It is no secret that I love Gudrun Johnston. In my opinion she’s the best handknitting designer out there. Her designs are creative, elegantly shaped without being fancy, deceptively simple by which I mean “knitterly” a term that means clever and fun to knit!
If you’ve been following along with the blog tour,
Susan B Anderson – January 2nd
Kristin Nicholas – January 9th
Laura Nelkin– January 16th
Kirsten Kapur-January 30th
you know that Knit with Me is a collection of patterns that both mom’s and daughters will want to wear. You can each make the same one…only different! A different color, or a just different way of wearing it, as simple as buttoning it differently as demonstrated by the mom and daughter wearing Empire!
My own daughter Sophie was quick to pick up the book when she came to visit. Funny enough she arrived with a big bag of clothes that she’d “borrowed” some that I’d totally forgotten about or thought that I had lost!
She’s a knitter too, so for Christmas I promised to get her the yarn for whichever project she’d like.
So hard to choose….look at the simple sleeve detail on Brock.
But in the end she chose McIntosh, the stripey one. It was the curved front that sold her.
She’s still undecided on colors…all of the designes feature Quince & Co yarns. McIntosh uses Lark, a yarn I love and have been using in the newest book I’m working on. It has great stitch definition, and is wonderful for colorwork. I’m going to make myself a MacIntosh too…
The patterns are written beautifully, with sensational schematics. Hello! I love a good schematic, and theses are the best I’ve ever seen.
I have to mention the styling of Knit with Me, so beautiful. Who doesn’t’ like gingham and chickens! That hat is called Rubens. Carrie Bostick Hoge is the photographer of all the garment images, she always brings things to clear and beautiful life. Thanks to her and Quince & Co for sharing the images.
So for you dear readers. Leave a message in the comments for a chance to win your very own copy of Knit With Me. You’ve got until midnight on Sunday January 27th … Tell a story…mom daughter, knitting or your thoughts on gingham and knits! Or chickens! Or Apples…each of the garments is named after an apple. I’ll contact the winner and get your mailing address on Monday.
The comments are closed. Thanks everyone!
This is such a charming book and theres even some gingham, perfect!
love all these patterns in this book.
Apples are my favorite fruit!!! I know a lot of people like sweet apples like Honeycrisp, but I prefer tart ones like Granny Smiths. Getting hungry just thinking about it…
I love apples, Macouns are one of my favorites. Although in this collection Braeburn is my favorite!
Love these patterns, specifically I have my eyes on that stripey sweater as well.
My mom used to have a phrase: “mirror mirror on the wall…I am my mother afterall.” Totally true! For instance, one day I was eating popcorn and drinking a Coca Cola; I called my mom and asked her what she was up to: “eating popcorn, drinking a Coke.” Last winter, I sat down on my couch all weekend, knitting all day, watching the whole first season of Downton Abbey…episode after episode. I found out that my mom did the very same thing that weekend (knitting and Downtown Abbey). She would get a kick out of this book! We’d have to make the same sizes of everything since we also share our clothes. 🙂
thanks for the giveaway!
I love Gudrun and agree with everything you said about her and her patterns and love every pattern in this new book, have been drooling over them since I first saw it.
Favorite eating apples Gala, favorite for cooking/baking Granny Smith.
My grandmother made the best pies ever – her crusts were to die for and OMG applesauce cake was the best it is what I wanted for my birthday every year.
And apples remind me of fall/autumn my very favorite time of the year.
I love Gudrun’s work and would LOVE to win this book!
…if only to take a peek at these amazing schematics you speak of, lol!
No pattern for men…but if I would win it..I would pass it to a dear Friend who is a great help nowadays. here at home…but from a Designer Vieuw…GUDRUN IS GREAT!
I came late to knitting because of a knitting “trauma” when I was 14 and the fact that my mom did it so well, but i’m hooked now and aspire to something knitterly
I love Gudrun’s patterns. Just this past year I have completed Audrey in Unst for myself and a Hansel Hap shawl for my daughter who is expecting her first child in February. Both turned out beautiful and the directions were easy to follow. I think I would start with the Brock sweater in this collection and I have my eye on the Nasturtium yarn shown in the shade card above.
Well said, Mary Jane. You and Gudrun are an inspiration to me. McIntosh apples were my dad’s favorite. When I was a little, we would all pile into his International Scout and drive over the mountain to the orchards. We filled the entire back of the vehicle with bushels and bushels of them. My mother made pies and applesauce and we ate them whole. Since my father passed away five years ago, I think of him every time I think about the crisp, delicious McIntosh.
