Customer Reviews

Color by Kristin: How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits

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I love books on color theory, especially if they also include some patterns that illustrate and support the theory. This book is just my cup of tea. Chapter 1 is called 'The Joy of Color'. The color wheel is illustrated with yarn samples which makes it more accessible to the knitter. There are instructions for how to use the color wheel as well. The second chapter is on Fair Isle Knitting with instructions on how to do two-color knitting and working in the round. It also includes a section on the steek, that magical and scary knitting technique. The author, Kristin Nicholas, does a good job in the section called 'Designing Fair Isle Knits'. She also includes a whole section of different Fair Isle patterns in the back of the book.

The patterns in this book are lovely. Think COLOR, COLOR, COLOR. My favorites are the child's zip-up cardigan, the Best Friends Pullover for girls, and the Marrakesh Market Pillows. The layout and photography in the book are beautiful.

Whenever I purchase a knitting book I ask myself these three questions:

1) Do I want to knit any of these projects?

2) Are the instructions clear?

3) Is the book a good resource?

The answer is 'yes'. However, this is a book primarily for experienced knitters. The patterns will be overwhelming for any beginner or even some intermediate knitters. The book is a good resource for anyone and it is great eye candy for all knitters.

This book is gorgeously photographed, extremely well-written, and sensibly organized.

The Introduction is priceless, giving insights into Kristin's amazing world of color and wool. The first three chapters of the book are jam-packed with useful and important information on color and technique, and the Practice Projects will help jump-start knitters new to stranded knitting.

In the Patterns section, there are patterns appropriate for knitters new to stranded knitting, and for knitters experienced in the technique. The Designer Sourcebook section is an invaluable resource that any knitter working with color will return to again and again for information and inspiration.

Look for vital tips and techniques in the light green and light blue text boxes throughout the book.

Treat yourself to Color by Kristin, or gift a copy to someone you know who loves to knit!

This book will jumpstart your creativity, particularly in respect to color. Kristin states that it's a "neutral-free zone" and I must agree. Many of the colorful designs are based on ethnic woven fabrics. The book is beautifully photographed on the family farm and the photographs show the big overall pictures as well as all the little details that are so helpful if one is trying to reproduce an item. The directions seem excellent and easy to follow.

There are projects in this book that are accessible to any level of knitting expertise. The designs themselves are timeless and classic in style and I believe would be beautiful to wear for years. There are many charts and much encouragement throughout to change up the designs and make them one's own.

Included are adult and child sweaters, scarves, wraps, mittens, gloves, hats, as well as items for the home including a lap top holder,(one of my favorites) and bolsters, pillows, ottoman and more.

This one is a keeper! I became acquainted with Kirstin's work when I bumped into her blog.[...]

With all the patterns I want to knit on my wish list, I had made a decision to stick with the one or two color knitting I've always done. That was....until I came across this book in the bookstore! While I'm always inspired by nicely designed things, this is the first book that even tempted me to try knitting with more than one or two colors at a time!

Everything is very clear and well laid out - including the instructions, illustrations, charts, and fantastic photographs. I especially appreciated that the same gauge/weight yarn and double-pointed needle sizes were used for mittens, gloves, and socks. So I can mix and match all the colorful skeins I ran out to buy! Kudos to the author for doing it that way.

It was actually an enjoyable read as well - not something I necessarily expect in a craft book. The only thing that would have put this book over the top for me was if instructions had been included for making the children's size pullovers in adult size! However, maybe the book will indirectly inspire me to learn how to do that conversion as well!

Color by Kristin: How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits Learning to do justice to the amazing color ways that exist in today's yarns is a skill and a gift. Nicholas's book is a great place to get inspiration and practical advice. The first section of the book calls you to look around you and really see how colors work together in nature. On page 14 she knits swatches using different colors and explains why the combinations work and do not work. Then a tutorial on Fair Isle ensues, with great examples, photos and instructions that are great for the novice and a good refresher for the more advanced knitter.

The rest of the book is devoted to patterns and projects and they are wonderful in their freshness. I particularly enjoyed adding the Felted Laptop Cozy, the On-the-Go Knitter's Tote, and the Mother-Daughter Mittens to my project list.

Disclosure: A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher.

I LOVE this book! There are a lot of wonderful designs in it for everything from sweaters (adult and child) to cup warmers, to a tea cozy, to bags/totes to a gorgeous womens' jacket/coat. The colors used by the author are terrific, but the book also features photos of alternate color choices. It gives extensive directions on how to design your own intarsia patterns using graph paper and also on how to embellish those designs with embroidery, etc.

Kristin Nicholas is well-suited to write a book devoted to using color in knitting. She's an artist, a knitting designer, a photographer, a sheep farmer and an author of embroidery & other books. She created her own yarn line, Nashua's Julia, and has worked with some of the top yarn companies in America. From the time you open this book and see the endpapers teeming with color, you know you're in the right place to be inspired.

"Color by Kristin" begins with the author's introduction, telling how she came to be a knitting designer who specializes in stranded color knitting; then goes on to give an overview of Nicholas' approach to designing with color. Another chapter covers the basics of knitting with two colors of yarn, stranding the yarn across the back of the work. The remainder of the book is filled with Nicholas' brightly-patterned designs. You'll find a wide range of items, from women's sweaters to home dec items (pillows, a tea cozy) to a baby blanket to children's items, with lots of smaller projects, like mittens, to practice playing with color & technique. I like that there are numerous photographs showing all sorts of colorful inspiration; that alternate colorways are given in swatch form for many of the projects; and I'm especially fond of Nicholas' emphasis on having fun and experimenting to find one's own color sense.

This is a beautiful book, teeming with inspiring patterns and information to help you create colorful knitwear. It would be a welcome addition to any knitter's library, and I daresay would inspire anyone interested in textiles, color or the visual arts.

Misleading subtitle--this is more of a pattern book for one line of yarn (the author's own) than it is a book about how to design colour schemes.

Pros:
Very inspiring pictures and projects--the author clearly is a very talented albeit limited colourist.
Hits all the important points about stranding, steeking etc.
Lots of actual patterns--many books advertising themselves as colour design books have very few but this one has many and they are inspiring.

Cons:
All projects use only her own line of yarn which consists of mainly saturated colours. This, understandably, meshes with the authors colour style. However, if you are looking for shaded fair isles or subtle, complex combinations you won't find them here.
No neutrals or patterns incorporating neutrals. The author says that neutrals deaden a colour scheme.
The subtitle, "How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits" is misleading. One page on colour theory and colour wheel. One page urging you to swatch. A few pages illustrating converting line drawings to charts and adding embroidery.
This is not a sufficiently exhaustive 'how to' to justify the subtitle. The book is more about inspiration than instruction.

That said, within the confines of her limited colour style, the author is very successful at creating rich, inspiring projects that are wonderful eye candy.

I love bold colors and am just learning how to incorporate them into knitting. This book gives color and patterns with additional opportunities to design your own work...from simple scarves and mittens to more elaborate wraps and sweaters...it's so intoxicating! Definitely worth the investment for your library! The steek is such a simple technique yet will undoubtedly change my way of looking at projects as I love to use circular needles and work in the round! Hooray for Kristen! Now I need to start working up swatches...the only trouble is to narrow down the playing field and pick the first 2 or 4 or 10 colors to play with!

Color by Kristin: How to Design Your Own Beautiful Knits offers over twenty-five patterns that can easily be customized, from a patchwork baby afghan and mother-daughter mittens to slipper socks for the family and a tote for knitting supplies. Sidebars of stitches needed accompany full-page color photos of each project and charts and notes for its completion.