01.26.06
Posted in Reviews at 8:47 pm by Rachel
I’ve been rather lazy about my big plan to post book and yarn reviews, so as one aspect of my new year’s knitolutions (yes it’s January 26 and this is the first you heard of them), I’m going to rededicate myself to them. We’ll see how long it lasts.
First up is Vintage Knits from the staff of Rowan. I can’t remember what first drew my attention to this book, but I took it out of the library last week. The projects fall into three categories (of my own determination, not as delineated in the book): attractive and classic sweaters, sweaters that someone other than I might be able to pull off, and sweaters that should not exist. Of the 30 patterns in the book, a full 16 of them fall into the first category, which I think is pretty darn good. (The only downside is that, in about half of those patterns, “attractive and classic” is a nice way of saying “boring.”) A good example is this sweater that I was considering for the Knitting Olympics (sadly, I think I have decided to be a cheerleader rather than an athlete this round) as well as this purple sweater. I like plain and classic things, so this type of pattern appeals to me. There is a fair selection of nice if unexciting men’s sweaters as well — many of them perfect for the vintage professor in your life.
Eight more patterns are the sort of thing that, while I would never make them for myself (or probably anyone else), I wouldn’t condemn them as bad patterns; I’m sure there’s someone who would look good in them. A person who has a distinct and overt style can often pull off unusual looks that include pieces that draw some attention to themselves. My personal sense of style, which dates back to junior high, consists of dressing as non-descriptly as possible. If anyone comments on any aspect of my outfit (including something like “I love that shirt!”), I take it home and set it on fire. Having one’s clothing noticed is a huge risk that often ends in sitting alone at lunch while the popular kids whisper and giggle together while throwing glances in your direction. Remind me to tell you about my puffy paint sweatsuit sometime.
But I digress. Point is, just because I would not wear a particular sweater does not mean I can’t see it on someone with style and, well, a bit more self-confidence than yours truly. That brown cardigan with flowers is good example. There are also a couple interesting t-shirt patterns that fall nicely into this category, including a lovely 1950s-style one made with a single strand of Kidsilk Haze. As my career of knitting with a single stand of mohair began and will end with the reversible rib shawl, I include this pattern in the “maybe for someone else” category.
Okay, last but not least, the “Argh, my eyes!” category. These are purely my opinion, of course. If you like sweaters with little bobbles, bright contrasty colors, or crochet squares, you might like these patterns. I personally do not. However, a mere six of the patterns in this book fall into that category, which is a tiny percentage compared to most books. Not bad at all.
The vintage patterns and vintage models are beautifully photographed in the vintage French countryside. (I guess you can tell it’s vintage because lots of them are on bikes and wearing funny hats.) I have to complain that at least in a couple cases the models are kind of slouching, which makes it very hard to see the shape of the garment, but that seems to be a problem throughout the knitting pattern industry.
One minor but nice feature is that each page had a heading on it that says the name of the pattern. It’s very useful for when you’re flipping through the book looking for your pattern — you don’t have to go by the photo pages only. I dunno why I like it so much, but I think it makes each pattern feel like a cohesive section.
So I’ve had mostly positive things to say here. However, I should tell you that there are only two patterns that there’s any real chance of my ever making personally – most of them are either too boring or too, well, “interesting” for my taste. However, I think there’s a real chance someone else might get a higher yield, so I encourage you to check it out from the library and then, if you like it, purchase it from your LYS.
You can see more photos using the “view inside pages” feature at KnitPicks.
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10.27.05
Posted in Reviews at 9:28 am by Rachel
I probably don’t really need to review this because it’s one of the most popular pattern books out there right now, so most people have seen it. There’s a good reason it’s popular: the designs are interesting and creative, and there’s enough variety that everyone will find something he or she likes. (The counterpart to this is that there is something for everyone to hate, but I’ll be nice and won’t tell you which patterns I feel that way about.) In case anyone’s interested, I really like Backyard Leaves, which has lace leaves but is a very substantial scarf, not really “lacy” at all. I also like the garter stitch wrap, but it’s so huge (and, being garter stitch, boring) I know I’ll never make it. There aren’t really any other “must makes,” but lots of other “would makes.” There are cables, extremely complicated color work, large wraps, little neck scarves, a bit of crochet — it showcases just about every possible knitting technique and how each can be used to create a distinctive scarf.
My biggest problem with the book is the photography. The colors are all washed out (at least in my copy) and weirdly, weirdly blurry. Then some of them are inexcusably grainy. It looks like someone took some nice photos and then a misguided art director applied some stupid novelty Photoshop filters and ruined them.
I won’t go on and on because, again, I think most people have seen this book. It seems to be the scarf pattern book of choice at this point, and overall I think it deserves that honor.
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10.16.05
Posted in Reviews at 5:34 pm by Rachel
Though I think I can, without overestimating my ability, say that I am no longer a beginning knitter, the library had this book available so I thought I’d take a look at it. It’s by Debbie Bliss, who has a whole host of children’s pattern books published, so those familiar with her will not be terribly surprised by the contents of this book.
My overall impression of the book is that if you didn’t know how to knit but wanted to learn because you/your sister/your best friend was having a baby, this might be a good choice (I think Melanie Fallick’s Knitting for Baby is better, but I’ll get to reviewing that another time). There is a 50-page “learn to knit” introduction, and several new techniques are reviewed or introduced within the relevant patterns, which is nice (less “see page 39″). The first pattern is a garter stitch scarf (surprise!), and the book goes on to cover more complicted stitches, seaming, increasing and decreasing, picking up stitches, and using color. It does not get into more advanced techniques like cables or intarsia. But I do think the projects are very manageable for a beginner and would bring a new knitter along nicely with some really lovely patterns.