I love gingham!! Good idea; maybe that’s my next knitting challenge. I also love apples—especially Gravensteins, which they don’t seem to have here in Vancouver. I grew up in Nova Scotia and Gravensteins were a staple for me every apple season. Oh and the book is gorgeous. I think the one I like best might be Braeburn.
i love apples especially when accompanied with a selection of cheeses. gingham reminds me of picnics which i adore. love the patterns in this book.
The projects in this book are gorgeous, and I like that the projects are all named after apples. I would love to win a copy!
I have a beagle named Apple. There’s a quick story behind how she got her name. She was dropped off at a kill shelter when she was 4 weeks old with her mother and 3 sisters, and they were rescued by a pet adoption center. Her mom was a lemon beagle, so she was called Lemon by her foster mother, and her pups were named Kiwi, Strawberry, Apple and Peaches. We adopted Apple when she was 8 weeks and kept her name. So I’m partial to all kinds of apples. 🙂
Still – Ambrosia is my favourite… 🙂 I would love to knit this one. I do not have a daughter – but a niece… She just starts to knit. So we would have a project in the future.
Regards
Hanni
Love this book! Gave it to my 13 year old (and me!) for her Christmas birthday. I have Ambrosia on the needles. Would love to win a copy to give to another mother daughter knitting duo I know.
I came late to knitting, a desire to learn that was not influenced by my mom–she used to sew and embroider. I just got the itch to learn and taught myself. Funnily enough, it wasn’t until 5 years after I learned to knit, that my mom randomly told me that my grandmother, her mother, used to knit. Sadly, she’d passed away before I was two, but it made me feel closer to her. I’m working on a sweater now for my mom, but not one that I’d personally wear. Brock and Empire would appeal to both of us–I’d love to win a copy. Thanks for the chance!
Love Gudrun! And this book looks fab!
My grandmother taught me to knit when I was 10. My mom isn’t the hands-on kind of crafty person at all–she’s a writer (a good one, too) but not the kind of person who would enjoy knitting. So I make things for her. The patterns are beautiful! I would love to try them out 🙂
I love each of these patterns in the book. It’s been fun to look at them think of which pattern my mother, or cousins would like.
Knitting with Lark right now! And so look signing up for your class at the Searsport Marine Museum next month!
My own daughter is only two, but a number of these look like they could size way down with fingering weight yarn! Quick, before she’s too old to want to “match” with Mama… Ambrosia in a sport weight might come out about 3T…
Beautiful, wearable designs in this collection. But I think Gudrun is going to need to do several more apple-themed books, because she passed up so many great names. Black Gilliflower? Sheepnose? Northern Spy? Blue Pearmain? Foxwhelp? Nodhead? Nonesuch? Starksplendour? Orange Pippin? I love apple names. Perhaps I need a flock of chickens all called after apples…
Rebecca, I grew up picking Gravensteins and Jonagolds at a friend’s orchard on San Juan Island, not too far from Vancouver, so they are definitely out west if you hunt for them a little! They were a defining taste of my childhood. I looked forward to apple season all summer long. I can still remember the thrill of finally being able to remove the peel in one piece so I could toss it over my shoulder and try to decipher the initial of the person I was supposed to marry. And the cider — delicious!
This is one of the few books of which I wouldn’t know with what pattern to start, becausr I love every pattern in it! I think I’d just start at the first page and knit them in the order given.
Ever since learning in 4-H, I have knit… a little bit. My mother just happened to be the leader so I guess there is my mother/ daughter knitting connection. And now my daughter- who learned to knit at Ashwood Waldorf School- maybe from YOU, Maryjane, from your time teaching handwork there- and she takes great pride in occasionally knitting socks for me- lucky me!
I have a bit of a pattern phobia, but these patterns do look very approachable.
Came across this from a tweet by Susan B Anderson. Will definitely have to check this out
Gingham rules! I’ve loved gingham, especially pink gingham, since I was a girl and fell in love with a pink gingham and rick rack bedspread in the Sears catalog. I later found the exact same one at a thrift store and have it on my guest bed. Isn’t life grand!
My daughter recently became a knitter, it would be wonderful to share this book with her.
Her patterns are so well done and her designs look good on any figure, which as you all know is a blessing!
I have been making booties and baby mitts by the bushel. Creme, cherry, aubergine and green wools used to make sweet Fair Isle patterns are really rewarding, especially as the long hours of knitting allow me to watch endless hours of movies and listen to endless hours of audiobooks and knitting podcasts! Now this is what I call heaven!
