Knit Wear Love by Amy Herzog, photography by Karen Pearson, pub. STC Craft, 2015. I can't say enough good things about this book. Amy Herzog is one of my favorite knitting voices. I enjoy her non-judgmental word choices and straightforward message: we are all beautiful. That said, when I first saw this book I looked at the cover and wondered what the publisher was thinking. the sweaters weren't attractive to me, the styling seemed off, the camera angles were unflattering... The clouds cleared from my attitude when I opened the book and saw what it was. Of course it's not just a collection of patterns! That's not what Amy's about. She opens with a chapter on identifying your personal style. Proposing no fewer than eight categories, complete with descriptions of fiber, fabric, and color, she gives five exercises to help label your tastes. This is important because if we articulate what we like to wear, we are less likely to choose to knit something that attracts us for other reasons (for instance, the setting it's worn in). Chapter Two is a crash course in sweater choice and customization which will guide us through eight meta-patterns, each with three samples worked up in different styles and yarn weights. Each meta-pattern is written for twelve sizes from 30" to 54" bust. The patterns are brilliantly laid out in chart form, resulting in a surprising clarity, given that there are mix-and-match instructions for three radically different sweaters on the same page. It's like a cross between a knitting book and a Choose-Your-Own-Adventure Novel. The bolero below (in bulky weight yarn) is written with the worsted-weight Avant Garde Bolero and the fingering-weight Romantic Bolero. All three patterns are given in all three weights, with caveats about yarn suitability for special features such as puffed sleeves. They are only broken out by specific styles when necessary (as for the lower edge or the sleeves) otherwise they are written as one pattern. It works. Knitters can choose to use a different stitch patterns or yarn weights or even change the increase and decrease rates following Amy's instructions. It's liberating, and the possibilities are endless. I highly recommend this book for knitters who want to be able to customize their sweaters for fit or for style. Also for those who'd like their knitting to fit better (some important information about measuring gauge in Chapter Two), those who want to choose a sweater that flatters their body type, those who are hesitant to knit a sweater in pieces or have trouble with seaming, and those who just plain like Amy Herzog patterns. Disclosure: The publisher sent Kangath a review copy of this book. Kangath was not otherwise compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in Kangath's reviews are her own.
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Lithuanian Knitting by Donna Druchunas and June Hall, project photography by Dominic Cotignola, Double Vision Press, 2015. Donna Druchunas has an interesting style of knit design. Inspired by ethnic traditions and enhanced by her own quirky intelligence, she turns out items to dress in from head to toe and then some. She has collaborated with June Hall on a masterwork which combines history, technique, designs, and even a bit of animal science---all Lithuanian or inspired by Lithuanian knitting. This review is part of a blog tour to help raise money to publish a printed version of the book, available soon in pdf format. The book contains over 100 pages of background material: photos, artwork, charts, maps, and text. It is always clear who is writing (the passages are labeled "Donna" and "June"), and both women have clear, engaging tones. The introduction explains the genesis of this book. The next chapter is called "The Land and the People" and explores the way the town and the country, the people and their stories, provide inspiration for knitted motifs and art in general. Chapter Three, "The History," describes how the Lithuanian National Costume developed and takes a quick look at Jewish Lithuania. When I signed up for the blog tour, I chose a date that would give me plenty of time to read the book and prepare a review. Or so I thought! Nearing that date and not even halfway through the background material, I skipped ahead to Chapter Seven, "Lithuanian Knitting Techniques." This chapter contains several exciting new techniques like the Bulgarian Cast On, and recipes for custom-sized socks, mittens, and gloves. The subjects of Chapters Four and Five are Lithuanian Sheep and Wool. I was happy to have the time to go back and read them. It's worth the price of the book just to read June's loving treatment of these topics. Chapter Six describes knitters and their traditions in over a dozen Lithuanian cities and villages. Then come Donna's patterns! Nine mitten designs, five glove designs, ten sock designs, and three wrist warmer designs. Here are a few of my favorite socks: I knit the "Rumsiskes in Summer" sample socks above. Note: made in Litwool, they are not intended to be worn in warm weather, but represent the colors and images of Rumsiskes Open Air Museum in summertime. This place, like Crossroads Village in my hometown, or the Rural Life Museum where I live now, replicates the buildings and tools of yesteryear. I also started a pair of "Vytis, Lithuania's Knight" gloves for use in the book. I was especially looking forward to the patterned fingers but ran into trouble with them and ended up sending them back to Donna for reworking. I guess I'll just have to knit my own pair! The final sample was knit in Rauma Finullgarn and more closely matches the colors of the museum gloves that inspired them. Now for the giveaway: I'm offering the yarn used in the sample on the left (enough to knit a pair of Vytis gloves) to a randomly chosen commenter with a U.S.A. address---Knit Picks "Palette" in Safflower and Midnight Heather. Safflower is a sweet yellow, somewhere between lemony and buttery. The Midnight Heather is a deep navy blended with just enough turquoise to make it shine. The pattern is part of the book, which you can either get as a premium on the Pubslush page or pre-order on Ravelry. To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment by May 26 saying when or where you'd wear your Vytis gloves, or who you plan to give them to. Or tell me your favorite pattern from the book (there are so many good ones, but I rather like Marija's Kneesocks). Do check out the Pubslush Campaign to raise money for the print version of this worthwhile book, as well as the rest of the blog tour. Good for all knitters, with information on design as well as solidly written patterns, the book has enough background information to attract non-knitters as well. Wonderful! Disclosure: Kangath received a preview copy of this book from the author. No other compensation was provided. The opinions expressed in all Kangath's reviews are her own.
