Customer Reviews

Booties, Blankets & Bears: 20 Irresistible Hand Knits for Your Baby

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Needlecraft expert Debbie Bliss is justifiably considered to be one of the country's foremost designers of hand knits and is the author of several highly acclaimed needlecraft project books. "Booties, Blankets & Bears: 20 Irresistible Hand Knits For Your Baby" is her latest collection of superbly crafted projects suitable for even the most novice knitter and elegant enough for the most sophisticated needlecrafter. Each of the twenty showcased projects feature Debbie's own special machine washable yarns that are ideal for newborn skins. The six blanket patterns (including reversible and hooded varieties) are ideal for both indoor and outdoor use. The seven types of booties, socks, and sandals are utterly charming. Superbly illustrated in full color throughout, the step-by-step instructions for each project are thoroughly 'user friendly', ideal for the novice and experienced knitter alike. "Booties, Blankets & Bears" is a welcome and enthusiastically recommended addition to personal and community library Needlecraft instructional reference collections.

I really love Debbie Bliss patterns. I have made a couple of things from this book now, and they are all darling. One thing keeps from giving the book 5 stars: if you do not use the Debbie Bliss yarns (recommended by the book) it can be very difficult to knit some of the patterns; although gauge is given at the beginning of each pattern, as is standard, the patterns themselves typically state things like: "knit 36 rows in st st", rather than the more common (and much easier to follow) phrasing of "knit until piece measures 5 1/2 inches in length". The novice knitter may find it very difficult to substitute yarns for these patterns. I prefer to buy local yarns, rather than mass-produced yarns, so I end up doing alot of substitutions (read: math). Debbie Bliss's patterns are among some of the harder ones for me to substitute simply because of how they are written. But they are beautiful, and so usually worth the effort...

One other thing: the title of this book says what it's all about: booties (I think there are 4-5 different bootie patterns), blankets (3-4), and bears, both as a motif in booties and blankets, and as a knitted stuffed bear. Darling, but if you are looking for sweater and hat patterns, this book is not for you; go for Debbie's Special Knits instead.

I have been to my yarn store three times and none of the experienced knitters has been able to help me figure out the bootie pattern. The pictures in the book are the same as in her other books and are only basic things like casting on. There is not a single drawing or picture of the bootie construction. There are photos of the finished booties so I know someone finished them, but I can't figure out how. Insanely frustrating. If this book requires special skills, it should say so on the cover.

I am a HUGE fan of Debbie Bliss' books. They are my go to pattern books for anything baby related. I also LOVE her Baby Cashmerino yarns and use it all the time!
So, it pains me to say that the one project I've tried from this book, Big and Little Bear (I'm making the Little Bear) is UNBELIEVABLY wrong. It's so miscounted, I mean HUGELY miscounted, I thought I MUST have an outdated copy... they surely have fixed such a huge amount of errors. I went to the Debbie Bliss website and looked in the revisions... sure enough they had a tab for the Booties Blankets, & Bears book, I thought... ahhh now I can get on with knitting but when I clicked on the button, imagine my disappointment to NOT see any revisions on this pattern (I can't be the first to try it).
I'm an experienced enough knitter that I was able to redo the pattern to work but it took a considerable amount of effort.
Maybe it's a one off, it is the only pattern I've tried, but either way, I'm giving this book a one star for this pattern.

Book is lovely, but always dissapointed in Debbie Bliss' size of booties, always too big for small babies. Shame Amazon doesnt take care when packaging otherwise it would have arrived in good condition.

I don't have this book yet, so my rating is not valid. I just feel the need to report that I always am impressed by Amazon's attempts to wrap books so that they arrive in pristine condition. Every book I have received - and that may total at least 100 books by now - has been backed with cardboard and then shrink-wrapped. In addition, the box in which it is packed is filled with those inflated plastic pouches to prevent shifting. I can't imagine what Amazon packers possibly could do to wrap books more carefully.