I want it because I care about you and your shipping efforts. Much easier to just drop it off. And….I have chickens. I’ll give you eggs.
I am not sure why I don’t already own this book, it is full of things I’d like to knit and wear. Gingham and knits..well, you know that my dormant love for gingham has been revived, thanks to your Pinteresting eye. Gingham + handknits=yes!
You know have you have this “List” in your head. You kind of scribble down the first six books you REALLY want to buy and then you put it away. You come across it again and you scrub out four of them because…well, you basically have all the information and ideas elsewhere in other books. You see one of the two books left being reviewed and you go back to that list scratched in the margin of your notebook next to “Knitting Abbreviations Glossary” which you taped in. Then you remember the story on Quince and Co. and all those gorgeous bird names for yarns…and that mill with its atmosphere. The second book you order from the library and you find it is alright and you still might get it in a sale…if you saw it. “Knit With Me” simply won’t leave your damned list AND your library doesn’t have it. You know you are going to put this on the “hallowed” list and wait for a birthday or a special event. So you do…women are good like that.
Thanks MJ for presenting it again. Thanks too for the constant consistent inspiration.
Your,
Fiona MacBride
Love to own this book… Love apples too xxx
Would love to own this book. Those are some delightful patterns.
My mom gave me the yarn to knit myself an Aidez sweater (pattern by Cirilia Rose). I knew she loved the pattern too, so when I finished mine, I made a second one for her and gave it to her for Christmas this year. I’m sure neither of us would mind having another set of matching sweaters (I love Braeburn) !
So many beautiful designs! My mom doesn’t knit but she does love to receive handknits!
I love that sweet sweet Sophie girl and gingham and chickens!
Apples! I always love it in the fall when the booths at the farmer’s market have samples of all the apple varieties. Sometimes the descriptions they post veer into wine tasting territory. “Crisp, yet lightly sweet with hints of strawberry” is the one I remember. It was, however, an accurate description. My favorite it the Liberty apple from LaMancha Orchards.
I lover her designs and would love to win. Thank you, Anita
Love knitting and do so daily but I also love chickens and don’t have any of those! Wouldn’t it be fun to go hunting for eggs to cook for breakfast!
I love the designs in this book and would love to have a copy. The designs are definitely things that I could wear everyday. Eager to see what colours you and Sophie end up choosing!
I really love the patterns in ‘Knit with Me’ especially Brock….wonderful details to make a classy sweater. I now have 2 young grand-daughters and hope to teach them to knit when a little older . Our 4 year old already knows hand knits and says “you knit it”
Thanks and happy knitting.
Lyn
Oh I had no idea the designs were named after apples – so cute!
My story? Well, my mom used to be a knitter. She stopped a long time before I started. And now our roles are as follows: I knit the pieces, gift them to her or other family members, and about 2 weeks later she felts them by putting them in the washing machine, even though I’ve told her not to so many times… 🙂
me! me! me!
It looks like a lovely book.
I learned to knit at school when I was about 6 years old. My former MIL used to volunteer at school frequently. We never determined whether or not she may have taught me, but it’s possible.
My mother doesn’t knit at all.
Well I have yet to convince my teenage daughter to let me knit for her. But I think one of these patterns would convince her! Love all the patterns.
My mom taught me and my 11 year-old daughter to knit this past summer. We are so happy to have learned, and are having a great time knitting. While we all enjoy different projects, I think there is something for everyone in this book. Thanks for the opportunity to win a copy. 🙂
You do know Gudrun is my favourite too!
I still haven’t got her new book because I can’t decide if I can have just the ebook or if I need the real thing…
Favorite eating apple (lately, I’m rather fickle) is Honeycrisp. Favorite cooking/drying apple is Elstar. Favorite pattern (of those pictured) is Brock. Hmmm, I’ve never tasted that one, but would love to knit it!
Beautiful book and inspiring photographs! As for my story, my mom knit in many a waiting room (4 children) and even today I find the clicking of needles soothing. My daughter brought me back to knitting when at age 8 or 9 she requested a class on knitting a hat- since then she has created quite a stash of hand knits- and she is not yet 16. I quickly followed her lead in knitting as I wanted us to have a craft to share.
Today is my birthday, which will include thoughts of my mom and my family, and all I am thankful for as I knit…a perfect ending to my day!
Knit with Me has 2 patterns I am eager to knit, Soay and Brock. Thanks for the chance to win and for all your and Gudrun’s inspiration.
