The Enchanted Sole; Legendary Socks for Adventurous Knitters [Perfect Paperback]

Janel Laidman (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2009

Once Upon a Time.... Sock knitters yearned for legendary patterns fit for queens, and pixies, and alchemists, yet still wearable for the modern adventurer. Then along came a designer who understood this yearning, and The Enchanted Sole was born. With 20 legendary sock patterns, The Enchanted Sole is sure to please every adventurer on your list.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Just like Alice in Wonderland, this new knitting book is an exciting fanciful new enchanting sock pattern book filled with origins rooted in legend, myth, and fairy tales... Detailed instructions with step by step photographed images for "pick up wrap", "kitchener stitch", "bead placement" and "clustered stitches", just to name a few. Twenty fanciful patterns, all beautifully photographed in a sturdy binding for safe-keeping. The illustrations are created by the author, as the front cover where you see the real "Tintagel" socks with pearls laid into the original illustrated graphic, just superb work all round, a treasure to behold. Once upon a time - The Enchanted Sole with "legendary patterns fit for queens, and pixies, and alchemists" is Janel Laidman's latest book for sock knitters. Spun, seemingly magically, from Ms. Laidman's talented hand, this book is a regal treat for experienced sock knitters. With designs for sox whose design roots lie in tales of the gothic medieval and King Arthur, but still quite wearable in our modern times, Janel Laidman has created a feast of patterns with names like Firebird, Atlantis, Snow Queen, Changeling, Tristan & Isolde, Pixie and more, with unusual construction and promises of exceptional fit. - Sharon Watterson Squidoo.com --squidoo.com

Just like Alice in Wonderland, this new knitting book is an exciting fanciful new enchanting sock pattern book filled with origins rooted in legend, myth, and fairy tales. One passion for intrigue woven with words has semblance to a knitter's passion to create. "Legendary socks for adventurous knitters." Fantasy Woven in Verse -- the story of Alice in Wonderland was an adventure story spun in a dream while Alice slept. There is nothing more enticing to a knitter exploring a new town than to spy a graphic sign with yarn and needles signaling a yarn shop. Like Alice, dreaming by the riverside, yarn shops and their communities of knitters are spinners of dreams. Indeed, the world of the passionate knitter is filled with fantasy and illusion. The Enchanted Sole has patterns for a Queen: "Galadriel ruled over the Elven land of Lothlorien with wisdom and grace," these socks are laced up the back and tied at the knee with satin ribbons. La dame a la licorne, a series of medieval tapestries is the origin for Ms. Laidman's "La Licorne" socks designed with a banner at the top proclaiming "to my only desire" in French "a mon seul desir" with a field of embroidered flowers and a bunny peeking out from the heel, could it be Alice's flummoxed rabbit? The Enchanted Sole -- pattern fascinations for sock knitters where dreams were the incentive and now can be real. Detailed instructions with step by step photographed images for "pick up wrap", "kitchener stitch", "bead placement" and "clustered stitches", just to name a few. Twenty fanciful patterns, all beautifully photographed in a sturdy binding for safe-keeping. The illustrations are created by the author, as the front cover where you see the real "Tintagel" socks with pearls laid into the original illustrated graphic, just superb work all round, a treasure to behold. Once upon a time - The Enchanted Sole with "legendary patterns fit for queens, and pixies, and alchemists" is Janel Laidman's latest book for sock knitters. Spun, seemingly magically, from Ms. Laidman's talented hand, this book is a regal treat for experienced sock knitters. With designs for sox whose design roots lie in tales of the gothic medieval and King Arthur, but still quite wearable in our modern times, Janel Laidman has created a feast of patterns with names like Firebird, Atlantis, Snow Queen, Changeling, Tristan & Isolde, Pixie and more, with unusual construction and promises of exceptional fit. - Sharon Watterson Squidoo.com --squidoo.com

