Review: library finds worth buying!

One of the great things about having a blog is that I can give my opinions an airing. Case in point: knitting books!  Knitting is "hot" right now ... as evidenced by the plethora of knitting books on the market. Separating the wheat from the proverbial (and ubiquitous) chaff can be tough.  I've found some really poorly executed, many over-priced, and others just BLECH!  But some of the crop are really well-done and worth adding to a personal knitting library.

When browsing at the public library the other day, I discovered two books that fall into this latter category:

1. Knitting New Scarves: 27 Distinctly Modern Designs by Lynne Barr. 
2. Knitted Toy Tales: Irresistible characters for all ages by Laura Long

Let's start with the scarf book.  I'm normally not one much for scarf books.  What's the point? How tough is it to make a strip of knitted fabric that will fit around one's neck????  But this book is a "sleeper".  This book is much more than a book of typical, ordinary, blah scarves.  Barr does an amazing job of bringing her reading public to a new level -- the stitch techniques rival Unexpected Knitting's uniqueness and artistry.  These scarves are true pieces of art.  To be honest ... I would probably never make these scarves as scarves.  They're a bit too funky and outre for me.  BUT, I would use Barr's various unique techniques in hand-knit designs -- purse embellishments, sweater designs or even for large afghans.  The ideas abound when browsing through this little gem.  Barr opens knitting to new horizons with her twists and turns and needle/yarn interplay.  Sensational!

I'm a sucker for knitted toys -- I think it's a great way to share the art of knitting with kids of all ages and to make something unique and memorable for the recipient.  Laura Long's book, Knitted Toy Tales, is a sight to behold and one of the best I've seen.  And I know what of I speak:  I've designed knitted toys which often get compliments:  Elegant Eliza the Ballerina Bunny, Pinocchio, Tully Greyshanks.  I've done bunnies and bears and penguins and even a cow or two (with matching binkies, of course!).  But Long's book has wonderfully creative toys ... each different than the last (some knitted toys books are just the same design dressed differently 8-<  !).  Long has bunnies, bird, frogs, Matroyshka dolls, bears, pigs, snakes, mice, elephants, fish, penguins, and even Eward Lear's owl and the pussycat in their very own knitted boat!  Very cool stuff that again gets my designer mind working overtime!  Long uses unique construction to make the toys look right (adding fabric and other embellishments to really make these heirloom gifts).  Highly recommend this one!

Check back periodically for other knitting book reviews ... I'll try to post at least a couple each month ... the good, the bad and the ugly!

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Review: 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet AND Book of Wool

As I get older, the knitting books that interest me are pretty much of the technique variety -- the kind of book that speaks to the art of knitting through creative construction, distinctive details, or unique yarns.  Often, I'll check-out the book from the library to make sure I truly want to spend the ever-increasing amount for a printed copy ... and more often than not, I end up not quite excited about the book and put it aside.

But, this week's "library lode" was a different story: two books really stand out from the pack and will be added to my personal library as soon as I can get the bucks to buy 'em.
First, we have 100 Flowers to Knit & Crochet: a collection of beautiful blooms for embellishing garments, accessories and more by Lesley Stanfield.  Let me mention at the outset that of the 100 flowers (Stanfield's definition of "flowers" includes leaves, fruits and vegetables as well as flowers), only 40 are knitted.  But the crocheted items could certainly be knit -- just fiddled with a bit to get the same idea as the crocheted version.  This book is definitely "eye candy" for the fiber artist -- lots of beautiful blooms in gorgeous yarns!  Stanfield (and her publisher) did a great job on the layout and design of the book (but why can't book publishers make this style book spiral- or comb-binding to allow for the book to lay flat????).  The directions are clear and quite easy to follow while the beginning technical details (choosing yarns, needle sizes, etc) are quite well-written.  While going through this book I could come up with at least a dozen projects where these embellishments would add so much:  holiday place-settings (set of placemats, napkin rings and place-card holders), little girl sweaters, fun hats, etc, etc.  The designs are done in close-to-realistic shades, but there is certainly no reason why a designer couldn't play with nature and use the flower designs to make white-on-white snowflakes, golden bells from the tulip-shaped flowers, etc.  The creative mind thrives on this kind of book! 