I’d love to win this book, the setting is so cute, and I want to knit half the patterns. 🙂
Love Gudrun and her patterns, and I need this book!
Apples, have loved them since I was a kid and we went picking apples in the fall. So many memories. I can’t do that anymore, since I live in the prairies, but the kids love apples as well. The first thing my oldest asks when I come back from groceries is “Are there apples?”
A most enchanting and knitterly book! Would love to win and knit!
The first adult-size sweater I knit was for my mom, so we’re doing a little reverse mother-daughter knitting. I love so many of the patterns in this book – fingers crossed!
rav id: ordinerinlee
I am a daughter whose mother taught her to knit very early. Mom is in her eighties now, but we still knit together and have family knit alongs with Mom, my sister and me. I also have two daughters of my own that I taught to knit when they were little. They are bigger now and, while both know how, only one still knits regularly – perhaps the other will come back to it eventually. I would love to own this book.
I stopped knitting socks for my daughter since she kept out growing them. But now she’s grown into my socks and we can wear the same ones.
My mother, now age 90, no longer knits but I still have a hat and matching scarf she knit me when I went to college 300 miles away from home where it snowed regularly in the winter (unlike Seattle). I have only been knitting for a few years but have made her a few things like socks and a beaded lace scarf. My daughter doesn’t knit (yet) but she likes the mismatched (I prefer the term “fraternal twins”) socks I’ve made her. She’s pregnant now so I’m busily knitting things for our first grandchild. I have taught my sister to knit, though. I would love to win this book and be contacted on Monday, my birthday!
As you said, the sleeve detail (and neck) on Brock are wonderful! My favourite apple is Pink Lady. Or maybe Honeycrisp! I love apples.
This book looks terrific. I love Gudrun’s design sensibility and there are so many patterns in the book that I’d love to knit. Sadly, I have no daughter to knit with, but have indoctrinated my oldest grand-daughter and one daughter-in-law (so far). I’m a pretty good enabler and have hopes of bringing the other three daughters-in-law into the fold, so I can have my own little family knitting guild!. Please count me in for the giveaway!
There are so many lovely patterns in this book! I would love to see Ambrosia on my daughter.
Fabulous review of a highly coveted book! I love all of the Gudrun’s designs; the hats, leg warmers, cowls/scarfs, sweaters and cardigans are inspired and very stylish. Thank you Mary for this opportunity!
I just love the patterns for daughters idea – how hard it is to find beautiful patterns for young girls that actually suit their age. This book looks very beautiful and I think I would use just about every pattern…so…. fingers crossed!
I have been seeing this book on all the blogs and would love to win it.
You’re right about the chickens. They bring personality to everything. This is a fabulous book. Someday I hope to win a copy 🙂
Love this book, I would love to win it. The models are beautiful.
My great-aunt taught me to knit. I knit every other week with her and my grandmother still. I love knitting in the family!
My mother helped me to relearn to knit when I was 21. She then knit me a ginormous scarf for Christmas. Now I help her with knitting (like the mobius cast on) and knit her things like a clapotis and fingerless mittens and anything else she asks for. 🙂 How far we’ve come in a little over a decade!
ps- Most apples in the US were originally not good for eating and used for cider. Apples are amazing!
Always great to have patterns that are appropriate for such a wide range of women. With 3 daughter-in-laws I’m always looking for a good knit for them.
The more I read about this book, the more I know I want to have it. . . will hope to win!
Very nice designs! Brock is one of my favourite…. I learnt knitting with a teacher : my first FO was a bear, and I knit many bears after with the help of my mother and my grandmother!
Wow found another great blog of good taste to follow! Thanks for the give away too!
Hi Mary Jane Mucklestone,
I love your color ideas and your fair isle interest. I have appreciated your blog. Also when you were in San Mateo, you were very approachable in person and showed me your color selection and your socks. You really inspire me to learn “fair isle”.
thank you so much for everything. I loved your trip to Iceland and all the photos that you SHARE.
Thanks you again.
Eva
Knitting, chickens and apples! How could you not love this book. I’ve been knitting for decades and recenlty became the proud caretaker of a California White who is still laying in the freezing temperature of Nebraska. I also planted a 5-in-1 apple tree 2 summers ago and have gotten exactly 1 apple. I think the sequal to this book could be named after pears!
I have chickens! And apple trees! And I – of course – adore Gudrun’s patterns. I also have two grown stepdaughters who are finally getting interested in having something knit for them after years of… not.