Duct Tape by Forest Walker Davis, pub. Quarry Books, 2015. When this book arrived on my doorstep, my tween snatched it away before I had a chance to look at it. Eventually she looked the other way, and I snatched it back. Forest's tone, casual yet focused, appealed to me instantly. The shiny projects are delightful and the instructional text is clear. This book contains a balance of photo tutorials (that look like they've been attached to the page with duct tape) and detailed project descriptions (that fall just short of instructions). For example, in the "Flowers" chapter there are photo tutorials for different kinds of petals and flower centers. There's also a gallery of various real and fantastical flowers with descriptions that tell how they were made. In addition to flowers and the obligatory wallets and purses, there are belts, neckties, dog leashes, and caps! I don't care for the book's font, which besides looking cramped is annoyingly small in places, but a hipper person might find it attractive. This book widened my horizons a bit---always a good thing. I haven't read many books on duct tape crafts, but I enjoyed this one. Disclosure: Kangath received a review copy of this book from the publisher. No other compensation was provided. The opinions expressed in all Kangath's reviews are her own. I Love Paper by Fideli Sundqvist, photography by Maria Wretblad, pub. Quarry Books, 2015 This is a book about paper art---paper cutting and paper folding, paper cake and paper circuses, paper to decorate with and paper to wear. The projects are charming. Some of the explanations are idiosyncratically translated but a little thought will make it clear what needs to be done. Unfortunately the book does not stay open very well. I tried bending its spine and that helped a little, but the center pages still want to close. You'll have to use clips or a book weight if you want to reference a certain page while working. The photography is fetching---well styled and artfully done. See samples in the slide show below. Sundqvist tells a little about her education and creative process. She also gives valuable tips for tools and object creation. I'm looking forward to making some of the geometric figures and maybe an apple or two! Disclosure: The publisher sent Kangath a review copy of this book. Kangath was not otherwise compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are her own. Warm Days, Cool Knits by Corrina Ferguson, photography by Joe Hancock, pub. Interweave Press, 2015. This book contains 20 "Lighter Designs for Every Season." All yarns are DK weight or lighter. There are roughly three sweaters and two accessories for each of the four seasons. Most of the sweaters are worked from the bottom up. About half of those are done in flat pieces and the other half circularly in one piece to the underarms. Garment sizes span 29 - 60" with most falling in the 34 - 50" range. The sock and hat patterns each come in two sizes. This is purely a pattern book, with no additional content to speak of. The design titles are old-fashioned Southern names, "most of which have passed into history." She calls the names "storied," but we have to imagine their stories as they are not provided. The cover pattern, Leora, is a linen tank with fetching side detailing. Corrina designed the straps to be wide enough to cover bra straps. Recently I haven't noticed women of any age being shy about showing their bra straps. Often they sport bra and cami straps of different colors under their tanks. Corrina begins the collection with Winter: Denford is a wool-silk raglan cardigan in argyle cables with a wide short-row collar; Zolena is a lovely pullover with matching cowl done partly in a yarn with Stellina content; Weldon is a whimsical slouch hat; Williston is a lovely lace sock pattern; and Lochlan (left) is a hoodie in textured chevron stitch. I admire many aspects of this thoughtfully constructed piece. Corrina's yarn choice is a luxurious merino-cashmere-silk blend which is both soft against the skin and warm. At only a DK weight, it's also light. The largest size (43" bust) only weighs around 1 1/2 pounds. The chevron stitch works like rib to cling to curves. I only wish the hood came down a little farther over the head. The zipper is a nice touch, and I love her color choice. Living in the South myself, I can attest to the need for books like this. The Spring chapter contains a couple shawl patterns, a couple tee patterns, and a short-sleeve cardi that fastens with one button at the top. However, I am not in love with any of the designs in this section. I guess I'm too much of a Yankee! Teola (right) is a polo shirt (it might look like a hoodie in this photo) which features a Jewel Cross Cable. Someone decided it would be a good idea to put the instructions for the cable on a different page from the chart so you have to flip back and forth from the chart to the instructions. Unfortunate. The summer patterns are more to my taste. Leora (the cover tank). Dorthelia is another tank, this time with waist shaping and lace around the bottom edge. Temple looks like the perfect item to wear in the ubiquitous air conditioning---a lace weight cardigan on size 6 needles. Alliemay is