Franklin Habit

Writer, Teacher · Paris, France

Franklin Habit has been sharing his brainy and hilarious writing and illustrations with the knitting world since 2005.

Franklin’s technical knitting chops, communication skills, and deep knowledge of knitting history make him one of the most sought-after teachers at major knitting events. He is the author of two marvelously frivolous books on knitting along with scores of articles and essays for needlework publications in the USA and abroad. He maintains a lively and well-subscribed Patreon feed here, and you can find his YouTube channel here.

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Contributions From Franklin Habit

Letter from Paris: Endless Louvre

It's time for a fashion scavenger hunt in the Louvre with Franklin.

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Letter from Paris: The Made in France Exhibition

Delight your eyes when you step into textile history with Our Man in France.

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Letter from Paris: In Which I Steek Myself

Brought to you by the letter "S" for "stitches."

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Letter from Paris: La Vie en Froze

When the City of Light turns dreary, Our Man in Paris creates warmth.

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Letter from Paris: Noodling

A busy summer in Paris shifts into a relaxed fall, and Franklin is craving color.

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Letter from Paris: Hunkered

Our man in Paris makes do and mends (and frogs and sorts and organizes) until the city's Olympic fever breaks.

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Letter From Paris: A Sweater for Franklin

What would Franklin do when the weather, government, and global sporting events throw Paris off-kilter?

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Letter from Paris: Bonjour, Köln

The huge trade show reveals what's ahead—a report on the latest, cocooniest new trends.

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Letter from Paris: Twist of Fête

So many wooly wonders to be found just outside of Paris. Let Franklin be your guide.

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Letter from Paris: A Place for One’s Ball Winder

The sun is briefly seen, the gardienne is almost pleasant, and the workroom is nearly tidy. With spring comes hope.

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Letter from Paris: Mysterious Intent

Signs of new growth are popping up in Paris—on Franklin's noggin and on his knitted crazy quilt.

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Letter from Paris: Through All Crises

Knitting to fit . . . whom?

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Letter from Paris: Yarn Crawl of Terror

In which we laugh in the face of our knitterly fears. Be afraid. Be (somewhat) afraid.

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Letter from Paris: Calm Yer Knits

... or "Notes on a Nervous Doily." Step this way into Atelier Habit.

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Letter from Paris: Go Big and Stay Home

When the going gets tough, the tough knit lace.

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Letter from Paris: Slow Stitching

Think sloooooooooooow. Breathe.

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Letter from Paris: So You Wanna Knit the Louvre?

Far from the Mona Lisa crowd, here are places to whip out that travel WIP.

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Letter from Paris: Building Blocks

On making and measuring progress by the stitch and by the stack.

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Letter from Paris: Oooh de Cologne

It's off to Germany for knitwear trendspotting at a fabled trade show.

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Letter from Paris: La Fête de la Tonte

Rambouill-yay! We're off on a virtual field trip to the annual Festival of Shearing.

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Letter from Paris: Twin Cities?

Or "Lemon yellow is the new navy."

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Letter from Paris: Que veux-tu vraiment?

How a simple change can take you in a surprising new direction.

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Letter from Paris: Joyeuses Fêtes

Celebrating the season and looking forward to a vibrant new year.

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Letter from Paris: Ribbed Mitts

Jane Gaugain's 19th century wrist warmers for 21st century knitters.

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Letter from Paris: Haunting a Scottish Graveyard

Searching and musing in Dean Cemetery to honor the woman who started a Victorian revolution in knitting.

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Letter from Paris: La Rentrée

A change of season approaches, and the time is right for letting go, moving forward, and knitting on.

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Letter from Paris: Go with the Fluh

French for Knitters 101 now enrolling.

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Letter from Paris: Sweet, Sweet Summer

Ants in his pants as he crafts in France. It's a bountiful season.

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Letter from Paris: Tourist Trap

Wildlife spotting at a local café.

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Woolez-Vous Musée Avec Moi?

