The Celtic Collection: Twenty-Five Knitwear Designs for Men and Women [Paperback]

Alice Starmore (Author), Mike Bunn (Photographer)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 1994

Best-selling author Alice Starmore combines style, practicality, and the mystery of the Celtic spirit in this gorgeous collection of knitwear designs.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Alice Starmore is a leading knitwear designer and a best-selling author, whose other books include Fisherman's Sweaters, Celtic Needlepoint, and Sweaters for Men.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Trafalgar Square Books; 1st paperback ed edition (July 1, 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1570760055
• ISBN-13: 978-1570760051
• Product Dimensions: 12 x 9.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #287,037 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

34 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely sweaters, March 11, 2006

By 

Rebecca Haden (Fayetteville, AR) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Celtic Collection: Twenty-Five Knitwear Designs for Men and Women (Paperback)

Alice Starmore is justly famed for her beautiful colorwork and cable designs. These sweaters -- for men, women, and children -- are all about the fabric. The shaping is always very simple, with drop sleeves and boxy shapes. The directions are very clear and finishing is easy. If you can work from charts, you should not have any difficulty making the colorwork sweaters; in traditional Fair Isle style, there are only 2 colors to a row.
As is true of the most useful knitting books, this one has many color charts and cables which will look good on other items. As a source for patterns for your socks or motifs for your pillows, this is a book you will pull off your shelf repeatedly through the years. I have combined the colorwork with more fitted sweater patterns from other designers with great success, so a dislike of drop sleeves shouldn't deter you from adding this book to your collection.
I've made several things using quite ordinary sport weight and worsted weight yarns, so the difficulty of finding the recommended yarns does not seem to me to be an issue, unless you are determined to match the designer's colors exactly.
The book itself is beautiful, though the moody photos of disgruntled beauties in Goth makeup are sometimes too arty to allow the reader to get a clear idea of the construction of the sweater. The landscapes are enough to make you want to go for a visit.

100 of 110 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart!, January 15, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Celtic Collection: Twenty-Five Knitwear Designs for Men and Women (Paperback)

First things first: this is a KNITTING book, not a needlepoint book. Many of the reviewers below have confused "The Celtic Collection" with "Celtic Needlepoint," which is a different subject entirely.

"The Celtic Collection" is my least favorite Starmore book. Alice Starmore's collections are usually about evenly divided among Fair Isle and cabled patterns, but the balance here is heavily skewed toward colorwork. If you're a texture knitter like me, this is not the collection for you--get "Fishermen's Sweaters" or "Aran Knitting" instead.

Sadly, the few cabled patterns included in this collection are just not up to par. One otherwise lovely Celtic-knot tunic is ruined by an ugly band of ribbing around the waist. Others come in only one size. This is especially disappointing, since Starmore usually provides directions to knit her designs in a generous range of sizes. The one sweater in this collection that I really would enjoy making and wearing would never actually fit me!

Alice Starmore's designs are renowned for their beauty and complexity, but the Fair Isle sweaters in this book involve a staggering number of colors--more, I think, than in other Starmore collections. The effect is marvelous, of course, but I can't imagine keeping track of so many yarns at once!

The ancient Celts are surrounded by layers of myth and legend, drama and hyperbole, and Starmore really does express this in her bold, flamboyant colorwork designs.

41 of 43 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Starmore Coup, March 7, 2002

By 

Marilyn Burge (Portland, OR USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Celtic Collection: Twenty-Five Knitwear Designs for Men and Women (Paperback)

Although Starmore yarns are no longer available in this country, Jamieson can fill the bill for you. The call numbers are the same, but the color names are different. Starmore books are just too precious to give up, simply because the yarns are no longer available. This book is a work of art, but definitely not for the novice knitter, unless (s)he has unlimited patience and an urge to stretch the wings.