You had me at schematic! As a mum of two teenage daughters, I love the idea behind this book. When my girls were small, I didn’t knit confidently and couldn’t find designs I liked. But with the advent of the You tube, blogs, Ravelry and Craftsy a whole new world has opened up to me. However, you still can’t beat sitting with a gorgeous book on your knee, planning and dreaming..especially one with a good schematic.
While I am a daughter who has knitted for her mother, I don’t have daughters of my own( I have the pleasure of boys)I do knit for my nieces. Quite like the idea of affirming my aunt status with niece/aunt knits!!
The patterns in this book are all lovely! I taught both my daughters to knit when they were 5….,never under estimate children’s capabilities! They are now 6 and 10 and still like to knit. My 6 yr old just learned to spindle spin! She amazes me! Thanks for sharing this gorgeous book, I love Gudrun!
My daughter and both learned to knit from a kit about 10 years ago. Her knitting has far surpassed mine!
Love the Book and Gudrun’s tour of websites. I live in a valley that provides both apples and pears. It would be fun to wear one of these projects in the orchards.
I love these patterns and the photography is gorgeous! The mother-daughter theme reminds me of a hat my mother made for me when I was very small that I have held onto for 30 years. And the crazy thing is, it has stretched to perfectly fit my head as I grew. It is a very special hat.
Love Gudrun’s designs – and her pattern writing is exceptional, resulting in a well fitting garment. These designs are no exception – it will be difficult to decide which one to start first! I love the apple theme as I live in an area surrounded by many apple orchards. Some of the varieties are unfamiliar to me. At the moment honey crisps are a favorite, but really any fresh apple is delicious. Thanks for being part of the blog tour!
I just love the concept of this book. I was lamenting to my mother that I had missed out on learning these kinds of things from my grandmother, the way some people do, when she pointed out that I had gotten them from her after all. My grandmother taught my mom how to knit and crochet and sew, and I learned them from my mom. What a great heritage to continue!
Cute patterns..I like the leg warmers and hat
Well, my wife knits…my daughter knits …we love apples…our golden retrievers and sheep. They knit for themselves, for each other and sometimes for me. I know my wife likes the book too.
That’s my story.
Love knitting for my daughter and my daughter in law. Taught my daughter to knit because she was always wanting something new. Trying to teach my daughter in law….I’d love to win the book!
What a lovely book! I love mother-daughter books. I learned to knit from my grandma and enjoyed a sweater my mom made for me when I was in high school. Acrylic, fake denim, hoodie. Hey, in 1976 it was cool! I haven’t enticed either of my daughters into knitting: the oldest one crochets and I did get the younger to spin a skein of yarn! We will at least enjoy looking at the designs together and if the cold we are experiencing this winter continues, maybe I’ll even get them to wear one or two of them.
Does the book come with its own chicken? Such lovely photos.
Gudrun Johnston is my FAVORITE designer for all the reasons you mentioned Mary Jane! The concept of her new book is marvelous. I’m almost a mom, two more weeks(give or take) before our daughter will be born. The only thing I can imagine loving more then knitting for her these past nine months would be knitting WITH her one day!
I taught my daughter to knit when she was in her early teens, but it didn’t “take”. But I get another chance with my grandchildren, little boy aged 5, and little girl, 2. For now I just enjoy knitting for them.
My mom passed away 20 years ago- when i was 20. I wasn’t a knitter yet. Now I’ll sometimes come across a pattern that I’ll think she would have loved.
I have been teaching my eldest grandson to knit. He is nearly 7 yrs old.
He loves to sit with me..in the same lounge chair, so we squish in together and he knits.
He has so far completed about 20cms of a lovely green scarf. Its has a few little built in buttonholes that arent really meant to be there. But overall he is doing so well.
We really are knitting buddies.
My daughter (15) and I love our chickens! Our newest bunch is named after the women in Dr. Who. We have 3 Sallys, 3 Amys, 1 Oswin, 1 Donna and 4 Marthas. The reason we have more than one with the same name is because we can’t tell them apart.
My daughter learned to knit in middle school as part of her art curriculum, and once I saw her work on the needles I had to learn myself. She’s now 17 and we often knit together–right now she is working on her first sweater!
I’m planning to knit a Rubens and Honeycrisp in Pomegranate, which seems appropriate since the name of that fruit translates as “seeded apple.”
I feel very blessed that my mom and I knit and spin together…..for over 20 years. we did our first sweaters together, travel to fiber festivals together. She is my best friend….ever.