Our correspondent in Paris walks us through an exhibition dedicated to the history of sheep breeding.

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Letter from Paris: Doris Day Lied to Me

Gray skies are gonna clear up, but until then ...

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Letter from Paris: La Vie En Crochet

A cuddly sort of madness takes hold.

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Letter from Paris: Hashtag I Didn’t Wake Up Like This

. . . or "Kiss My Mitts."

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Letter from Paris: Fifty Million French Hens

Hello, culture shock!

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Letter from Paris: Price of New Life Does Not Include Shipping

Packing up a few things.

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Books with Franklin: Making Marls

From one small question–What happens if I knit with more than one yarn?—comes a comprehensive guide to creating custom color knits.

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Books with Franklin: Boldfaced Knitter

Knitted typography, and knitting through a typographer's eyes.

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Books with Franklin: Great Danes

Vivian and the night sweaters.

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In the Kitchen with Francatelli, Part Three

God serve the Queen...cookies! A sweet ending to our series about Victoria's tasty chef.

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In the Kitchen With Francatelli, Part Two

If you don't have a prawn dome, are you even cooking?

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In the Kitchen with Francatelli, Part One

God serve the Queen. A long-awaited new cooking series from Franklin Habit.

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Books with Franklin: Dogs and Crochet

Sit, stay, knit. Or crochet!

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Books with Franklin: Substitute Teacher

Yarn substitution, stash knitting, and corgis—these books have it all.

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Books with Franklin: Looking Back

Two very different rear-view mirrors, with knitwear.

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Books with Franklin: The Trouble with “Easy”

A juicy stack of recent knitting books gets the Franklin treatment.

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Books with Franklin: Knitting Ganseys

Rock the knit-frock. A new and thoroughly improved edition of a groundbreaking classic.

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Books with Franklin: Faerie Knitting

Tales of Hoffman (with knitting patterns of Hoffman).

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Books with Franklin: From Baby Shoes to the Stars

A pair of books full of surprises. New from Hunter Hammerson and Helga Spitz.

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Books with Franklin: Couture Feature

A knitting book so spare that it becomes the center of attention.

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Books with Franklin: Get the Hook

If you love to play with yarn, why not play with yarn any way you possibly can?

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Books with Franklin: Wool Studio and The Mitten Handbook

Two good titles delivered by an intrepid mail carrier.

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Books with Franklin: Shetland Double Feature

Shetland, through the lens of its knitting and wool traditions, as seen by two writers who know it well.

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Franklin on Books: Vogue Knitting –The Ultimate Knitting Book

A best friend gets a makeover, and emerges even better.

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Books with Franklin: Martin Storey and Nancy Marchant

Two books, two new projects cast on: an occupational hazard of reviewing good knitting books.

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Books with Franklin: Knitting Comfortably

Feeling oochy in the elbow? Check out a fascinating book about how knitters can get comfortable.

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Books with Franklin: New References (Ooh!)

Four new reference books that are worthy additions to the knitterly library.

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Books with Franklin: Patterns to Knit by the Fire

A raft of excellent new pattern books to warm your winter evenings.

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The Coy of Cooking: Adventures with Bettina (Part 3 of 3)

Underneath that practically-perfect exterior, something unexpected.

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Books with Franklin: So You Think You Can Art?

Making stuff: straight talk and logical advice on how to be an artisan. No woo woo here.

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The Coy of Cooking: Adventures with Bettina (Part 2)

She's back! Franklin Habit spends more time with everybody's favorite homemaker of 1919. Dutch Apple Cake emerges.

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Franklin Habit on Books: Short and Sexy

Knitting Short Rows: Jennifer Dassau explains it all for you. And Jen Geigley plays with scale in Weekend.

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The Coy of Cooking: Adventures with Bettina (Part 1)

In his most fabulous column yet, Franklin Habit dips into his vintage cookbook collection: A Thousand Ways to Please a Husband. Housewifely wackiness, excellent croquette recipe ahead.

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