Product Description

Enjoy the practical advice, real-life knitting instruction, and irreverent humor of Yankee Kay Gardiner and Tennessean Ann Shayne, the duo behind the renowned knitting web log masondixonknitting.com. The ladies of Mason-Dixon Knitting will take you on a thrilling adventure through Knitopia, a place where knitting and creativity unite through the zaniest knitted items imaginable. Kay and Ann reveal that a pattern is a starting line, a launching pad, the front doors of Saks the day after Thanksgiving: oh, the potential!

Mason-Dixon Knitting is a collection of unbelievable patterns, a how-to manual, and a crazy quilt of hilarious narrative, all in one. In this book, Kay and Ann chitchat their way through a series of more than thirty incredible patterns. Drawing creative inspiration from their surroundings, they present colorful blankets, sassy nightgowns, a delicate curtain, and much more to reveal that knitting can weave its way into just about every aspect of life. Most of these projects are the epitome of ease, but you can make them as simple or complicated as you prefer.

Kay and Ann invite you to use your creative vision to interpret each pattern and give it your own personal touch. Full-color photography of these delightful home- and family-inspired knits accompanies each project. Along the way, Kay and Ann will introduce you to incredible knitting personalities, share their own knitting experiences, and present eye-popping knitting phenomena. Mason-Dixon Knitting explores the humor, fun, and outrageous possibilities of a realm in which knitting is much more than a craft—it’s a lifestyle.


Inspiration, Guidance, and 30 Projects to Knit

Featuring: Technical hints; Great (knitted) things you will do; How to cope with disaster; Must-knit tv; Mistakes you will definitely make; Knitting for the common good; Knitting something that looks like something else

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #11600 in Books
• Published on: 2006-03-28
• Released on: 2006-03-28
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307236050
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne are the rock stars of the knitting community--fans flock to their popular blog (masondixonknitting.com) for a daily dose of knitting genius, tips, and humor. In their first book, Mason-Dixon Knitting, you'll find practical advice, instruction, and more than 30 incredible patterns. Want a taste? Check out the details below for making your very own Moderne Log Cabin Blanket. --Daphne Durham

Pattern Preview: Moderne Log Cabin Blanket

This lightweight blanket in a sophisticated wool/silk yarn proves that a log cabin can go to the Big City. There is no "center patch," and there are blocks of color instead of concentric strips. Drape it over a Barcelona chair, or your shoulders, and enjoy.

SIZE: 60" x 50" (150 cm x 124 cm)
MATERIALS: Silky Wool by Elsebeth Lavold, [1.76 oz (50 g) balls, each approx 192 yds (176 m), wool/silk]
A: cream 4 balls
B: brown 5 balls
C: light purple 5 balls
D: dark purple 5 balls
Size 6 (4mm) needles
GAUGE: 22 sts + 44 rows = 4" (10 cm) in garter stitch.
Note: Throughout pattern, always pick up and bind off stitches on the RS. See entire pattern

Review
"Mason-Dixon Knitting is one of those books that makes a home in the heart of knitters. Like a couple of favorite aunts ushering you into a sunny kitchen for tastes of cookie dough and the sharing of secrets, the authors comfort, inspire, amuse, and brighten the life of the lucky reader who steps into their world. I fell in love right away with the book’s colors, playful approach, and designs... Ann and Kay’s friendly repartee and wry senses of humor, genuine friendship, and the steady rhythm of cheerful and obsessive knitting interwoven with the pulsing music of family life make this a book to curl up on the couch with as well as to knit from." —Cat Bordhi, author of A Magical Treasury of Knitting
"Receiving a pre-publication review copy of this sparkling new book is one of the happiest things that's happened to me in good long while. To read Mason-Dixon Knitting is to find yourself surrounded by a world of smiles; it is to remember what's really important in this world (hint: it has to do with loved ones, home and joy); and, to discover some amazingly good, exciting knitting!" —Nancy Parsons, author and editor of Knittersbookshelf.com