This book is beautiful! I would love to win it and then lose myelf in the knitting!
My mom and I are both knitters. She used to knits lots when he was younger and I was just a toddler. She would make me beautiful sweaters, using the fair isle techniques which I am yet to try. Too bad that the photos of said sweaters are black and white only- but my memories (a few anyways) exist and are colourful! My mom never taught me how to knit, but I picked up the needles around Thanksgiving 2008, and have not looked back. Now I knit for my mom, mostly make her lace shawls which she adores and adorns herself with. Oh, and my mom makes delicious applecake! 🙂
is it possible to make a yarn or a color that tastes like a Fuji apple? I love ’em. Mary in Cincinnati
I’m reading such good things about this book. I just taught my second daughter to knit and she’s already on her fourth project — so now that both of my girls are knitters I especially love the Mother-Daughter aspect of the book. And I will definitely be making the Brock pattern — the details are so sweet!
All three of my daughters knit althought only one of them has ever knit a sweater. When she was in college, we did a virtual knit along where we worked on the same pattern, checking in on each other’s progress daily. We both enjoyed connecting over our shared love of creativity. Grundun’s book looks like a treasure trove of patterns that should keep my daughters and me knitting together despite the distance miles between us.
What lovely patterns! I’m the only one in my family who knits so I’m always busy making knitted gifts for family members, especially my mom. Even though I’ve been knitting for 35 years, there’s always something new to learn. I guess that’s why I love knitting so much – you never stop learning.
I would love to learn from Gudrun how to make such elegant designs!
I am blessed to have my daughter (now 17!) … Who has recently rediscovered knitting, to my huge pleasure. During this very cold winter she has been decompressing between school assignments to knit. She just asked me to teach her cabling and quickly knocked off a cabled hat! I am so proud and grateful to have such a wonderful daughter.
Both my grandmother and my mother were knitters. I have a bulky cardigan that my grandma knit for me 12 years ago : it was something I wore almost every week while in college while studying. It was super comfy! It now looks really worn and old, but I can’t bear to throw it away. My grandmother is no longer able to knit and she asked me to knit her a cardigan : things have gone full circle now!
I love this idea. My mom and I are both knitters, and it would be a fun project to do any sort of pattern at the same time and see how differently they turn out. The sweaters in this book are also lovely!
The patterns are lovely and being named after apples (and also featuring chickens!) is a real bonus. I’m the only person in my family who knits, so no knitting traditions, unfortunately.
I’d love a copy, MaryJane. I love Gudrun’s designs too. I don’t really have time to knit for pleasure, but when I do, I always look at her work.
I have three grown daughters who are all knitters. I would like this because there is something for everyone in it.
and she’s lovely and gracious, too! want a copy so bad but our family is using the B-word (budget haha) gorgeous book!
I love so many of Gudrun’s designs. The designs are classic. Its so hard to choose a favorite!
I took up knitting as a way to bond with my mother during her aging years; little did I know what a gift I was giving myself.
Sorry. Previous email addy corrected.
I learned to knit when I turned 42 and found myself single again. I knit to relax and keep busy when my youngest daughter was with her dad. Fast forward a few years, and my oldest daughter took up knitting, which gave us a wonderful thing to share and talk about. Fast forward a few more years, and I remarried and became stepmom to two more girls. The youngest asked me to teach her how to knit, I did, and now she is an avid knitter herself. Now I’m 52, and knitting and fiber created a bond between us all, and the three of us who knit continue to share our hand knits with the non knitting members of our blended family.
my daughter and i both knit and i hope my 6 yr old granddaughter will soon join us. thank you for the opportunity to win a great book.
Oh, how I wish my daughter would knit. It would be so nice to sit and sip and knit together. Well, my mother didn’t either, so in my family the knitting gene clearly is skipping generations. So glad I have it!
knitting is something my teenaged daughter and I still have in common; thanks for the chance st the book.
I might with this book be able to inspire my mother to do more knitting. Might help her with her memory! 🙂
I learned to knit because my daughter wanted wool diaper covers for her baby. Although she still does not knit, she shares the joy of picking patterns, colors, and wearing beautiful hand knit items. She has occassionally talked about learning but her current reasoning is that if there is a Zombie Apocolypse we will only need one knitter and I already have that covered!