The photography, as in all of DB’s books, is beautiful and plentiful. The patterns are elegant and classic — nothing fussy, just simple, timeless garments. The boat-neck sweater would be a great first sweater — the front and back are both rectangles that are sewn together a bit at each end at the top to create the collarless neck opening, and the sleeves introduce increasing. There is a dress with eyelets that I also think is quite cute. While none of the patterns will blow you away with their creativity, they are all tasteful and sweet.
My complaints: First, why on earth doesn’t DB include schematics with her patterns? I don’t know why I find this such a useful element, but it sort of helps you visualize where you’re going and is standard in most other patterns. Second, someone needs to tell her that two identical cardigans are not separate patterns just because one has a ribbed border and one has a seed-stitch border. In this book alone, essentially the same cardigan appears with once with a seed-stitch band, once with a contrasting-color border, once with raglan shaping on the sleeves, and once with a shawl collar. (On top of this, variations on this cardigan appear in most of her other books as well. I will probably never make any version of this cardigan.) Finally, why is DB so opposed to circular knitting? I’ve never seen her design a sweater that wasn’t knit with the front and back as separate pieces. I guess that’s just her preference, but even the hat in this book is knit flat and seamed! I would think seaming would be harder than circular knitting for a beginning knitter.
Overall, though, my impressions of this book are quite positive. Even though I consider myself capable of taking on more advanced knits, I will probably make a few of these items just because their classic simplicity appeals to me. And, again, I definitely think it would be a good choice for a new knitter expecting a baby (hers or someone else’s).
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10.06.05
Posted in Reviews at 6:02 pm by Rachel
One of the things I have found the most helpful in the cyberknitting world is reading other people’s impressions of yarn, tools, and pattern books. I often give my opinion on these various things in the context of a rambling blog post, but I’ve decided it might be nice to separate these reviews out and make them more organized. Perhaps they will provide useful info to someone; perhaps not. Perhaps I will tire of it after two or three reviews. That does seem likely.
Regardless, here I go. I got Bags: A Knitter’s Dozen out of the library this week. My first impression was one of pleasant surprise: there are nearly TWO dozen patterns in this book! Apparently “knitters” in “a knitters dozen” means “whole lot more than a.” Cool! More patterns for my buck than I was anticipating. (Actually, since I got it from the library, the per-pattern price remains at $0.00, assuming I return the book on time.)
Things I like about the book:
1) Nice photographs. Makes a huge difference.
2) They don’t call for specific yarn, they just tell you, on a scale of 1-6, how heavy the yarn should be. That’s somewhat refreshing.
3) Nice diversity of patterns. I find that some pattern books that focus on a particular category seem to be the same pattern over and over with only minor changes. This book has a fairly wide range: some felted, some not; large bags and clutches; assorted degrees of funkiness/elegance/ruggedness. It means that you won’t like every pattern in the book, but it also means you’re pretty likely to like at least a couple of them a lot.
4) Several of the patterns have interesting constructions that I wouldn’t have thought of on my own.
Things I Don’t Like:
1) Some of the patterns are definitely not my taste. But see #3, above.
2) Some of the designs are photographed in colors waaay more vivid than I would ever use, which makes it hard to determine whether I like the pattern. Again, I can’t really fault the authors for this choice though — it’s definitely just my preference. (But I will just say that making a primary-color striped sweater vest to match your primary-color striped drawstring satchel…questionable.)
Favorite patterns:
Snaps, a simple, large, felted tote
It’s in the Bag, a large market bag with a drawstring (fed through grommets)
Aran Pocketbook, a small, rugged, non-flashy bag with subtle cabling detail.
I haven’t knit anything from here yet, so it’s hard to say whether the instructions are well-written. Perhaps I have jumped the gun on my review of this book. It’s only because it happened to be the one I have here with me at work during this moment of down time. (I brought it in to photocopy the Aran Pocketbook pattern, committing all kinds of sins at once: copyright infringement, using work time for personal activities, and stealing paper and copy-machine toner from my place of employment. Eek.)
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First up is Vintage Knits from the staff of Rowan. I can’t remember what first drew my attention to this book, but I took it out of the library last week. The projects fall into three categories (of my own determination, not as delineated in the book): attractive and classic sweaters, sweaters that someone other than I might be able to pull off, and sweaters that should not exist. Of the 30 patterns in the book, a full 16 of them fall into the first category, which I think is pretty darn good. (The only downside is that, in about half of those patterns, “attractive and classic” is a nice way of saying “boring.”) A good example is this sweater that I was considering for the Knitting Olympics (sadly, I think I have decided to be a cheerleader rather than an athlete this round) as well as this purple sweater. I like plain and classic things, so this type of pattern appeals to me. There is a fair selection of nice if unexciting men’s sweaters as well — many of them perfect for the vintage professor in your life.
Eight more patterns are the sort of thing that, while I would never make them for myself (or probably anyone else), I wouldn’t condemn them as bad patterns; I’m sure there’s someone who would look good in them. A person who has a distinct and overt style can often pull off unusual looks that include pieces that draw some attention to themselves. My personal sense of style, which dates back to junior high, consists of dressing as non-descriptly as possible. If anyone comments on any aspect of my outfit (including something like “I love that shirt!”), I take it home and set it on fire. Having one’s clothing noticed is a huge risk that often ends in sitting alone at lunch while the popular kids whisper and giggle together while throwing glances in your direction. Remind me to tell you about my puffy paint sweatsuit sometime.
Okay, last but not least, the “Argh, my eyes!” category. These are purely my opinion, of course. If you like sweaters with little bobbles, bright contrasty colors, or crochet squares, you might like these patterns. I personally do not. However, a mere six of the patterns in this book fall into that category, which is a tiny percentage compared to most books. Not bad at all.
