Simply Knitting

About a year ago, I got a copy of Simply Knitting magazine as part of a swap. I really enjoyed it. According to the cover it's the UK's no. 1 knitting magazine. You can buy it at the big chain bookstores here in the USA, but it's a bit expensive that way. Santa gave me some money at Christmas so I decided to subscribe. My first subscription issue arrived last week.

There are lots of reasons why I find this magazine appealing. First of all, it comes with free gift with each issue. This is the knitter's equivalent of a surprise in a box of cereal (except nicer). I won't say what came with this issue. If the OWOH post goes over 150 comments, you can see there what it was.

There are lots of patterns, lots of different kinds of patterns, and patterns for a wide range of sizes. The March 2010 had adult, teen, and child sweaters, a hat and wristwarmer set, an Alan Dart cat pattern, and a whole section of quick and easy knits. An article compared various brands of double-pointed needles and another featured British yarns.

There are a few contests and giveaways that I think are only for people in the UK. For the most part, though, you can take advantage of the many things Simply Knitting has to offer. They've got a subscribers-only area on the Web where you can download free patterns. There are URLs to practically everything. In the off chance that you weren't able to track down something that you found in the magazine, there are all sorts of shops that advertise and I'm sure at least one could help.

I'm going to sit down and finish reading through this issue in a minute. I think I'll have to see if I can find a US source for some adorable Australian dolls they mentioned in this issue.