When I was little, my grandmother taught me to crochet; she was always crocheting. After my daughter was born, I taught myself to knit – and have never stopped. I later discovered that my other grandmother knits, and when I recently went to Oregon to see her after she was released from the hospital we spent quite a bit of time talking about her knitting for my dad and his siblings when they were babies. It turns out, in what was my dad’s bedroom, she has basically every knitting pattern she’s ever owned – so cool to see! 🙂
I adore that the patterns are named after apples. Since moving to New York three years ago, we have fallen in love with the wonderful apples that are grown here. Fall is marked by what is ready for picking and we always end up picking too many! A current favorite is the Macoun – crisp and luscious with very white flesh.
I bake a lot of apple pies in the fall, and giving a fresh baked homemade pie to someone is much like giving them a handknit; you show your love by giving a gift that took time, effort and care.
I love this idea and hope to teach my niece to knit.
The Quince yarns are so special…every one is just lovely. What a match for Gudrun’s wonderful design talents.
My daughter knows how to knit, but doesn’t do much of it these days. The idea of matching sweaters, especially ones that can be so easily modified for body type or buttoned-up preference, just might get her back into it. And perhaps we can get my mother and sister (both knitters) in on the scheme as well. 3 generations!
what a lovely book-and love the designs!!! I might have to share this with my knitting sister!
Darling idea for a book! And Gudrun … <3<3<3 I mean.
My oldest daughter is only 8 and is starting to knit herself. The thought of matching knitted things for me and her seems like a lot of fun, but I think I’ll have to wait a few years for that to happen 🙂
I knit for my mom all the time. I love how he thinks everything I make is so wonderful. I love how totally uncritical she is. I love how he wears my handknits all the time; how she brags and shows them off. I love how loved I feel when she loves what I give her.
I would to have this for me and my daughters and granddaughters. It would be an awesome gift to share.
My mother has been very unsubtly hinting that she wants something made by me. We’re from Rome, NY (where Rome apples come from), though my favorite is McIntosh (not the computer, though I like those too!). I would love to be able to make her one or the other, or maybe both, kinds of apples.
My mom and I are both knitters. Frequently I will jokingly bemoan the fact that she is *always* copying my knitting but I do really love it. She and I have both knit Lady Eleanor, Meadowlark, Koolhas, Shetland Lace triangle, Clapotis and a couple of others. I think the “big” problem is trying not to wear the same thing to the same place when we’re together. And, of course, there are plenty of things that we knit on our own as well.
Knitting the same pattern with my mom lessens the distance between us, she lives in Virginia and I live in Georgia, so when I wear something we’ve both knit it makes me feel closer to her. I am so glad we share the crafty gene!
my daughter and i are both knitters – this would be very cool for us to make ourselves (or each other) matching but not-matching items!
I love that the knits are on “real” women, not skinny models. I’ve knit Soay and love its shaping. She writes excellent patterns that fit different shapes and sizes; I’d love to have this in my library.
Both my mother and I knit and I have a full understanding how second sock syndrome works. For my birthday in 2011 it got a left sock from my mom and a note that the second would follow soon. I got the right sock on my birthday in 2012! I enjoy wearing them both at the same time now!
What a lovely collection! My mother and grandmother have both passed away, but I feel very connected to them when I knit or crochet. Learning from them, the peaceful time, wondering what their thoughts were when they worked on a project…
Gudrun and Quince is such a winning combination!
Oh, this book looks LOVELY- I love that the patterns are named after apples. My folks have a modest fruit orchard, and I always used to love picking the apples for my Mom for home canning :)Thank you!! 😀
of course, who wouldn’t like to knit with you? love the pictures… and the yarns!
Beautiful book! My mother taught me how to knit, back when I was in High School. I remember my first big project, a basketweave scarf out of some variegated yarn. She knit me many sweaters, knit more for her first grandchild, my child. I have most of them, and treasure each one. I’ve become a better knitter in the past 6 years, since my mother died, branching out into things she never knit, like socks. Knit on!
The patterns look lovely. I know my granddaughter would love Brock.
What a great idea to name all of the projects after apples; they say an apple a day keeps the doctor away, but I think knitting every day also helps keeps you healthy 🙂 My paternal grandmother taught me to knit while visiting Canada one year, over 30 years ago. She made some fantastic outfits for my dolls. Recently, I found out that my maternal grandmother is also a fantastic knitter. it kind of skipped a generation as my mother does not knit much at all, but I still have the cardigan she made for me when I was in high school.
I patiently await the day my daughter decides to give knitting a try. Until then I treasure the happiness that the fruits of my labor can bring her.
My mom is not a knitter, as she is fond of telling me – the baby sweater she started for me its still somewhere, basically in cast on phase. But I would enjoy making one of these sweater sets for she and I.
