Customer Reviews

Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Yeah, I'm chickening out with the question mark, but I suppose if you really dislike cables...(and you might even re-think that one after pouring over this book.) But I haven't seen any of my guild sisters page through for 5 minutes before deciding that this was a "must have".

I won't reiterate the praise below, beyond the mention that as someone who tends to find patterns either too trendy/youth-oriented or too dowdy and dull, I really loved the ones in this book. This after being kind of "eh!" about her other recent books: "Hot Knits" and "Cool Crochet". These cabled patterns are "safe" insofar as they are wearable by a variety of ages and body types, but they are NOT boring. (It's really nice when a book that teaches also has patterns that you'd want to buy for their own sake.)

These days, with the influx of newcomers to the craft and a plethora of "quick and EZ" pattern books, it's a joy to see a high-quality, educational knitting book that is aimed at the experienced or advanced beginners - or even just ambitious beginners - among us. Dear publishers: More of This!

This book is a combination stitch dictionary for textured, cable stitches and a pattern book.

The patterns include a very nice fringed skirt, where the cables end in fringe around the hem. There are standard men's and women's and kids' pullovers and a beautiful Aran afghan, by far my favorite of the designs. There is also a bag, pillow, hat, scarf, vest, poncho and afghan made of squares. I saw no jackets nor cardigans. The patterns are fairly basic, though a pillow in an all-over two-color cable was rather intricate-looking, but probably not terribly hard to knit.

You could adapt any of the patterns to use the other stitch designs in the stitch dictionary.

There is a front section of HOW-TO, for the newbie who has never cabled or done twisted stitches before. So I'd say this is a great book for new knitters who love cables and would like to know where to start. As you learn, you won't outgrow this book.

This book attempts to be a stitch pattern book, project book, and a "how-to" book for cable patterns. The author would have been better off picking one or the other since this book only gives superficial attention to the patterns and techniques.

If you want to learn how to do cables, then probably the best book (though harder to find) is Knitting in Plain English or (harder to find) Principles of Knitting). Both "demysitify" how to knit cable patterns -- they really aren't very difficult.

If you would like a great book of cable stitches, there are several knitting stitch libraries that are dedicated to cable patterns -- The Harmony Guides, Vogues Stitch Guides and the Barbara Walker Stitch library are much more in depth and will provide you with more cable patterns than you could ever need.

Finally, if you are looking for books that give you great cable projects, the best ones discuss the history and development of Aran knitting techniques. Check out "Traditional Aran Knitting" by Shelagh Hollingworth, "Fisherman's Sweaters" by Alice Starmore, "Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans" by Gladys Thompson and "Arans & Celtics: The Best of Knitter's Magazine" by Rick Moondragon (just to name a few). While these books are older and their "production values" may not be as "glamorous" as Leapman's books, they provide a wider range and better quality projects and will even help you learn how to create your own Aran designs.

In addition to everything the other reviewers have discussed, there is also a great section on how to do cables WITHOUT a cable needle. It takes some practice, but I have already applied the technique to a cable project I have been working on - successfully. I also wish there was more on reversible cables, but overall a great book.

I really wanted a cable knitting book, and this one seemed perfect. First off, the projects in this book are lovely, they will make your fingers itch with a desire to start knitting. There is the normal cable knit hat and scarf, a few allover cable pattern sweaters, a rug, an afghan or two (patchwork and panel), a few pillows, and a panel cable v neck sweater vest. All the designs in this book are wearable and usable. If you're looking for project inspiration, this book might work for you.

HOWEVER. You might find, as I did, that the lovely projects are not worth the headache. I am not an expert knitter, and I do not bill myself out that way. I have experience with cable patterns (mostly scarves). I can read a cable pattern if it is written as such: "k4, C4B, k4". I have trouble with charts for cabling. This book ONLY has charts. It does NOT write out the pattern. And my god, there are a lot of different cable abbreviations. It looks like a slanted line and a series of dots and dashes on a knitting chart. Frankly, it was too much for me. It felt too much like Morse Code.

So if you're like me in that regard, you might want to consider alternative books, such as The Knitter's Bible by Claire Crompton, and The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches by Reader's Digest. I own both, and they are an invaluable resource. They also have lots and lots and lots of cable stitches, and amazing explanations. Why did I even want another cable book, you ask? The Reader's Digest book does not have projects, it is more inspiration to design your own. And the Knitter's Bible has lovely projects, very wearable and well explained and usable, but I wanted something new. Both these book have knitting charts, as well as the written out pattern (which is what I rely on).

Other more minor things that annoyed me about Cables Untangled: the pages with the projects are beautiful, glossy, picturesque. The pages with the cable stitch pattern glossary are not glossy or attractive. It seems that the publisher cheaped out, which is too bad.

Also, if you read through a pattern (for an afghan, for example), the pattern does not include the, well, the pattern. It basically tells you to cast on 50 stitches, then go to the stitch glossary, work in honeycomb stitch for 6 inches, and then come back to the pattern for further instructions. I did not like that at all. I prefer my patterns to be all inclusive, so I can look at it and tell top to bottom what I need to do, instead of flipping all over the book for different portions of a cable panel. And remember, this *is* cable* knitting. It is done in panels. You will be flipping between two more more cable stitches to work a pattern. Frankly, I hated that.

Another thing that you might not notice if you weren't a cable newbie: The explanations and how to stuff in the beginning of the book is *okay*. I would *not* use this as my only resource for learning cable stitches. The pictures and explanations are only helpful some of the time (hit or miss, basically). This book is not in my opinion a comprehensive guide on cables and how to do them. The two books I mentioned above are a far superior resource on learning how to do cables.

For project ideas, this book is nice. For that, I would consider it check-out-of-the-library worthy, not buy-worthy.

Melissa has done it again! I have other books by this wonderful author and am very happy that I purchased this cable instructional guide.

Ms. Leapman explains things in an easy to follow format and makes the reader feel that any pattern is possible.

I have not been able to put this book down since it arrived last week. Every time I skim through it, I find anther helpful hint or technique. I have been knitting for a long time but found this book very enlightening. I can't wait to start on several of the projects.

The only thing lacking in this wonderful book is a section on reversible cables. There is one pattern for a reversible cable scarf, but no other reversible cables are mentioned. I was slightly disappointed to find that this was the case, however, it is a lovely book and I'm sure it is one that I will refer to again and again.

Lovely book. Well presented collection of the variety of cable patterns and techniques with good explanations. A little piece on the history of Aran knitting and perhaps on the supposed meaning of some of the cables might have added to the charm of the book. But for a terrific history and explanation of the technique see Starmore's classic work 'Aran Knitting".
The patterns in the book are refreshingly contemporary without being boring or just too funky. There is a timeless style to the patterns unlike many of the knitting books out today whose patterns will be outmoded in no time at all. The explanations and charts are clear and easy to follow.

I'm still a relatively new knitter, but I've been eyeing this book for months. I finally received it as a gift and I could not be more thrilled. It is a pattern book and a stitch dictionary all in one!! I think any knitter who enjoys cables should own this book.

The only dissappointment was there was not a pattern for a cardigan. Small price to pay for such a great book though.

This book is one of my absolute favorites and one I turn to quite a bit. The photography is so clear and wonderful and the drawings and explanations are very clear. I started knitting in August 2010, three months ago, and I think this book is very easy to follow. Cables aren't scary at all and there is so much variation! I am blown away by the different designs that can be made just by switching the order of the stitches as you knit. A great book. I highly recommend it. I will be watching for more from Melissa Leapman!