A Treasury of Magical Knitting

The first printing sold out quite quickly. The second print run will arrive at distributors on about October 23, and a few days later you will begin to find it in shops again.

What's in the book? Eight new forms of sock architecture, each introduced with a baby sock, then adult designs in multiple sizes, and a Master Pattern inviting you to create your own designs with any yarn, at any gauge, for any size foot within (or beyond!) each architecture. Over 400 colorful, clear illustrations and photos.

If you'd like to see the techniques in NEW PATHWAYS in motion, I've made some little video lessons to help you.

I am definitely an amateur at movie-making, but I think you'll enjoy them and learn a lot. Clicking on a lesson will take you to Youtube.com. Once you finish watching, just hit the back button to return here for the next one. Youtube limits movie length to 10 minutes, so several of the videos are in a series of parts 1, 2, and 3 - please remember to watch them in sequence or they will not make sense! As additional lessons are requested by readers, more will be added.

The current menu of video lessons:

Knitting on 2 circular needles (video in parts 1 and 2)- how to cast on, join, and get into the swing of things with an udder needle and an alarm clock (you'll see!) Part 1: click here Part 2: click here

Following the book's needle schematics - learn to recognize the starting needle, direction of knitting, and discover that one needle is a UPS truck and the other is a manufacturing needle: click here

LLinc (La-Link) and LRinc (La-Rink) - a pair of increases you'll love, and why Cat prefers this method to the old-fashioned Knit-Zit which is usually the first increase any knitter learns: click here

Letter markers - discover how A-B-C-D (and sometimes more) markers map your knitting for you, so you always know exactly where to do something! This video includes a review of LLinc and LRinc increases, showing how the letter markers indicate where to work them: click here

How to move stitches from 1 circular needle to the other - a trick that breaks the basic rule of knitting on 2 circular needles, which is that one circ naps while the other works. In fact, there is a stitch burglary in this video - a knitting action movie! click here

Recognizing stitch mount - how the stitch is mounted on its needle-horse, and where that front leg is and who's winning the race to the left tip . . . another knitting action movie! Best of all, you'll learn how to smooth your SSK line so it's just as clean as your K2tog line: click here

The Little Sky Sock - your first little learning sock (video in parts 1, 2, and 3)- I have filmed the heel turn and the base of the heel sections of this little sock, which begins on page 12, trusting you to manage the leg and the foot/toe sections on your own. You'll learn my method of wrapping and turning (w&t) and help rid the world of the heartache of visible wraps by learning to conceal wraps (cw) totally. This involves a pointy-nosed stitch-lady with a coiffure who attends the opera weekly - a little knitting drama with easy learning and a happy ending. Note: On row 2 of the heel turn I mistakenly say to knit across the purl side - of course, you should purl the purls. Part 1: click here Part 2: click here Part 3: click here

Judy Becker's Magic Cast-On - Judy Becker is an exceedingly clever and kind knitter who lives in Portland, Oregon. One day when she was too sick to knit or read, she reached for her needles and yarn and invented, instead. And actually remembered what she'd invented. She sent her invention, which I consider far and away the best provisional cast-on on the planet, to Knitty.com and of course they published it. I asked Judy if I could include it in my book and thank goodness she said yes. I do admit that I teach it a bit differently than Judy might, but I think she'd appreciate my rendition of the moves, and the voices I give the needles. And hopefully it will all help you learn this wonderful cast-on so that it becomes your tool forevermore. Here are its fabulous qualities: 1. PERFECT TENSION. 2. It magically produces a genuine row of purls along the back. 2. The stitches are all mounted uniformly. Plus, it's fun! To start the show, click here

Be cured forevermore of purling too loosely. Most knitters purl more loosely than they knit. This means that when they switch from rounds (usually all knit) to rows for the heel of a sock, the very fabric you want to be nice and dense is suddenly at a looser gauge, because every other row is loose. The method Cat will show you works perfectly for Continental knitters (yarn in left hand), and may or may not work as well if you are a thrower. This trick neatens and straightens neighboring knit stitches as well - ideal for ribbing, or to make the edge of a cable pop cleanly. Here you go: click here

Page 9: In step 1, towards the end of the paragraph, it should read: “… If you have more stitches-per-inch than the gauge calls for, go up a needle size. If you have fewer stitches, go down a needle size.” In step 2, near the middle, it should read: “… then resume with a larger size needle (if you had more stitches than the gauge called for) or a smaller size needle (if you had fewer stitches).

Pages 19 and 20: There is a panel 14 on each page. Fortunately each panel matches that page’s instructions.

Page 30: Under Cuff, first repeat should read: k1, LRinc, k40 (46, 52, 58, 64), LLinc, k1* 2x.

Page 44: Rnd 21, after marker B, should read: repeat *p3, p1b&f, p2, k1, LLinc, k5, cdd, k5, LRinc, k1* 3x.

Page 46: Rnd 7 should read: repeat *p3, k1* 3x, k3, cdd, k3,repeat *k1, p3* 3x.

Page 52: Tall Tibetan Coriolis - yarn is single-stranded, not double-stranded.

Standard Toe reference for all toe-up socks should be page 126, not page 129.

Pages 67 and 99: At end of Arch Expansion Companion Rounds, stop when total stitch count reaches F.

Page 88: Yarn quantity should be 1 skein, not 2. Toe in photo is a Moccasin Toe (page 128), not the Pontoon Toe.

Page 93: Begin k2p2 ribbing and chart 2 after completing heel. Also, if instep does not have an odd number of sts, add 1 before set-up rnd.

Page 96: After repeating companion rounds required number of times, on final rnd 6 (instead of rnd 4), stop at end of instep.

Pages 96-97: For a sock with denser fabric, you may change the needle to size 1 (2.25 mm) or size you need to get a gauge of 8 sts = 1” (2.5 cm). This will change the sizes to a midfoot of 7 (8, 9, 10)” or 18 (20, 23, 25) cm. On page 97, work heel in Chocolate, not Rose, if you want your sock to be identical to the one shown.

Page 110: The reproducible form is on the previous page, not the following page.