Faux Taxidermy Knits by Louise Walker, photography by F&W Media International, pub. David & Charles, 2014. Louise Walker is most famous for her taxidermy-look knitting and knitted wigs. I can't find any of her wigs written up in pattern form, but 15 of her wild animal knit designs are collected in this book. I'm going to diverge from my usual review method to talk about the photos first. The F&W Media team did an extraordinary job creating and photographing sets for this book. Louise does her own modeling when required, and hits just the right note, from vintage heiress to explorer-who-has-just-encountered-a-bear. The designs are uniformly cute, but everything comes in only one size. Most of the patterns involve quite a bit of sewing and liberal use of felt pieces for facial features. I don't mind the safety eyes so much as they lend a more realistic look to the pieces, but felt looks cheap to me. I prefer the look of yarn, even if a thinner weight yarn would have to be used to achieve the desired effect. The patterns are presented in a tiny but readable font. Huge charts are given to achieve the random patterns in the tiger stripes and crocodile skin. The "Materials" lists are thorough and might include unusual items such as pliers, florist's wire, or a pair of tights. The rabbit's foot calls for two yarns, but no directions are given as to when to use which. I assume they're both supposed to be used at the same time, but I can't find where in the book it says this. Since this is recommended as a good pattern to start with, the instructions should be especially clear. The hedgehog slippers look comfy, but I question the wisdom of chenille soles (not the most hard-wearing yarn). Also, the appealing texture of the hedgehog's back is made up of individually sewn picots. Yes. Every spike is hand-sewn. The bear coasters are adorable, but setting a glass or mug on a lump of knitting seems like a recipe for disaster. But they're very compelling, and Louise's tip to stuff each paw may help. There are some undefined abbreviations (p3c, k14b, etc.). I guess the letters refer to the color of the yarn, but I couldn't find where it specifies this and the colors are listed with capital letters, so it's a little confusing. The book contains some fetching designs. It provides an opportunity for adults to continue a stuffed animal fetish with relative dignity. (Hedgehog slippers are more dignified than bunny slippers, aren't they?) And no animals were harmed in its making. My issues with the instructions notwithstanding, Louise's humor and artistry shine throughout. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed this book from her personal library. No compensation was provided for this review. The opinions expressed in all Kangath's reviews are her own.
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Knitting Architecture by Tanis Gray, photography by Joe Hancock, pub. Interweave, 2013. This curated volume is a pattern book with "Get Inspired" sidebars accompanying each design. The sidebars include photographs and brief paragraphs describing the work of architecture evoked by that design. A lovely idea, I found myself wishing for more detail in the sidebars. It's impossible for me to knit all the patterns included in knitting books, but I learn from the information in them. Often this is technique-related learning, but sometimes it is tangential to knitting. This book had the potential to teach me about a new field, but merely gave me teasers. Not even appetizers---just their aroma. (Sadly, I don't know an appropriate architectural metaphor.) That said, the patterns really are beautiful. The first chapter, "Form Follows Function," includes both the stunning cover pattern (inspired by the Sydney Opera House) and my favorite pullover in the collection (inspired by the ceiling of King's College Chapel). Tanis says, "Similar to how structures need push and pull to help them move with the elements, we need our knitwear to be able to move with the push and pull of our bodies." This chapter also contains a tote, a pair of socks, the cardigan shown at right, and a really cool hat. I chose to picture the Gothic/Art Nouveau cardigan with all its bells and whistles (bobbles! dropped stitches!), but the hat is a real triumph. Designer Katharina Nopp describes her Fallingwater Hat as an attempt to realize "a sophisticated architectural and urban knit in a most simple, naive way." Inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright's famous Fallingwater, it perfectly portrays the alternating flat roofs and even the flowing water of the mountain retreat.