The second book I received for this week's library run sounds super dull -- even the cover is a bit ho-hum.  But the content ... WOW!  The Knitter's Book of Wool: the ultimate guide to understanding, using and loving this most fabulous fiber by Clara Parkes is definitely my next book purchase!  This book, beautifully published by Potter Craft, covers every aspect of wool:  anatomy of the fiber, turning wool into yarn (and each step along the way), specific information about each of the sheep breeds and their characteristics, what blends well (and not so well) with wools, patterns which show wool to their best advantage (some are designed by Parkes but most are other designers' patterns), and a wonderful resource section that includes breeders, processors, recommended further reading and "care and feeding" of wool.  I really like this book -- a great reference for even this veteran knitter who loves different types of wool and now has a better understanding of WHY!  A personal thank you to Potter Craft -- I love how they produce their books on thick, matte paper so that the book is easy to read (no glare), the pictures can be seen in great detail and the overall feel of the book is that Potter Craft, too, believes that this book will become a classic on the shelves of fiber artists!  [BTW, Parkes mentions a book that Carol Ekarius and Deborah Robson are working on for Storey: an "encyclopedic fiber reference book"! Cool huh?]

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Review: Color by Kristin

Yesterday, I received an order from Amazon (UPS loves me!) with this latest book from color-expert Kristin Nicholas.  Color by Kristin: How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits is a feast for the eyes and gets my knitting thoughts going.   This is the kind of book I would love to write ... where I can play with color and create gorgeous masterpieces and help others do the same.

Yep, that's what Nicholas has accomplished in this 170+ page book.

Ever since I was little, I've loved knitting with multiple colors.  Even with the early, plastic-y acrylics (that were in colors not exactly from the natural world), I would knit COLOR!  Partially this was due to my need to reuse/recycle from not having a lot of the "ready" to buy fresh yarn.  For me, the process was the thing ... knitting or crocheting the item and then ripping to make something else were pretty standard procedure for me back then.

Now that I can afford to buy fresh yarn ... and even the natural "real" stuff ... I find that I am still using up bits from past projects, adding the spectrum to an otherwise dull design, creating beauty from the tints and tones available now.  Nicholas' book and knitting philosophy fits right in with this.  She loves color and rarely uses black or white as those make a design "too neutral".  She embellishes her two-color-per-row designs with simple embroidery stitches (often using duplicate stitch) to give greater depth and zing to the item.

And boy, does she do it well!

The book starts out with a chapter on the "Joy of Color", giving a brief description of the color-wheel (using yarn as the colors to help the knitter link the usually flat color wheel to real yarn), where to find color combinations (nature is one of the best and cheapest ways), and finally, the importance of swatching to test the colors.  This chapter gives the reader all she/he needs to begin exploring color.

Nicholas than goes on to explain two-stranded knitting in the round (many call it "Fair Isle" altho the technique transcends that small Scottish island), steeking and "dressing" (blocking and finishing treatments).  Starting on something small ... like a draft-blocker or child's sampler sweater will give the knitter the confidence to do a bigger project or even design their own 2-color pattern blocks.... which is where the third chapter comes in:  designing fair isle knits explains symmetry, graphing, simple to complex designs, etc.  There is a "designer sourcebook" in the back of the book, broken into stitch-multiples to get your graphing skills jump-started.

Next come the projects ... 25+ projects, otherwise known as knitter's eye-candy!

I'm not a direction-follower and rarely would do a pattern exactly from another designer.  That's just not in me.  But Nicholas' designs have me re-thinking that philosophy a bit.  Her designs are gorgeous but I can make them as described and STILL make them my own (by changing the color-stitch design ... or colorway ... or adding/deleting the embroidery embellishment).  And she has tips throughout these gorgeous items to get you designing on your own.

I especially like that Nicholas' designs are not limited to knit-wear ... she has pillows, chill-stoppers, and even an ottoman cover.  Photographed at her farm in Massachusetts, you can see that Nicholas designs what she loves and uses .... and that comes through in her writing, too.  If you love what you do, your enthusiasm transcends the page to reach the heart of the reader!

Now, I'm off to start collecting colors ... swatching ... and first, deciding which item I'm going to try first:  the over-the-top shawl ... slipper socks ... knitter's tote ... java jacket ... best friends pullovers ... laptop cozy ... southwest style sleeved wrap ... marrakesh market pillows ....

So much knitting ... so little time!  But GREAT Christmas gift ideas.

Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve

By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Review: New Stranded Colorwork

Today, we got a few boxes from Amazon (BamBam's birthday is the end of next month ...) and one of the books was actually for me ... and about knitting.  I just spent the last couple of hours since dinner reading this book ... drooling over this book ... and plotting my next project!

Mary Scott Huff's newest book, The New Stranded Colorwork: Techniques and Patterns for Vibrant Knitwear is an amazing mix of knitter's "eye candy", glorious and unique use of color and traditional/classic designs that mean that this book will be usable for a knitter for many years to come.

Personally, I bought the book because I fell in love with the pattern on the right front cover:  Norwegian Blue is a gorgeous combination of blues, taupe and a blaze of red!  Wow!

But as I first browsed through the book, I found many more beauties:  Timberline (which is knitted for a man, but I'd make it for myself!), Kjersten (a gorgeous jacket in green and black with accents of red and orange that look great rather than gaudy), Kiss that Frog (which would be a great sweater for one of my boys), the Johnny Jump-up Leg Warmers (which would be a perfect Christmas present for my little ballerina), the Bee's Knees (which , altho it's designed for a toddler, I would make for my String Bean who LOVES bees but I would change the border from sage green to a pretty pink), and the lovely, final design which is called Wedding Belle and is meant for the Bride once she realizes that the gorgeous gown she chose is a bit nippy and needs something other than her groom's jacket!  These are gorgeous.

The really cool thing about this book ... for me, who can't follow directions/rules to save my life ... is that the design motifs are charted.  So, I can lift a piece from here and an element from there, with a color scheme from another and I've got a unique sweater or hat or leggings or socks or whatever!

I also love that she's got very clear and concise directions for the techniques she's used throughout.  And some of these techniques are extremely unique to Ms. Huff -- she suggests making two sleeves at one time by casting on the sleeve stitches together, with steeks between and then slicing, sewing and finishing off the sleeves!  Genius!  She also clearly describes how to add the traditional (but optional) ribbon bands to the sliced fronts and recommends a certain kind of thread that "buries itself into the knitting without kinking" -- cool, huh?

I do have one small quibble ... the Koi Vest (that's shown on the front left cover) hasn't been finished properly ... the armhole flares out and should pull-in (either a case of the shoulder sts not being slanted properly or the facing band being too thick -- either way, a detail that should have been rectified especially as it is featured on the cover ). 

Also, the felted bag that is shown on the front cover is an oddity that doesn't fit with the other designs -- a case of "which of these items doesn't go with the others"?  It's a very funkey design, with its flower appliques and neon color scheme while all the others are classic styles with colorwork that, well ... works! 

Hmmm ... I wonder what they were thinking?

Even those couple of designs aside ... check out this book -- it really is a great addition to my knitting library!


Happy knittin'

Mary C. Gildersleeve
By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Books: Designing tips from a pro

No, I didn't write this one ... altho I wish I had.

Debbie Bliss has just published design it, knit it: secrets from the designer's studio.

I really like this book. But then, I really like Bliss' designs ... I'm definitely an anglo-phile when it comes to anything knitterly and Bliss is one of the best! I'm entranced by her palette of subtle, soft colors and her Aran-inspired designs are gorgeous. Besides, she has her own yarn company -- how cool is that?

But, back to the book review. Bliss used the "tools" of the designer as her chapter breaks:

body shape -- both making the most of it and hiding what you don't like

color -- what works and what doesn't and how to tell before spending lots of time!

texture -- using stitches to 3-d your knitting

kids -- the special details you must include when designing for the little ones

details -- finishing and embellishments that don't overwhelm.

As she points out, these are each tools that can be manipulated -- either together or individually to design a hand-knit garment. Sometimes, the tool of color is the focus -- and shape, texture and details follow from the chosen color. Other times, it might be that the shape and texture work together and the color is chosen to highlight those.


She includes a workbook at the end -- with pattern silhouettes (with one filled-in so you can see how to play with these), knitters' graph paper in 6st x 8r gauge, and a stitch gauge that you can use in the book or take out and keep in your knitting bag. The workbook pages -- the silhouettes and the graph paper -- are clearly labeled "photocopying permitted" so that you can take them to your printshop and have copies made with no copyright issues.

I also love that sixth and spring books did a hidden spiral binding and used paper with a slight matte finish so glare on the photographs and pages is minimized. The palette of colors used throughout the book is beautiful and very inspiring to me.


Bliss has included 15 original designs, three in each chapter, that serve to illustrate her design tips and guidelines. A few of these designs are worth the price of the book alone! I love the simplicity of the "Button Detail Top" and the simply sophisticated "Gater Stitch Jacket with Vent" and especially, the "Bobble and Cable Sweater"! Wow!

However, there is one thing that drives me nuts with these gorgeous, famous-designer books -- when the garments shown are just simply wrong!

For instance, the "Fair Isle Cardigan" is a work of art -- until you look at the full picture on page 48 -- the stripes (and therefore, the bands) don't line up! AND, the sweater doesn't fit the model. Or, the baby jacket on page 84 -- the rolled hems are cute, but the rolled closure looks messy and unfinished. The "Cabled Band Cardigan" on page 111 is a beautiful sweater -- but again, the buttons don't line up properly and there are gaps and the hem looks uneven. Finally, the "Cardigan with Ribbed Sleeves" (page 121) doesn't have enough of a front band to keep the edge from curling back -- a very messy finish (especially as this sweater is one of the designs in the "detail" chapter!). These photos are taken by professional photographers of items designed by a pro, knitted (assumingly) by a pro, "styled" by pro stylists ... and we still have this?

Bottom line -- I really like this book. But, and maybe this is why I'm a designer, I would have to change a few of her designs to make them up ... larger bands, neater buttons/buttonhole placement, etc. Also, a caveat that Bliss omitted on her "Garter Stitch Coat" (which I so want to make for myself ... if I ever get the time to knit for me!) .... garter stitch grows ... and grows ... and grows. This coat needs to be knit at a fairly firm gauge (or tension, for my British readers) and I think I'd even stabilize the neck and shoulders with a bit of ribbon or single-crochet along the seams.

Have you read this one yet? What are your thoughts or comments? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy knittin'
Mary C. Gildersleeve
By Hand, With Heart -- hand-knit designs
bhwh.mary@gmail.com

Books: for brand-new or nervous knitters

I love knitting. I love knitting books almost as much! I love to read about techniques, ogle the gorgeous fair isle or aran sweaters, read about how others do what they do when they ply two sticks and a string. I love to read ... and knit ...

Another thing I love is recommending knitting books. Many people ask me for advice on this book or that ... or I give them my critique even if they don't ask! I take pride in sifting through the knitting twaddle that's out on the market (and there is quite a bit!) and only recommending the ones that I own (or really WANT to own) in my personal knitting library (which, needs must, be kept small so dh doesn't go over the top).

As I said, I love recommending the good knitting books. For instance, here's a blog post on a fairly exhaustive bibliography I put together back in 2007; then there was the post about discovering two books with my designs in them; a post about MY book; recommended books on sock knitting; a post about some recent "finds"; and my most recent post on books for those who wanted to go beyond garter stitch.


But today, I found a book that will help all the beginners and nervous knitters out there. This is one that I am so impressed with and can't believe it was published 4 or more years ago and I'm just seeing it now. This will be my new "go to" suggestion when folks ask about starting out or wanting to go a bit ahead.

First Knits: Projects for Beginning Knitters by Luise Roberts and Kate Haxell is a perfect book for those who have never knitted ... but want to try ... as well as for those who have started knitting but don't understand some of the technical terms or want cool but easy projects, etc.


This book will guide you slowly, step by step, through your first garter stitch projects including how to measure a swatch, "get gauge" and other techniques. Then you'll move on to purling, ribbing, cabling, shaping, colorwork, button-holes, and more! The illustrations and text are very understandable and detailed.


The projects you'll make include garter stitch booties, garter stitch hat with flaps, cushion cover, backpack, heart cushion, adorable stuffed rabbit, knitting a true, in the round cap, cable handbag, lacy shawl, jacket socks, striped throw and a baby jacket. And these things are not only really cute, they're useful and fun and span old and young alike.


Although this book is a paperback, the cover is made of heavier-than-usual stock with overleaves that include basic abbreviations, tips and other information for quick reference.


This is definitely a book to add to your wish-list if you want to knit ... or want to knit better ... or want to teach someone else! Really excellent!

Knitting Book Reviews ... finally!

About a week or so ago, I promised to write up some reviews of knitting books which I've been perusing (and some, drooling over) for the past couple of weeks. So, your patience has been rewarded and here are the reviews:

The Joy of Knitting: Texture, Color, Design, and the Global Knitting Circle and The Joy of Knitting Companion: A Knitter’s Handbook by Lisa R. Myers are pretty unassuming volumes by this Pennsylvania yarn-shop owner. Don’t be fooled by the covers – both of these books have lots to offer. The first volume goes through all the aspects of knitting uniqueness – texture (through stitch patternings, yarn choice or needle choice), color (whether traditional ethnic design or random intarsia) and overall design. Myers gives great, clear explanations. The only down-side is that there are no photographs, just drawings of the suggested projects – and we all know that “artist renderings” are a bit more fanciful than the camera’s eye!

The companion book, which I actually read first, is a working notebook – with lots of blank record-keeping forms, graph paper and other helpful tools (including a needle sizer and a gauge ruler “built-into” the cover). Suggestions abound for designing your own – or adapting a have-to-have design to really fit you! I only wish they had bound the book with a spiral (rather than a glued paperback) so that the book could lie flat.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Knitting Projects Illustrated by Barbara Morgenroth is one of those “knitting for dummies” books that I usually don’t like. In fact, if you read the blurb about the author, you find that she has very little knitting experience but instead is a “cookbook and craft book writer”. Now surely, they could have found a KNITTING writer to write this book. That said, I found this book to have GREAT, clear illustrations and instructions, interesting projects and a wealth of information about my favorite activity! The photographs of the finished items could be better, but this would be a wonderful starter book for beginning knitters.

The Knit Kit Book by Sandy Carr, Josie May and Eleanor VanZandt is sadly out-of-print, but well worth the hunt to find a copy. This book teaches all the basics – with great illustrations and directions – as well as a whole section (or really, a second book) on designing basics including measuring, sketching, adapting existing patterns, etc. Hunt for this one – you’ll be well-pleased you did!

Knit it Now! Turn Great Yarns into Great Sweaters by Julie Montanari has some really cool designs. Also, Montanari, who’s been knitting since she was 8 (same as me!), gives ten easy steps for ensuring a good fit of the final sweater. Many of the sweaters, ironically, look like crochet (which I can do but avoid) but are so lovely that I think I’d break down and knit them!

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave edited by Ann Budd and Anne Merrow is a must-have if you knit (or dream about knitting) socks. Talk about eye candy! This has a collection of the prettiest, coolest, most useful socks I’ve seen in a long time. There are lacy socks, hiking socks, ethnic socks and plain socks. I love Interweave books because they often spiral-bind them inside a hard cover so the books can lay flat; they are also invariably fun to read.

I love ethnic knitting. The next four books are some of the best of this kind of book:

Knitting Ganseys by Beth Brown-Reinsel is the definitive book on knitting the heavily knit-purl patterning sweaters from the British Isles. The author does a fabulous job of explaining the history of these sweaters, describing the basics of a traditional sweater and then showing the reader how to make one. She leads the reader through either a sampler sweater (doll size) or a full-size sweater so that you not only learn how to make a gansey, you learn about all the parts of the sweater and why they are made the way they are. This is a classic!

The Complete Book of Traditional Scandinavian Knitting by Sheila McGregor is another classic, this time discussing knitting from Scandinavia. History, how-tos and a plethora of lovely examples make this book one to use again and again to make these lovely hand-knits – sweaters, hats, mittens, and socks.

Simply Socks: 45 Traditional Turkish Patterns to Knit and Magnificent Mittens: The Beauty of Warm Hands are both works of art by Anna Zilboorg. Sadly, these are both OOP, but take time to search for them – you’ll never regret it. Taking the traditional patterns of Turkish knitters (where the yarn is tensioned behind the head and flicked in a very unique manner), Zilboorg has charted these gorgeous multi-colored designs and created simple socks for the sock-knitter. These are amazingly beautiful as is the text which lovingly describes the history of knitting in Turkey. Her mitten book continues this work of amazingly beautiful multi-colored designs and blends the designs in such a way as to create unique works of art. I love the long cuffs that are meant to go over the coat/jacket sleeve to keep the wearer toasty warm. Zilboorg also describes how to do three different thumb treatments on these mittens – thumb with gusset, invisible thumb and sore thumb – which can actually be interchanged on the specific designs. But one thing I like about Zilboorg’s books – she encourages the reader to go beyond her designs and create your own work of art!