Doomsday Knits: Projects for the Apocalypse and After edited by Alex Tinsley, photographs by Vivian Aubrey, pub. Cooperative Press, 2014. The year is 3015… The polar ice caps have melted and the deserts expanded, leaving the Earth a seared, crusty Hell. Meanwhile, nuclear fallout has blocked out the sun, plunging the world into a new ice age (yes, at the same time.) The question on your mind? “What should I knit?!” Don't be alarmed! With chapters such as Global Warming, Nuclear Winter, Kill All Humans (You just HAD to have the newest iPhone.), Miscellaneous Mayhem, and Rising from the Ashes, this book provides knitting patterns for every scenario plus recovery. Doomsday Knits begins with an "Identify Your Apocalypse" flow chart drawn by Lee DeVito. Starting with a question about the weather and ending (no pun intended) with such catastrophes as Famine, Bio-engineering Disaster, and Twilight Apocalypse (Grab all the quality literature you can carry and run.), it provides a foolproof method for labeling the particular calamity you have experienced (including the possibility that you're just out of Girl Scout cookies). The designs, from Amy Manning's baby blanket to Alex Tinsley's dread falls, all contain clever little details to separate you from the zombies. Sharon Fuller's Fennec (below) is a burnoose with a long tail that goes over the shoulder to help keep the garment on. Bulletproof (left), by Alexandra Virgiel, features zippers with unusual placement and a "don't-tread-on-me" vibe. Grom-mitts are Brenda K. B. Anderson's apocalyptic answer to fancy jewelry. And Lunar Progression is the way Theressa Silver plans to keep track of time. Garments are written in a generous number of sizes (most fit 28 - 62" busts) with measurements given in both inches and centimeters. Suggested ease is provided for most wearables. Four of the mitt/mitten designs and all three hat designs (grr!) come in a single size, but most claim to be stretchy. And SpillyJane's Circuit Mittens would be pretty darn difficult to size, given their allover stranded color work of chakra symbols within and Egyptian-style cartouche surrounded by a circuit board. Two of the mitt patterns and one sock pattern are written in two sizes, and there are four sizes each for Sarah Burghardt's Rattlebone Mitts and Katherine Vaughan's Long Road Ahead socks. The patterns themselves are very readable, in three columns with adequate white space, and only headers in the character font (still legible).
And if that's not enough, the book is aerated with lists of recommended reading, viewing, listening, and gaming---and tips for fighting creatures known to populate the end times. The designer bios are worth a closer look, too. I prescribe this book for anyone who thinks the world may have ended (the introductory flow chart alone will be worth the price of the book), for knitters or designers who may or may not need rejuvenation (some of the techniques in this book are pretty inspiring), and for people who just like pretty pictures of disaster-ridden lands, blank spaces, and brick shelters. Disclosure: Cooperative Press sent Kangath a copy of Doomsday Knits free for review. 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 Cooperative Press or the designers.
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