KnitOvation — An Expansion Pack Worth Collecting

A beautiful new addition to the growing library of exceptional knitting literature from Andrea Rangel, KnitOvation does not disappoint

Let’s just get this out of the way early: Andrea Rangel has done it again.

Following the success of AlterKnit (Interveave, 2017) her exceptional collection of 200 colorwork motifs, she and her husband Sean have returned with a companion volume that threatens to dethrone its predecessor in wit, creativity, and charm. Featuring over 150 new motifs to add to their seemingly infinite catalogue of beautiful patterns, KnitOvation is an excellent example for how designers can build on a theme without replicating their initial successes.

An overhead photo of Andrea Rangel’s two colorwork books: AlterKnit and KnitOvation. Their covers show swatches of fun and colorful knitting motifs — strong, geometric patterns on AlterKnit with whimsical designs on KnitOvation.

The book itself is a pleasure to hold — a detail I often feel is overlooked in crafting literature. Proportionally printed at 8”x10” in firm, hard-cover binding, the book is as comfortable to flip through as it is to prop open and use while knitting. Its pages are strong, thick, and glossy: made to withstand years of use and gives the book a weight that feels sturdy and durable.

Crafters often think of themselves as visual people, spending hours upon hours choosing the perfect colors and textures for our next projects. But, if you ask me, we see with our hands first and only then do we move on to what we can see with our eyes. For that reason, crafters will adore the thoughtful, matte texture chosen for this book’s cover. Soft, silken, and smooth like a swatch of merino fabric. Even as I write this, I find myself picking the book up to run my hands along its surface.

Heavenly.

The new motifs offered in KnitOvation diverge cleverly from the original volume while simultaneously building on its momentum. Whereas AlterKnit focuses on graphic, geometric shapes that lean into the abstract, KnitOvation favors representative stitch structures. Puzzle pieces, flowers, falling leaves, and windmills all make appearances throughout the book’s ample 160 pages, giving the two-book collection a balance of structure and whimsy.

What truly impressed me is the number of motifs that strike gold with their execution. At over 350 motifs offered across both volumes, one would expect the Rangels to run out of steam eventually — surely no two people can have such an exhaustive well of creativity to pull from! But, with each new page, I found myself increasingly delighted with what Sean and Andrea have to offer their readers.

Though there are a handful of patterns that don’t land as intensely as their neighbors — “Fairy” in KnitOvation falling victim to the same fate as “Brains” in AlterKnit — and a few others still that feel very similar to one another, only the cattiest of crafters would hold this against them. Frankly, even at her weakest, Andrea Rangel delivers work that exceeds many designers’ best… and how many of us can say the same?

Lovers of AlterKnit will notice a bit of an inevitable bleed from the first volume to the second, but these instances are rare and well-chosen. Technical instructions for holding two strands, catching floats, and managing color dominance appear in both volumes (sometimes replicated exactly) but this stands as a benefit to KnitOvation; allowing it to live as its own dictionary, free of its predecessor.

“Brains!” from AlterKnit (left) and “Fairy” from KnitOvation both suffer from the same challenge: representative imagery that relies on a great amount of single-stroke illustration that somewhat loses its definition in stitchwork. The "zombies’ details are lost in “Brains!” the same way that the fairies’ whimsy can’t quite be captured. Still fun and fanciful — just not quite as successful as the patterns that surround them.

While I love KnitOvation for its playful and charming colorwork motifs, what caught my attention and kept me reading were the sections dedicated to understanding what makes good colorwork — a theme introduced in AlterKnit and brought to a crescendo in this newest work. As most knitters can attest, the process of learning stranded colorwork can be an absolute beast.

“I just got the hang of one yarn and now you want me to do what??”

Regardless of how you knit your colorwork — holding both strands in a single hand, learning to pick and throw simultaneously, or (horror??) dropping the unused strand and picking up the other with each new stitch — it is a technique that requires diligent practice. Keeping the strings untangled, regulating floats, maintaining tension… it’s enough to make anyone give up the hobby altogether! Rangel’s calm and measured guides work to bring that anxiety down to a warm simmer — just the right temperature for learning.

For technical knitters who crave not only the What but also the How and Why, Rangel has a particular treat in store for you.

Toward the front of the book, she has included a section that showcases 17 different fibers and their impact on the same colorwork motif. When first flipping through, I was stopped cold in my tracks when I noticed each page featured the same diamond-shaped pattern, slightly modified from the page before. I immediately flipped back to the section’s beginning and devoured each explanation in detail.

Reading each fiber’s description as Rangel details both the minor and major changes each fiber choice makes to colorwork is, frankly, enthralling. As a novice colorwork knitter, having over a dozen varieties of fiber — from woolen-spun to worsted, sticky, smooth, linen, cotton, silk, and even mohair — laid out in front of me to see, in practical effect, felt like a revelation. This, coupled with Rangel’s extensive how-tos from AlterKnit create a tome of colorwork education that is unique to my shelves

Our Crafter holds open his copy of KnitOvation to a page that displays the same diamond-shaped motif repeated four times across four different woolds: Icelandic, Rambouillet, Bluefaced Leicester, and Woolen Cormo. Each of these examples is attended by a detailed description of the impact they have on the colorwork motif.

Admittedly, the project patterns offered in this book are scant — only a sweater, hat, and mitt set — but their inclusion serves a higher purpose than simply offering the reader a new cast-on. Used strategically by Rangel’s deft writing, these patterns are practical examples not just of what can be accomplished in colorwork, but how the motifs scattered throughout the previous pages can be altered, combined, and expanded to create unique pieces tailored to the maker’s tastes.

Budding colorwork designers will want to take particular note of Rangel’s generous explanations on how she designs her pieces. Tips on hat shaping, grading colorwork for larger sizes, and a particularly helpful guide for making your own colorwork yoke should not be missed. Her willingness to give away the keys to the kingdom for the benefit of others is evident in her introduction:

“There are many ways of knitting, a wise variety of materials to choose from and an infinite number of ridiculous and beautiful things that a person can knit…

The motifs in this book are intended to be a jumping-off point for your own creativity… You can use the motifs without credit to me or the book…”

To learn from Rangel’s expertise and dedication to the craft as she details how each decision can either improve or diminish the overall effect of a knitter’s colorwork is a true highlight of the book. Her insistence in never using language that alienates certain choices as “bad” while heaping favor on others is a testament to her openness and understanding that craft is personal and art is subjective. It would do her readers well to include more of this thoughtful insight in future publications.

It’s easy to say that KnitOvation is a perfect book for anyone who loved AlterKnit, is a fan of Andrea Rangel’s design, or has a passion for colorwork knitting. But more than that, KnitOvation is a beautiful addition to any curious knitter’s library. Crafters with a love for stitch dictionaries that can be pulled off the shelf time and time again, providing years of inspiration and delight. While I find it stronger as a companion volume to the larger AlterKnit offering, there is no reason it can’t stand alone on any maker’s shelf.

I, for one, am grateful to have both in my library.

Our Crafter’s hands reach up from the bottom of the frame to hold his copy of KnitOvation. The book’s vibrant, colorful cover displaying a collection of playful colorwork motifs. Dinosaurs, pandas, crabs, and maple leaves are joined by geometric lines, squiggles, and diamonds. The Lighting is warm and soft, diffused from a nearby open window.

---

To watch my full video review on YouTube, click here

To purchase your own copy of KnitOvation, click here

To purchase AlterKnit, click here

Andrea Rangel is a knitwear designer and author living in Victoria, British Columbia. You can find her patterns, books, blog, yarn reviews, and more at AndreaRangel.com