Review of Strip & Knit with Style

Strip and Knit with Style by Mark Hordyszynski, published by C&T Publishing, is a book that marries knitting and woven fabrics. Hordyszynski uses fabric to create strips and then proceeds to knit with them. He talks about the properties of different fabric materials; silk, wool, cotton and man-made. Then he proceeds to discuss how to treat fabric by painting, dyeing or discharging (which is when you actually remove the color from the fabric). From there is a discussion of how to cut or tear your fabric into strips, join the strips together, basics of how to knit and then finally how to knit with the strips acknowledging their specific properties (will they ravel or not for example).

The results are often lovely and always interesting, but I’m not sure the effort to create them is worth the time required. Knitting is a process for me and I will admit to being a person who does not enjoy sewing so that could have something to do with my less than enthusiastic response to Hordyszynski’s methods. But if you have tired of knitting with yarn and are or have access to fabric that you are interested in striping this is the book for you.

The book has sixteen different projects and they may inspire you to greatness or at least a new burst of creativity. Hordyszynski includes pillows, scarfs, a simple tank top, and more. The preponderance of pillows in the book would allow you to experiment with a small project to see if you even like it and you have the opportunity to purchase new gadgets to make cutting the fabric easy. They all follow the basic steps he has laid out and if this is your cup of tea you will find it well organized and fun. But this book is definitely for the specialist, the person who likes to knit, but also loves to work with fabric and is in need of a challenge or something different. I think I’ll stick to the knitting basics or at least knitting with yarn.