an unshaped lace dress which unbelted would hit my ankles. The belt can be tied anywhere, but is shown only in the drop waist position (which I think influences me against it). I think I would wear it at empire waist. Junius is a gorgeous golden shawl, specially shaped to lie across the shoulders without pins or clips. But my absolute favorite chapter is Fall. Darl is an adorable cardi with 3/4 sleeves and an allover diamond leaf lace pattern. Bayard (left) has a gorgeous wide yoke. Emmylou (below) is a crescent shawl worked up in Braeburn apple-colored yarn. Rhetta is a breezy cardigan with bracelet-length sleeves. And Wiley is a basic shawl with some interesting design features. Photos are sunny and knit-centered, with natural poses and every desired angle featured. They are attractive and set a cheerful tone for the book. The patterns seem well written, though little support is given to beginning knitters who may not be sure of the correct way to "dec one st at the neck edge" or "inc one st each side." There appears to be plenty of room to spell out those instructions and still leave a little white space. Schematics and charts are clear, though the schematics do not indicate direction of knitting. This book is not a resource for designing or adapting warmer-weather garments, but it does contain some helpful hints for working the patterns. I recommend it to knitters who knit for people (perhaps themselves) living in warmer climates---or anyone else who likes the designs. Disclosure: Kangath reviewed this book from her personal library. She was not compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are her own. I've struggled with drawing all my life. And let me tell you, it didn't get better after my stroke. My agent just gave me a nice compliment on my sketching, so I feel all warm inside, but I secretly know how much work I need to do! I recently ran across Fashion Drawing for Dummies Cheat Sheet, which outlines a six step process (more like five for me---I don't particularly agree with the "clothes look better on tall, slim bodies" advice) to drawing figures. I think I'll start following these instructions, and see whether I can further hone my sketching skills. Wish me luck! These are Chantal Garceau's Teddy Bear Booties out for a walk. Since I made these for a newborn, I did not add the leather soles. I considered selecting from the other grippy sole-coatings in The Knitted Slipper Book, but decided against them in the end. I did add cuffs in Knitivity machine-washable sock yarn in the Journal colorway. The color is a mix of medium-light browns enhanced by touches of ultraviolet. Dyer Ray Whiting is a genius! To add the cuffs, I used a small (2.7mm) crochet hook to punch holes in the felt at more or less regular intervals. Then I took a the hook through the holes from inside the slipper to the outside, grabbed a loop of yarn, brought it back inside the slipper, and stored it on 2.75mm (US2) double-pointed needles. I made 24 loops of fingering weight yarn for the size 0 - 3 month booties. I then knit a 4cm (approximately 1 1/2") cuff in k2p2 rib. Pattern Writing for Knit Designers by Kate Atherley, pub. Kate Atherley/Wise Hilda Knits, 2014. I know Kate Atherley as a well-qualified and thorough tech editor, so I was prepared for this book to be filled with solid information, a pattern template, and maybe a few checklists. I was not prepared for it to sweep me off my feet. The subtitle is "everything you didn't know you needed to know," and I think it's a fair bet that most designers will discover at least one aspect of pattern writing they had not previously thought about. The introduction, in Kate's characteristic clear tone, sets out what the book is, who it's for, why she was inspired to write it, and why it matters. Basically, if you write patterns for designs you created with the idea that others might follow your instructions, you should take a look at this book. The book is laid out in an engaging manner. The margins are lightly drawn graph paper, which fades out into the main text area. Much of the book is laid out like a knitting pattern, in two-column format with headings. Bulleted lists and the occasional chart help break up the blocks of text. Most sidebars are made to look like scraps of paper taped or paper-clipped to the page. The "Don't Just Take It From Me" sidebars are in the shape of cartoon speech bubbles. These last sidebars contain important feedback about what knitters like to see in patterns, gathered by Kate from the knitters themselves in multiple venues. Other recurring sidebars include the following:
One disappointment was that the page numbers didn't print on my 8 1/2 x 11" paper. (I told Kate about this, and she's working on a solution. In the meantime, just be sure to click "Scale to Fit" or something similar before you print.) I took Edie Eckman's "How to Say It" Craftsy class when it first came out. Her course skimmed the surface, where this book plunges to a shivering depth. Kate covers the following pattern features in detail :
