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Book look: Three Skeins or Less — Fresh Knitted Accessories by Tanis Gray

I’ve worked with Tanis Gray a lot over the years, so when she asked me if I’d like to contribute a pattern to one of her upcoming books, I was happy and honored to do so. This week, I received a copy of the finished book in the mail. It’s called 3 Skeins or Less – Fresh Knitted Accessories (F+W/Interweave) and it’s on the shelves right now.

tanis cover

I love when the title of a book tells you the important stuff, and this title tells you right away that the book contains knitted accessories — and that each project takes three skeins or less. That makes it a great way to use up leftover balls you may have in your stash, or to pop in to your local yarn shop and treat yourself without breaking the bank. (It’s also a great way to sample a new yarn or splurge a little on a special yarn you’ve been coveting.) And I love when a book features a variety of styles and techniques, so that you can find lots of things you want to make for yourself as well as gift ideas for other people, as this one does.

If I had more time to knit for myself, I’d probably jump into a nice juicy sock pattern, like the Diverting Socks (designed by Glenna Harris) (God knows there’s no shortage of sock yarn at my house!).

tanis diverting

I’d also love to tackle the Jujube Hat, by Carina Spencer, with its lace pattern that’s a perfect match for a rich blue handpainted yarn.

tanis jujube

But no matter what you’re in the mood to knit, you’ll find lots of options in this beautiful book. Here’s a hat by Melissa LaBarre which takes just one skein of aran-weight yarn, and cleverly uses knit and purl stitches to create a weaving vine pattern.

tanis little vine

Another one-skein pattern: my Laure Mittens, knit in luscious Lorna’s Laces worsted-weight yarn:

tanis laure

I deliberately chose a slip-stitch pattern that would help minimize any pooling and splotching, since this is a gorgeous handdyed yarn (the Christmas at Downton colorway).

It’s fun to see how many things you can make without more than three skeins of yarn — check out this lacy camisole, designed by Sauniell Connally:

tanis essex

or this snuggly bolero by Faina Goberstein:

tanis faina

You’ll find patterns knit in yarns by companies you know well, like Skacel (this is the Quinsnicket Cowl, by Cirilia Rose):

tanis cirilia

knit in a luxe silk-wool blend by Schoppel Wolle called In-silk; and you’ll also see some smaller handdyers featured. like Tanis’ own Momentum Mittens, knit in String Theory self-striping yarn.

tanis mittens

Just about all types of accessories are included, including cowls, like Kirsten Kapur’s Delancey:

tanis kapur

shawls and stoles (this is the Carmilla Shawl by Susanna IC):

tanis carmilla

and socks, like Marjan Hammink’s A Case of Lace Socks:

tanis case of lace sox

Summing up, you’ll find 25 lovely designs for women’s accessories, including hats, cowls, shawls, mittens, wristers, socks and even a bolero and a camisole, knit in a wide range of yarn weights, and featuring a variety of techniques (cables, lace, colorwork, texture and more). Some patterns are one-size-fits-all (like shawls) while others give small and large options (bolero and camisole have a range of sizes). Lots of photographs; charts where needed; nice clear typeface; and patterns are designated by how many skeins they take for quick reference. You can pick up a copy of this great book on Amazon, via the link above (MSRP $24.99, available at the time of this writing for just over $19) or at your local bookstore or LYS, or through the Knitting Daily website.

Photography copyright 2013 by Joe Hancock; used with permission and for review purposes.

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