Alanna Okun

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater is a memoir about life truths learned through crafting. People who craft know things. They know how to transform piles of yarn into sweaters and scarves. They know that some items, like woolen bikini tops, are better left unknit. They know that making a hat for a newborn baby isn’t just about crafting something small but appreciating the beginnings of life, which sometimes helps make peace with the endings. They know that if you knit your boyfriend a sweater, your relationship will most likely be over before the last stitch. Alanna Okun knows that crafting keeps her anxiety at bay. She knows that no one will ever be as good a knitting teacher as her beloved grandmother. And she knows that even when we can’t control anything else, we can at least control the sticks, string, and fabric right in front of us. Okun lays herself bare and takes readers into the parts of themselves they often keep hidden. Yet at the same time she finds humor in the daily indignities all crafters must face (like when you catch the dreaded Second Sock Syndrome and can’t possibly finish the second in a pair). Okun has written a book that will speak to anyone who has said to themselves, or to everyone within earshot, “I made that.”

Essays on Crafting

The Curse of the Boyfriend Sweater

An introduction to the wide world of knitting by way of making your own hat Knitting is an excellent handcraft and something people love the world over. For crafting newbies, knitting can seem highly daunting: you need needles (but what size?), yarn (but what weight?), and a pattern (but what kind?), and very quickly knitting can start to resemble another language, tricky to navigate and even harder to master. Knit a Hat teaches you everything you need to know about the previously scary craft: the needles you’ll need, the yarn to use, and tried-and-true techniques to get you started, keep you going, and help you wrap everything up. Alanna Okun is an expert knitter and oï¬€ers very accessible instructions: Her idea of starting with a hat rather than a long scarf is sure to make this book easy for even the wariest of beginners. Building on our crafting how-to series, Alanna welcomes readers into the knitting community and invites them to knit a hat with conï¬?dence.

A Beginner's Guide to Knitting

Knit a Hat

An introduction to the wide world of knitting by way of making your own hat Knitting is an excellent handcraft and something people love the world over. But for the crafting faint of heart, knitting can appear daunting; you need needles (but what size?), yarn (but what weight?), and a pattern (but what kind?). Very quickly, knitting becomes another language that's tricky to navigate and even trickier to master. Knit a Hat teaches you everything you need to know about the previously scary craft: the needles you'll need, the yarn to use, and tried-and-true techniques to get you started, keep you going, and help you wrap everything up. Alanna Okun is an expert knitter and oﬀers very accessible instructions: Her idea of starting with a hat rather than a long scarf is sure to make this book easy for even the wariest of beginners. Building on our crafting how-to series, Alanna welcomes readers into the knitting community and invites them to knit a hat with conﬁdence.

Alanna Okun

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