She also gives overviews of the submission process, selling online, and copyright. And she has included a pattern template, a list of abbreviations, a glossary of how she defines standard terms, and a resource list and bibliography. Whew! As I said, it swept me off my feet. Even in Kate's matter-of-fact tone, some sections read like a suspenseful novel---others, like an explanation of that rice cooker manual I was never able to understand. I plan to read it through once more, and then use it as a reference. I highly recommend this book to anyone who writes knitting patterns. Disclosure: The publisher sent Kangath a review copy of this book. Kangath was not otherwise compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are her own. These are the Teddy Bear Booties I crocheted from Chantal Garceau's instructions. The pattern is not in her book, but it's available as a free download to those who bought the book. I was extremely happy with the finished result, though I wish there were a way to make the backs of the ears a solid color. I did not use the templates for the faces, but instead embroidered freehand. The instructions were sufficient to allow me to make two cute, individual faces. I also love the little contrasting color touch along the upper edge. These were a gift for a friend's new baby, and I like to think the little tyke will be able to play with them after he outgrows them. Adorable! Cozy Toes for Baby by Chantal Garceau and Mary J. King, photography by Brent Kane, pub. Martingale, 2014. This book features 7 patterns for the most darling felted baby booties imaginable, plus a basic pattern without decoration. The shoes are crocheted, felted, and fitted with leather soles. They come in 5 sizes, from newborn (4") to 24 months (5 3/4"). Proceeds from the sale of this book benefit the Imani Project, aiding Kenyan children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. Chantal also has a business, Chantal's Little Shoes. The company sells shoes from the book in addition to other shoes (my favorite is the Berry Delicious which looks like a strawberry with a little blossom on top) and custom-designed shoes for businesses. First, Chantal provides a little introduction explaining the genesis of the book and a call to all crafters and artists to make an impact on the world. Then she rolls up her sleeves and plunges into the materials needed to make the shoes. She covers yarn, trim, and satin ribbon, but my favorite tips come from the section on leather. All the shoes feature leather soles. I made a pair for a newborn and simply left the soles off. There are stickers and paint you can use to make the slippers grip the floor without leather. But leather (and as a vegetarian I hate to admit this) is really the best option for little foot bottoms. Chantal recommends recycling leather, whether from one of your own garments or handbags or from a thrift store find. She even gives hints as to where to look in the thrift store and other ways to find just enough sole for one pair. "Tools and Supplies" is just what it sounds like, but contains references to other parts of the book as well as lists of necessities. Then comes the Basic Shoe Pattern. It's lovely that this section starts with the Gauge Swatch. Details are provided for crocheting and measuring, and adjusting hook size if the swatch doesn't measure up. Throughout the Basic Shoe Pattern there are sidebars with hints for how to work the beginnings of rows and how to tell which side is the right side. These valuable tips are sprinkled throughout the book with more advanced techniques. There's even a chart in color showing the shape of each shoe before felting. Photos of each step give crafters a sense of security. The sections at the end of the book, "Felting" and "Soles" are just as well thought out and generously supported by photos. The photography is capable, but without real babies it's hard to know how the shoes would fit. A photo of an actual baby modeling the Silly Monkey Shoes is on page 45. I wasn't confident that the newborn I was shoeing would have equally fat ankles, so I added a cuff in machine-washable sock yarn. The patterns are well written. There is, however, no assistance in what to do with the main color when working the contrasting color faces (such as in Ollie Owl and the Ladybugs). Are we expected to use separate yarn bundles? Cut the yarn in between? Strand across the back? In a book where everything else is made clear, that really stands out. Each shoe has a special touch that makes it different from the others---seeds and a precious cuff on Fresh Watermelon, clever yet simple eyeballs on Froggy, and Ollie Owl's virtuosic face mask. Chantal even includes a gift card to print or photocopy which details wearing and washing instructions. But the best part, to me, is the fact that the proceeds are donated to the Imani Project. What a worthwhile way to use enterprise and creativity! These projects are wonderful for the budding crocheter because felting hides uneven stitches. Chantal also offers individual kits in her shop---and none of the kit patterns are duplicated in the book. Please support her work! Disclosure: The publisher sent Kangath a review copy of this book. Kangath was not otherwise compensated for the preceding review. All opinions expressed in the review are her own. |
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