32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect, Gorgeous and absolutely delightful!!, October 6, 2010
I pre-ordered this book months ago, and it just arrived today. When I opened this book up, I kept saying Wow! There are so many lovely patterns, and so beautifully displayed and photographed. What to knit first?
The many patterns feature a wide variety of Sanquhar (pronounced `sankhar') and Fair Isle patterns, including birds and animals, and the patterns are coordinated to match. The patterns are: Hats - 17 (Ski hats and Chullos - 13; Tams - 4); Mittens - 9; and Gloves, Fingerless Gloves, and Flip Top Convertibles - 10 (one is a variation of another). Each of the sections for the Hat, Mittens or Gloves begins with a basic pattern for that item, with options and tips for customizing. Lots of tips are provided throughout this book! The patterns include: Butterfly, Cardinal, Chickadee, Cinnamon Teal, Griffin, Grosbeak, Nuthatch, Reindeer, Wood Duck, Flower and Butterfly, Duke, Star and Tree, Star and Snowflake, Sun and Walnut, and Peruvian Cross.
Charts abound in this book! Every piece of every pattern has a chart. I was particularly pleased to discover that the charts for the larger colorwork patterns have been very thoughtfully worked out, noting the number of stitches of each color in the chart when the number of stitches for a given color is 5 or more. And while there are yarn suggestions, none are difficult to obtain. Yarns include Jamieson and Smith, Cascade, and KnitPicks, and the author notes that most fingering weight yarns work well.
The Gloves and Mittens are of Fingers-to-cuff construction...and I am delighted that this is the case. I enjoy knitting gloves, and top down, although not the norm in glove knitting patterns, is a nice way to knit, producing gloves that fit very well. However, if one prefers to knit cuff-to-finger, I'm sure these patterns would be quite easy to adapt. Even if one has never knit a glove before, it will be easy to accomplish with the easy writing style and frequent suggestions.
If you enjoy colorwork in general, and knitting hats, mittens and gloves in particular, I simply cannot recommend this book more highly!
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14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful charts, October 28, 2010
I, too, pre-ordered this book based on my affinity for woodland motifs and a relatively new love for colorwork. It's one of the few pre-ordered books that has lived up to my hopes! As others have said, the woodland motifs are irresistible and the construction of the gloves is unique. The charts are very clear, and I like the fact that the author numbered stitch counts for anything beyond five stitches. I think that the hats look a bit too tall but am confident that I can modify their shapes if they are displeasing when I knit them. Finally, I enjoyed reading the author's comments about her processes and her tips for the projects. The tone of the writing is warm and comfortable. This book is on my "favorite knitting books" shelf. I'm eager to begin knitting from it!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful patterns and charts, December 12, 2010
The patterns in this book are presented in chart form, which makes them very easy to follow and translate to other projects. I love the motifs that the author uses. The basic pattern is presented at the beginning of each section--hats, tams, mittens, gloves--and the rest of the section is made up of color pictures in a gallery format that is inspiring. The suggested yarns are easily found and, happily, not expensive.
However, I do not particularly like to make top down mittens and gloves. The Turkish cast on isn't very stable and casting off the cuff edge makes for either a hard and inflexible edge or an edge that bells out.
The fact that the charts translate very nicely from top down to bottom up saves the day on this book. I've completed a set of mittens and had no problem whatsoever using the charts for bottom up construction. The corrugated ribbing for the cuffs looks lovely, but I detest doing it, so I didn't use it and the mittens turned out beautiful anyway.
Highly recommended book!
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