What do the male celebrities, Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling and Tom Fletcher all have in common? They knit!
It is often said that knitting is only for little old ladies. Those days are long gone. In this increasingly digital world, people are turning to more traditional crafts, in pursuit of something tangible. Now Haynes’ latest title Guys Knit offers a beginner’s guide to anyone who thinks they’d like to give knitting a go.
Guys Knit is written by Nathan Taylor, known in the knitting world as ‘Sockmatician’, who travels all over the globe passing on his knitting skills. The book includes 25 scannable QR codes that link directly to specially filmed videos of Nathan demonstrating all of the tutorials described on the pages.
Nathan says: “I wanted to write this book because I noticed a lack of stuff out there aimed at people like me. I worried that a lot of men might be put off learning because they couldn’t find a knitting book that really speaks to them. It’s time to break apart those dusty stereotypes. Knitting is in no way a gendered pastime: it’s a universal hobby for anyone interested in working with their hands, to create warm and practical things to wear, share or even sell.”
If you're here, you likely have the book already and know that Guys Knit starts with a brief history of knitting, then takes the reader through step-by-step tutorials for a wide range of techniques. These skills culminate in five specially designed patterns (three hats, a scarf, and a pair of socks) to get stuck into once the basic skills have been mastered.
To help you along, we've compiled these video tutorials, which you can click to view below.
The full list of videos which accompany the Guys Knit Manual can be found below. Click the name to access the video you want to see
01. Tying a slip knot.
02. Casting on.
03. The knit stitch.
04. The purl stitch.
05. Casting off.
06. Slipping stitches.
07. Casting on in the round, using DPNs.
08. Casting on in the round, using magic loop.
09. Knit two together (K2tog): a right-leaning, single decrease.
10. Slip, slip, knit (SSK): a left-leaning, single decrease.
11. Purl two together (P2tog): a left-leaning single purl decrease.
12. Slip, slip, purl (SSP): a right-leaning single purl decrease.
13. Knit three together (K3tog): a right-leaning, double decrease.
14. Slip, slip, slip, knit (SSSK): a left-leaning, double decrease.
15. The centred double decrease (CDD).
16. Yarnovers.
17. Make one right (M1R): a right-leaning single increase.
18. Make one left (M1L): a left-leaning single increase.
19. Knit front and back (also known as a bar increase).
20. Knit one, yarnover, knit one (KYOK): a symmetrical double increase.
21. Cable 4 Back & Cable 4 Front (C4B & C4F): 2 over 2 cables, twisting to the right and to the left.
22. Tinking: undoing your stitches, one by one.
23. Dropping down: fixing mistakes from the top.
24. Kitchener stitch: grafting together two sets of 'live' stitches.