I took up knitting 8 years ago when my oldest son announced that he and his wife had finally been picked to adopt a baby girl. I’ve been knitting for her, my three adult children and now their children, also for my cats, my husband, my co-workers and friends. I love it. I feel connected to my British knitting grandma, even though I didn’t get to learn directly from her.
The book looks wonderful, I’d love to knit from it!
I learned to knit in 6th grade, and my first project was a shawl for my grandmother….unfortunately she passed away before I was able to finish it and I didn’t knit again until in my 20’s when I took a class from Elizabeth Zimmerman. 30+ years later I am still knitting, and am now teaching my son’s very special lady friend from Australia how to knit. It would be an honor and pleasure to win a copy of this book
I began knitting in March 2005. My daughter was on bedrest for 6 months, she was 9 at the time. I needed a way to occupy her and calm my own nerves. Her sister joined in, and ever since they have been going thru my stash and asking for “the good yarn” for Chanukah and birthdays.
The next youngest daughter taught my mom, her Grandmother to knit because we were going to sock summit. We have 5 generations of knitters but quite out of order. The girls have become my test knitters and my models (threnody on knitty).
They would steal my copy of the book away as well if we won one. 🙂
What an adorable book! I have never knit Gudrun’s designs, but would love to! Right now, my partner (not generally a knitter) is working on a baby blanket for a baby we hope to conceive soon… if it’s a daughter, we will totally be doing mother/daughter knits for all three of us. <3
I want chickens but I see that I need a better hat to wear when posing with chickens.
I love that your daughter also knits- I have 2 sons and have taught them both but they did not take to it. 🙁
I would love to win this book – It looks great!
I have knit since I was a small child. I now dye yarn and fiber and go to a few shows each year. My daughter, who is in her 30s, knits, too. I knit with some speed, and can crank out duplicates without losing my mind if needed. Becca is the sort who sees a pattern and bends it to her will by making any adaptations necessary. She’s turning into quite the designer, too.
This book is very appealing with all its apples.
The book looks great and the models look so beautiful in these knits! Congrats.
While my mother was a weaver, and I spun, we shared between us. I’d live the book.
My mother taught me to knit; even now, eight years after she died, knitting still makes me feel connected to her. One of our plans for during her retirement (that never happened, as she was diagnosed with cancer 27 days after retiring) was to go to Fair Isle. I went without her, for my 45th birthday present to myself ~ incredibly bittersweet for me…. loved it, missed her.
I love the idea of a book full of patterns for Moms and daughters; after all, isn’t that exactly how knitting is generally passed down – from mom to daughter! I learned from my mom, and passed it along to my daughter some 25 years later. I think it’s time to pick out a pattern and knit something for my mom. Now that her eyesight is going and she hasn’t knit for herself in years, I bet she’d like a handknit sweater or two!
My mom used to knit, but she’s not so into it now. But we go to our local knitting group once a month and she “pretends” to knit. Mostly she just enjoys the company of the other crafters who get together. And she enjoys the supper out that we treat ourselves to before our group meets.
As a daughter, I would love to knit Brock for my mother, daughter and myself. My daughter is getting married in September, and this would be such a great thing to do for her wedding shower. My mother inspired me in textile arts and I have passed this love on to my daughter. Thank you for such a kind contest.
Lovely patterns. My daughter and I both knit. We had matching sweaters when she was 6 or 7. Leg o’ Mutton sleeves, maybe time for something more current. Hope we win!
Macintosh are my favorite apples, and I live in Michigan, an apple producing state. These designs are lovely. Details in the construction giving a knitter something to thrill in the making and enjoy in the giving or wearing. Thanks for sharing!
Apples it is–I help sell apples at a farmers’ market! I hope there’s a pattern named Pink Lady–my current favorite. 🙂
I love Gudrun Johnston’s designs. My daughters and I all knit…some of our best conversations happen when we are sitting and knitting together. We love apples, too!
Pink Lady apples are my all time favs. Really love these designs.
This is my first glimpse of Gudrun Johnston’s work. How beautiful they all are. I mustache a pair of sweaters for my mom and I before my RA gets the best of my hands!!!
Must make….. Not mustache…
I was a crocheter, but several years ago I went to SnB and discovered socks. One does not crochet socks. One asks one’s mother to teach her to knit socks. So after much pleading mum taught me to knit, purl and turn a heel. And so the madness began. I love my mum (and knitting…and the Rubens hat)