Customer Reviews

Beautiful Knitting: Techniques & Patterns for Creating Elegant Designs

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Lament: the recent trend in knitting books is a lot of "dumbing down" to insure that every newbie can knit something "funky" with record speed, with assurances that this is "Not Your Grandmother's Knitting". (Roll eyes.) It's a disservice to knitters new to the craft, many of whom value knitting's continuity with the past and the chance to challenge themselves.

...and then at the other extreme, a book like this, sure to frustrate all but the most experienced and independent knitter - and these would probably find the patterns here a bit *too* basic.

"Beautiful Knitting" is full of handy and useful info, from selvage techniques that would elevate the simplest garter stitch scarf, to mini-stitch pattern dictionaries and a handy appendix of the type you WISH every knitting book had, with thumbnail pics referencing the page where you can find this pattern or that stitch. Whatever difficulties with the English translation of this book, there's quite a bit of value in the non-pattern content.

However, quirkiness of translation and poor proof reading/editing for errata pretty much makes the patterns here worthless to the sub-expert knitter. Here's one that many would spot right away: In the baby blanket and booties pattern on pg. 60, the photo clearly shows a blanket with a garter border on all four sides, but the written directions clearly have you knit for one inch in garter at one end of the blanket, continue in straight stockinette until an inch from the end, then finish with garter. I guess non-newbies will tend to catch this alright, but I spot other errors in the patterns and don't even want to hesitate a guess to what I'm NOT noticing is amiss, as an advanced beginner.

Savvy pattern perusers in the U.S. already know that European patterns offer a little less hand-holding - directives like "reverse all shaping" as opposed to line-by-line instructions showing how to work that second sleeve. Still, it has always seemed to me that when a pattern is offered in just one size, it's discouraging and downright unfriendly to the average knitter, who may not have read every Interweave Knits or Knitty article on resizing a garment, or have a home library stocked with books on designing knitwear. We weren't all born with needles in our hands!

Another faux pas, at least to this knitter: There are lovely things shown in the book for which NO pattern is offered. For the aforementioned blanket/booties pattern, three different types of booties are shown (cuffed, cuffless, and felted), but instructions for only ONE is given. Pg. 82's toddler cardigan is photographed with a matching cap and adorable "elf toe" booties with fairisle inset - again, no pattern for these.

Finally, all the garments are shown laid flat on a surface, which gives the knitter little ability to judge how they might look on a human body. I know, other knitting books do this as well, but it's still a pet peeve.

This is a book possibly worth having if - like me - you are a obsessive about learning new or better ways to finesse the small details of garment finishing and so on. As for the patterns, I think my new rule is I'm only buying new knitting books from publishers who stand behind theirs with an online errata page. (These days, many do.) Too bad, because there's much to love here.

I was eagerly anticipating this book, but was very disappointed. It is beautifully laid out, but the content leaves much to be desired. Evidently it was translated from the French and lost a lot in the translation.

The patterns are nothing to get excited about, the instructions are very difficult to follow -- in fact, they are downright confusing. In most cases only one size is given for a garnent rather than a range of sizes. There are lots of omissions in the translation that make interpreting the directions very frustrating.

There are some excellent suggestions in the book relating to techniques, but the remainder of the book leaves much to be desired.

The illustrations of techniques are super clear. But each item of clothing includes only one size (women's sweater: size small. What does that even mean?) And the dimensions on the diagrams are only in centimeters. So ok, I can pull out my tape measure and look on the back. But I have an intuitive sense of what a 34" bust looks like, and no clue what 40 cm means. The elegance is in the simple lines of the items and the basic but elegant wool used. Nothing frou-frou or easily dated here. But if you're not the size that the pattern is for, you've got a lot of work to figure out how to adapt the patterns.

The first part of this book, like so many, includes some basic knitting instructions. The photography and the patterns are indeed beautiful. The downfall is that the patterns are not well done.
-Pictures often don't show the whole item - what does the bottom of that sweater look like?
-Pictures of finished items are not on models - sure it looks great nicely arranged but how does it look on a person?
-No measurements are given for sizes - what exactly is a size medium?
-Patterns are only given for one size (large for example) with no instructions on how to modify.

"Very disappointed" must be an "avid" but beginner knitter. This is one of the loveliest, most informative knitting books I have ever seen. For a change it is geared to the more advanced knitter rather than just being a rehash of baby designs. I own at least 300 knitting books and think this is one of the best. The patterns are beautiful and NEW and the instuctions are easy to follow. I just bought a brand new copy for less than $4.00. Grab one while you still can. Believe me if it weren't great I'd never have anything good to say about a French anything!!

I have never received my book and I am very disappointed. Hopefully someone find out where my book is and aid me in getting it!

the product was shipped to me in a timely fashion and was recieved in mint condition. it was a pleasure doing business with your company

I like this book, mostly because of the colorful pictures of the patterned garments. It is easy to find the help you need. Together with some other musts for a keen knitter, I dont buy instruction books any more.

I was able to check this book out of the library and give it a once over. It is now on my wishlist as a "buy sometime" book, but not "I need it by tomorrow" book.

It is laid out beautifully, and the pictures are wonderful. It has a nice couple of pages on different ways to knit your selvages, which I really liked. Good sections on increases and decreases too. Some very nice stitch patterns are included. Overall, for information, I would say it is a very good book. I don't know if it would be the greatest book to start with, but if you have some knitting experience, you would benefit from this book.

The patterns, for the most part are just okay. I do like the Two Caps and a Beret, and the Scarf in Fancy Rib Stitch. That would probably be all that I would make out of here. Oh, to clarify the error in the baby blanket pattern mentioned by a different reviewer, I think what it is saying, is that after you knit the garter stitch border, (on the next row)knit for 1" and then purl until the last inch where you knit again. The next row you knit. This would give you 1" garter stitch border around the whole blanket. As was stated, something got lost in the translation.

So, bottom line, it is great for information. If you can find it for a good price, pick it up.