"When I heard that Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne were writing a book, I was intrigued. Gardiner and Shayne are the two voices behind Mason-Dixon Knitting, an ingenious blog based on the ongoing correspondence of two friends (they met in an online knitting forum, and one lives in New York while the other resides in Tennessee–hence Mason-Dixon). Their blog is a warm and welcoming place, and their creative endeavors never cease to inspire me. The book is slated for a late March release, but I got my hands on an early copy at TNNA last week. I tucked it in my bag and promptly forgot about it until later that night when I was back in my hotel room and getting ready for bed. Having already read the room-service menu not once but twice, I figured I'd let Kay and Ann put me to sleep. But they didn't. An hour later I was still wide awake, relishing every word and unable to believe the book could be this good." —Knittersreview.com, Clara Parkes

About the Author
Kay Gardiner learned to knit as a child, but put aside her needles for twenty years to obtain a law degree from Columbia, become an assistant United States attorney in Manhattan, and start a family. Luckily for us, she returned to knitting with a vengeance. After stints in the New York publishing world, Ann Shayne returned to her hometown of Nashville to edit BookPage. She has since chosen to devote her time to her family—and knitting.Two years ago, Kay and Ann met on an online knitting-message board, and their correspondence has grown into a “close-knit” community of more than ten thousand who regularly log on to masondixonknitting.com.

Customer Reviews

What an abundance of fun things to knit! Get those needles going!
How about knitting a dragon panel for the back of a jeans jacket? Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne say "Yeehah! Go for it!" These designers have cooked up a knitting book that has patterns that roam far from the usual range. There are the practical--dishcloths and handtowels, the decorative (that applique panel for a denim jacket) and the just plain beautiful--a flax lace edging for a baby's traditional bassinet basket (the kind of cradle or baby bed that is a lined rush basket on a stand.)

Fun, simple project abound in this book. How about scribbles--scarves made of thick yarn and way-way thin yarn that when knitted in a stripe pattern, make a kind of floating scribble on a net of fine-gauge knitting. If you have a stash of lace yarn and some interesting novelty yarn, you have a fascinating scarf project just waiting for you. Or perhaps you would like to knit a camisole or nightie --a lace top with ribbon straps.

I found many things I wanted to knit in this book, like a bathmat in Peaches&Cream absorbent cotton, a flying geese blanket in colors like a raspberry sundae (it uses a log-cabin piece-knitting technique.) And then the fabulous "Nina" shawl that can be made loud and wild in coral, pink and black, or go completely multiple-personality with muted fuzzy yarn in the colors of a winter marshland.

There is LOTS to knit here, and the book goes from simple to moderately complex. So a beginning knitter could start on the dishcloths and scarves and graduate to intricate pieced blankets and lacework. This book is especially recommended if you like to knit gifts for people as there are many projects that beg to be made for a loved friend or relative. Highly recommended!!!

Surprising, delightful!
If you - like me - don't particularly care for log-cabin blankets or cowboy hats, you are STILL going to love this book! Both Ann and Kay are terrific writers, generous in giving credit to others, and their projects can be translated to any level of taste or price that you like.

Want your hand towels in Lion Brand - great! Dying to knit yours in a subtle Alchemy silk - have at it! From Smalltown to SoHo, you'll find original patterns that suit your home, and the folks you love.

I found the linen towels, knitted kimono (adult robe and baby sweater versions), and felted boxes irresistible!

It's rare that I splurge on a hard-bound knitting book, but this one is full of good writing and good ideas for new knitting projects. I'm sure I'll come back to it often just to enjoy the stories, or when I need inspiration for a lone skein of Euroflax.

AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wow, wow, wow. I loved every picture, story, pattern. It is smart, funny, well written, different, real, but most of all so inspiring. I decided it is the perfect knitting book, because it is perfect to read while you knit. There is a lot here: really cool patterns, touching stories, funny stories, memories. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll want to drop everything and knit.

Plus, this is one beautiful book, sort of like a coffee table book. A REAL TREASURE!!!

Thank you Kay and Ann for such a treat. I am going to cast on for a rug today thanks to you!