The garments in this book are all for women (although the socks, mittens, and Pompidou Wrap could work for men). They are generously sized (from around 30" to 60"), and although the hat is offered in three sizes, both mitten patterns and the shrug come only in a single size. I realize colorwork and textural patterning can make sizing difficult, and that not everyone needs to be able to wear every piece. (Also that a mitten doesn't need to fit like a glove. For that matter, neither does a shrug!) But I think in most cases a little thought can accommodate an extra size or two without too much added pattern length. This is a good book if you like the designs. Take the snippets of architectural inspiration as prompts to discover more on your own, and you have a valuable resource. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed this book from her personal library. No compensation was provided for this review. The opinions expressed in all Kangath's reviews are her own. The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos by Heidi Adnum, pub. Interweave Press, 2011. I recently purchased a camera, and am still finding my way around it. Not knowing a lot about photography, I was pleased to find clear explanations of some basic concepts in this book. Compared with Craftsy's Shoot It! class, this book had more specific information about settings and composition, and less information about working with people as models. In the first chapter, Adnum briefly discusses light, aperture, shutter speed, exposure, color, focus, and major digital camera modes, and gives advice on choosing a digital camera. I imagine I will outgrow this chapter fairly quickly once I learn these basics, but it will be a wonderful reference in the meantime. Next she goes into actually setting up your shot, touching on composition, background choice, and props---elements that will be dealt with more thoroughly later. Then comes an excellent chapter on do-it-yourself camera accessories: how to make your own light tent, light box, reflector, flash diffuser, seamless background, and even tripod (in a pinch). These pages are referred back to in the following chapters. A book like this is really hard to organize, and somewhere along the line the choice was made to separate the crafts from each other so entrepreneurs can look up their specific category and have all the information they need in one place. The problem with this method is that there are many similarities when photographing products that come out of various disciplines, which leads to repetition and omission. Some techniques that would be useful when shooting bags, say, are only given in the section on books. Furthermore, although the categories dealt with in this section are given at the beginning of the section and in the table of contents, they are only given a colored band in the header of the first page and the footer of every odd-numbered page to differentiate them from each other. Given that the choice was made to divide the crafts into separate chapters, I would have appreciated large chapter titles announcing the categories. Each of these chapters includes FAQs and an interview of a crafter in the respective discipline who takes beautiful and successful photos. The FAQs were well thought out, but I found the interviews less helpful because they mostly reiterated tips found elsewhere in the book. I can see how some people might appreciate reading about real people learning or discovering these things for themselves, though, and seeing the photos that resulted. All the photos in this book are taken by crafters, with credits that not only cite crafter and craft, but camera and settings as well! The final section of the book contained a nice surprise---extremely useful tutorials on editing essentials, image handling, and optimization. Again, I hope I'll outgrow these chapters soon, but in the meantime I'll really enjoy knowing they're at the back of this book. The final chapter on business advice provided a nice wrap-up, even though I already knew most of the information it conveyed. The glossary is also helpful, though it omits some terms like "in situ" and "MDF board." If you have stuff to photograph, whether or not you made it yourself or plan to sell it, you should take a look at this book. If you know a lot about photography, see whether your library carries it. You may learn something new about styling or props. But if you're a novice like me, you may want to purchase this book and refer to it frequently. Lots of information, effectively presented. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed a copy of The Crafter's Guide to Taking Great Photos from her library. Kangath was not compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are the blog author's and are not necessarily the opinions of Interweave Press or Heidi Adnum. Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush, pub. Interweave Press, 2005 This is an extremely useful book, one which is often seen at my knitting table even though I have never knit an entire sock from its pages. Several years ago I was in a position to buy either this book or Nancy's delightful Folk Socks. I counted up the number of heels and toes detailed in each volume, and since this book had slightly more to offer, this is the one I bought. I wasn't sorry (although there is an updated edition of Folk Socks which is calling to me . . . ) The 24 designs in this book seem knittable, wearable, and accurate. They are all taken from the Weldon's Practical Needlework series and given in the chronological order of the patterns which inspired them. In some cases, only the yarn and stitch gauge was changed (I know I love my size 0000 dpns, but some people find their hands cramp up after using them---wonder why). Other times, more serious interpretation was called for, discerning the meaning of different phraseologies, resolving errors, and modernizing fit. We are lucky to have Nancy to glean these wonderful patterns from this series for us and give the missing gauge and yardage information. She starts her book by giving a brief history of Weldon's, then continues by outlining her strategy for updating the techniques described in its pages. This second chapter is liberally sprinkled with quotes taken directly from Weldon's, some interesting and useful, and others most amusing. This section also contains instructions for four different heels and six different toes, many of which I have used in my own designs. Each instruction is prefaced with a comment from Nancy concerning the number of stitches it is to be worked on (half the total ankle stitches plus one seam stitch, a number divisible by 4, 60 stitches arranged on three needles, etc.), the shape of the sock part ("strong, but not perfectly smooth," "a serpentine pattern that spirals around the tip of the foot," etc.), and sometimes even the foot type most suited to it. Happily, the book is spiral bound, which makes it that much easier to use as a reference. While each pattern is written in a single size, the book contains patterns for socks from infants' shoe size 3-4 to men's shoe size 11-12. The patterns are clearly displayed in two columns per page, with enough yarn details to make substitution straightforward, if desired. Stitch patterns are printed alongside the pattern in colored boxes for easy reference, and charts are clearly labeled with keys. Charming sepia-toned photos and sketches as well as full-color photos of the unmodeled socks are sprinkled throughout. There is not only an abbreviation list and illustrated glossary, but an index as well---invaluable in this type of information-rich book. Plus, a timeline runs along the bottom of the pages, with a triangle indicating the point in time when the featured design was published. This is a marvelous book, with practical patterns for any knitter, plenty of interesting text for someone intrigued by vintage needlework, and heaps of inspiration for the designer. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed her personal copy of Knitting Vintage Socks. Kangath was not compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are the blog author's and are not necessarily the opinions of Interweave Press or Nancy Bush.
Pop Knitting by Britt-Marie Christoffersson, pub. Interweave Press, 2012 I couldn't wait for this book to arrive, and when it finally did it exceeded my expectations. The stitch patterns are gorgeous and wacky and delightful. With chapter titles such as Slipped Stitches to Form Welts, Patterns on Bind-Off Rows, and Patterns with Buttonholes, Christoffersson has reached beyond flat colorwork, cables, and lace into an exciting world rich with color, texture, and dimension. The introductions at the beginning of each chapter give the reader not only an idea of what they will find in the pages ahead, but a glimpse into Christoffersson's personality and creative processes. For instance, the introduction to Holes and Holes with Borders begins, "Lace knitting is not my cup of tea. Lace can be exciting to knit but the result is often too sweet and romantic for my geometrically inclined taste. Nonetheless, twenty years ago I sat down and thought deeply about how I might improve upon the technique." The patterns themselves are clear, but sometimes written in fill-in-the-blanks style. From Holes and Holes with Borders #1: "Shape bottom edge by binding off. Shape one side and then the other. . . . When the fabric with holes has been completed, use the dpn to pick up stitches around the hole. The number of stitches to pick up should match the gauge of the background knitting. . . ." The pattern does not explain how the sides are to be shaped, or how to determine the number of stitches to pick up (the border is in stockinette, the background in garter stitch; are we meant to pick up the circumference of the garter hole in the garter gauge or stockinette gauge?), and the accompanying chart if numbered as if one square = one row, but the text above it says one square = two rows. This is fine with me, and I really don't know how she could explain it much better without specifying gauge and constraining the knitter more than is warranted in a stitch dictionary. Frankly, there are enough other beautiful patterns in this book written with specific details to satisfy even the most timid knitter. Such a knitter could choose some of them to work, then apply some of the variations found in photographs on following pages. For instance, there are eleven variations of Casting On and Binding Off within a Row 1. After this, the (now somewhat braver) knitter may be tempted to try a trickier pattern involving surface motifs or different directions. Finally, our hero may be ready to venture into the merely described patterns such as Holes. The photography by Thomas Harrysson deserves special mention and is worth the price of the book. The many full-page photos of single stitch patterns and the "variations" photo pages show the stitches in full detail. This is a wonderful book, and I'm excited to try the stitches described within. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed her personal copy of Swedish Sweaters. Kangath was not compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are the blog author's and are not necessarily the opinions of Interweave Press or Britt-Marie Christoffersson. |
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