The Shape of Knitting
by Lynne Barr
A playful, experimental guide to making knitted fabric bend, fold, and rise, built around projects that teach you to shape knitting in ways most pattern books never attempt.
What It's About
The Shape of Knitting is a technique book disguised as a pattern collection. Lynne Barr, known for inventive, sculptural designs, focuses on how knitted fabric can be shaped, both while it stays flat and when it becomes three-dimensional. She covers familiar shaping tools alongside methods she developed herself, and the 24 projects exist mainly to put those methods into your hands.
Many of the projects are small accessories that knit up quickly, which makes sense for this kind of book. You can try an unusual construction on a modest piece, see how the fabric behaves, and decide whether to push the idea further, all without committing to a full garment. The emphasis is on discovery: understanding why a stitch manipulation makes fabric curl, pleat, or bulge, rather than just following a row count.
Reading it feels a bit like a studio workshop. Expect to swatch, experiment, and occasionally rip back while you puzzle out a new structure. Knitters who enjoy that process will find it stimulating and may come away thinking about their needles differently. Those who mainly want wearable, classic patterns will find the aesthetic distinctive, sometimes avant-garde, and not always aimed at everyday wardrobe staples.
Read this if you…
- are a confident knitter who wants to understand how fabric shaping actually works
- enjoy unusual, architectural designs more than classic sweaters
- like learning through small experimental projects you can finish quickly
Skip it if you…
- want a collection of conventional, everyday garments to knit straight off the page
- are brand new to knitting and still learning basic stitches and increases
Key Ideas
- 1
Shaping is a design tool, not a chore
Barr treats increases, decreases, and other shaping methods as creative choices rather than mechanical steps for fitting a garment. By understanding how each technique alters the fabric, a knitter can use shaping deliberately to create texture, movement, and form, instead of simply copying what a pattern dictates.
- 2
Flat fabric can still have shape
Before moving into fully three-dimensional work, the book shows that a piece of knitting lying flat can carry curves, angles, and structural interest. This lays groundwork for understanding how changes in stitch count and direction affect a fabric's outline and drape.
- 3
Knitting can become sculptural
A central thread is pushing fabric off the flat plane into folds, ridges, and raised forms. Barr presents her own developed techniques alongside traditional ones, encouraging readers to see knitting as something closer to soft sculpture than a two-dimensional surface.
- 4
Small projects make experiments manageable
Using many quick accessories lets knitters test unfamiliar constructions without investing weeks of work. A small finished piece doubles as a learning sample, so mistakes are cheap and successes can be scaled up or adapted into your own designs later.
Limitations
The book's strength, its unconventional aesthetic, is also its main dividing line: some knitters find the finished pieces more artistic than wearable. Because it leans on novel techniques, the instructions can demand patience and careful reading, and beginners may struggle without a grounding in basics. It is not a fitting or garment-construction manual, so readers wanting help with sizing sweaters should look elsewhere. Yarn choices may be dated or harder to find now, though the techniques themselves remain useful.
Questions Readers Ask
- Is The Shape of Knitting suitable for beginners?
- It is better suited to knitters who already handle basic increases, decreases, and reading patterns comfortably. A determined advanced beginner could work through some of the smaller accessories, but the book's value lies in experimenting with unusual techniques, which is easier once fundamentals feel automatic.
- Is it mostly patterns or mostly technique?
- Both, but technique drives it. The projects are vehicles for learning shaping methods, so you will get the most from the book by paying attention to why each construction works, not just completing the pattern. Knitters wanting to design their own pieces will find that especially useful.
- How does it compare to Lynne Barr's other books?
- Barr is known for inventive approaches, as in Knitting New Scarves. This book shares that experimental spirit but broadens the focus to shaping fabric generally, both flat and three-dimensional, rather than centering on a single type of item.
- Published
- 2013
- ISBN
- 9781617690211
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Category
- Crafts & Hobbies
Book details and cover from Google Books.
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