing better than to have a knitting experiment go awry because it means very interesting, possibly never-before-seen things are probably hiding nearby.
During her years as a school teacher, Cat taught a form of math which required students to deepen their understanding by explaining their investigations and insights with graphs, pictures, numbers, and words. Once she began to write knitting books, she realized that she was using the very same skills she had taught, and so her books are known for their thorough explanations.
Cat has been a full-time writer since 2002, and also teaches knitting workshops, gives talks at knitting retreats and to knitting guilds, and also teaches writing workshops. At this time she leads a quiet and blessed life tucked away in the woods on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, where she is working on the next book in the Forest Inside trilogy, and is sheepishly collecting what seem to be projects for a Third Treasury of Magical Knitting. The infinite nature of the Moebius just seems to keep offering new possibilities to explore.
She also learned to knit a bit like a raccoon, beside a creek, at age eight. Although her first two sweaters were abandoned unfinished, and there were years when she scarcely knit at all and other years where she knit obsessively, she has always loved the mystery of pulling loops through loops to make a shaped fabric, and continues to delight in the endless possibilities that keep appearing. She likes nothing better than to have a knitting experiment go awry because it means very interesting, possibly never-before-seen things are probably hiding nearby.
During her years as a school teacher, Cat taught a form of math which required students to deepen their understanding by explaining their investigations and insights with graphs, pictures, numbers, and words. Once she began to write knitting books, she realized that she was using the very same skills she had taught, and so her books are known for their thorough explanations.
Cat has been a full-time writer since 2002, and also teaches knitting workshops, gives talks at knitting retreats and to knitting guilds, and also teaches writing workshops. At this time she leads a quiet and blessed life tucked away in the woods on a remote island in the Pacific Northwest, where she is working on the next book in the Forest Inside trilogy, and is sheepishly collecting what seem to be projects for a Third Treasury of Magical Knitting. The infinite nature of the Moebius just seems to keep offering new possibilities to explore.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 16, 2020
Diane Barton
April 4, 2021
Like the first treasury, this is a very niche knitting book, but it's still a very very cool niche. Here, Bordhi takes the Moebius strip that she explained so well and builds on it. Only one basic scarf here (as a review/reminder of the Moebus construction). The rest of the projects are bags, bowls, cat beds... There's also a great breakdown of felting, since so many of the projects are felted. A few basic felting "practice" projects too.
Like I said, it's niche. I might not make many of the projects (my cat thinks the human-sized bed is his - yes, he's spoiled). But there are a few I'd make, and I really do love the break-down of the construction and design process. It's a great resource book for looking at knitting from a different angle. Yay math and knitting!
Like I said, it's niche. I might not make many of the projects (my cat thinks the human-sized bed is his - yes, he's spoiled). But there are a few I'd make, and I really do love the break-down of the construction and design process. It's a great resource book for looking at knitting from a different angle. Yay math and knitting!
August 26, 2009
It feels like reading a magic book. And I love that Cat writes for knitters who are not blind followers, and know that we have options. I want to try several ideas from this book. I know my cats will love the cat beds, as they love to curl up in the middle of my skeins of yarn.
February 25, 2008
Two words: math and knitting. There's a pattern for a knitted moibus strip in here!
July 31, 2008
This was a nice book, but I doubt I'd make anything from it. Glad I got it out from the library.
February 12, 2009
Finally working on my first project from this book! Having lots of fun with it!
January 28, 2011
YUM! These patterns are absolutely magical. This is one of my favorite knitting books.
August 12, 2015
Basket and bags.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews