Baby Knits: 20 Handknit Designs for Babies 0--24 Months [Paperback]

Lois Daykin (Author)

Book Description

Everyone just loves to knit for new babies, both their own and those of their family and friends. What nicer present for a baby shower, too, than a hand-knitted gift.

 

Lois Daykin's collection of garments and knitted accessories offers 20 great designs for tiny baby boys and girls up to toddler age. You can take your pick from a whole range of knits, including delectable yet practical all-in-ones and cute little bootees, tasselled hats and sweet lacy cardigans for girls and tough little jackets for boys, along with a blanket and cushions to decorate the nursery and pretty little boxes and bags in which to present your knitted gifts.

 

In a sugar-almond color palette in Rowan's exquisitely soft yarns, including the very popular machine-washable Cashsoft, these little knits are as practical as they are pretty. Some are very simple, making ideal projects for new knitters, too.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin (September 18, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312368828
• ISBN-13: 978-0312368821
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,774 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars CUTEST BABY OUTFITS YET!, December 16, 2007

By 

Jean Leinhauser "Rapid Reader" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Knits: 20 Handknit Designs for Babies 0--24 Months (Paperback)

It's hard for me to pick a favorite from this collection of absolutely adorable outfits, but I guess it would be the cable and lace onesie. Or is it the teeny tiny pink ballet slippers...or the ruffled dress with pockets
on the rear? Also included are a couple of afghans and a few toys. But it is the fashions that really grabbed me.

This is a book for a knitter with some experience, as the beauty of many of the designs lies in the interesting and complex stitch patterns.

I found only one negative, which Is why I didn't give it five stars. The book, an import from England, uses
entirely Rowan yarns. Although these are available in the US, they may be hard to find and a bit costly. Sadly the English apparently have not yet adopted our US yarn standards for yarn weights, so making substitutions is not easy. You'll have to do quite a bit of gauge swatching if you want to make yarn substitions. But then, a good knitter always makes a gauge swatch anyway, right?

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Poorly edited instructions, July 25, 2009

By 

Wendy Larkin (phoenix, az USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Knits: 20 Handknit Designs for Babies 0--24 Months (Paperback)

There are indeed lovely designs. I bought the book upon seeing the pretty little ruffled dress with pockets and it was the first project I tried.

All the yarns used in the book are from Rowan, and not available for me anywhere except online. I really prefer not buying yarn without being able to see and touch it, but I've been careful over the years to keep detailed notes on what yarns I have tried and how the gauges work with different needles, so I had a fairly easy time finding a local yarn I could use.

I think that if a manufacturer intends to sell an English book in an American market, they should at the very least include more information about needle and yarn gauges. At best, list some suggested substitutions. I fault the book for this lack.

Now the patterns. I found a number of sizing and numerical errors. While knitting the back of the dress, I encountered several errors which made it necessary to tear the piece apart and reknit from my own calculations. Not insurmountable, but a loss of time and much stress on a stretchy cotton yarn. I was able to finish the dress, although by the time I corrected the errors and did a little extra fixing up to neaten here and there, it's more of a riff on the design than a copy. Next I tried a onesie and made sure to read through and graph out any sizing bits. Found more errors, and eventually rewrote the pattern before actually working it. It turned out beautifully as well, and I do think the other designs are beautiful, but I really don't buy knitting books expecting to do all this paperwork before making something.

Very dissappointed in the editing of patterns. I strongly recommend taking the time to read through and meticulously check instructions before making anything.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating, September 11, 2008

By 

I. Kendall (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Baby Knits: 20 Handknit Designs for Babies 0--24 Months (Paperback)

Although the designs in this book are lovely, I found the patterns to be poorly edited. There are mathematical mistakes in the stitch counts which would lead to great confusion in a less experienced knitter. In some of the patterns (like the teddy suit) I had to go so far as to design my own mittens and footies. It was fairly frustrating to get three quarters of the way through a project only to find that it doesn't work as written.