Just like Alice in Wonderland, this new knitting book is an exciting fanciful new enchanting sock pattern book filled with origins rooted in legend, myth, and fairy tales. One passion for intrigue woven with words has semblance to a knitter's passion to create. "Legendary socks for adventurous knitters." Fantasy Woven in Verse -- the story of Alice in Wonderland was an adventure story spun in a dream while Alice slept. There is nothing more enticing to a knitter exploring a new town than to spy a graphic sign with yarn and needles signaling a yarn shop. Like Alice, dreaming by the riverside, yarn shops and their communities of knitters are spinners of dreams. Indeed, the world of the passionate knitter is filled with fantasy and illusion. The Enchanted Sole has patterns for a Queen: "Galadriel ruled over the Elven land of Lothlorien with wisdom and grace," these socks are laced up the back and tied at the knee with satin ribbons. La dame a la licorne, a series of medieval tapestries is the origin for Ms. Laidman's "La Licorne" socks designed with a banner at the top proclaiming "to my only desire" in French "a mon seul desir" with a field of embroidered flowers and a bunny peeking out from the heel, could it be Alice's flummoxed rabbit? The Enchanted Sole -- pattern fascinations for sock knitters where dreams were the incentive and now can be real. Detailed instructions with step by step photographed images for "pick up wrap", "kitchener stitch", "bead placement" and "clustered stitches", just to name a few. Twenty fanciful patterns, all beautifully photographed in a sturdy binding for safe-keeping. The illustrations are created by the author, as the front cover where you see the real "Tintagel" socks with pearls laid into the original illustrated graphic, just superb work all round, a treasure to behold. Once upon a time - The Enchanted Sole with "legendary patterns fit for queens, and pixies, and alchemists" is Janel Laidman's latest book for sock knitters. Spun, seemingly magically, from Ms. Laidman's talented hand, this book is a regal treat for experienced sock knitters. With designs for sox whose design roots lie in tales of the gothic medieval and King Arthur, but still quite wearable in our modern times, Janel Laidman has created a feast of patterns with names like Firebird, Atlantis, Snow Queen, Changeling, Tristan & Isolde, Pixie and more, with unusual construction and promises of exceptional fit. - Sharon Watterson Squidoo.com --squidoo.com

About the Author

Janel Laidman lives, knits, dreams & writes in Eugene, Oregon. She is the author of The Eclectic Sole; Socks for Adventurous Knitters.

Product Details

• Perfect Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Rustling Leaf Press; First edition (October 2, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981497233
• ISBN-13: 978-0981497235
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 8.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #510,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Janel Laidman grew up in Southern California, where the weather is hardly ever sweater weather. However, knitting must have been in her DNA, because she began to knit about 30 years ago when she was an exchange student in Denmark. She has always been a do-it-yourselfer so designing was a quick and logical step for her. Janel's first two books, The Eclectic Sole and The Enchanted Sole are about knitting socks, and Janel's creative design style shows you just what you can do with these humble foot coverings. Janel is an avid hand spinner as well as knitter. These days Janel knits, spins, and dreams in Eugene, Oregon where she always hard at work on her next endeavor.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

37 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Firebirds, Mermaids, Unicorns and Selkies--oh my!, October 23, 2009

By 

Joanna Daneman (Middletown, DE USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 10 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Enchanted Sole; Legendary Socks for Adventurous Knitters (Perfect Paperback)

Janel Laidman, author of The Eclectic Sole created some rather beautiful and unusual socks in her first book. This book, Enchanted Sole, has even more beautiful socks, in fact, these are truly enchanting. The patterns are named after magical or mythical beings, and try to capture their essence; an Atlantis sock is sea-blue, the Firebird stockings are nothing short of amazing; a two-color black and red design with feathers and fire crawling up the leg. My favorite are the Tree of Life socks, shown in either black tree on a variegated yarn background or in a red colorway that is equally interesting. There are textured socks, texture-and-bead, color, shaded yarns, lace, embroidered, and even what looks like a corset-laced possibly very naughty stocking. (It didn't look all that naughty in the photo but you could make it naughty if you really try.) I hardly saw a pattern I didn't like, which is pretty much amazing as I usually only like about 1/3 of the patterns in any book. In particular, I saw patterns I liked in techniques I don't particularly like--such as La Licorne, which is embroidered and has knitted-in words, to replicate the effect of a medieval tapestry. It's stunning. And by far not the most difficult in the book.

Be warned that many of these patterns are not for the absolute novice. And if you choose the intricate colorwork, remember that knitting fairisle or two-color per row you will inevitably make a tighter, thicker fabric as the strands of the unused color are carried behind on the wrong side. And the fabric is far less elastic, so the fit has to be taken into consideration; you may need to make a larger circumference for the leg and foot than you'd expect if you are used to making plainer socks.

Anyone who likes the fanciful, either in fantasy literature or in their knitting will love this book. I was blown away by it! I'm making the Tree of Life first. Cast on 76 stitches....

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Agree, Agree, Agree with the other reviews, December 29, 2009

By 

Annette L. Taylor "Aknitte" (Kentucky, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Enchanted Sole; Legendary Socks for Adventurous Knitters (Perfect Paperback)

A beautiful book, great pictures, great ideas, great patterns, great imagination, just inspiring.

This book has wonderful, unique, one-of-a-kind designs in it; what I like most is that this book inspires me to try and pursue some "think-outside-the-shoe/sock" designs of my own, just to try patterns, yarns, colors... There has not been one book in the past 5 years that got my creative knitting juices flowing like this book.

This book shows so well that there are no limits to the interpretation, design, and creation of one-of-a-kind socks, no matter which virtual-fantasy-fairy tale-Star Trek-actual-world you live in.

I have not knitted any pattern of this book so I cannot (yet) speak for the accuracy of the patterns and instructions. However, I am a really experienced sock knitter, I can take a great deal just from the photographs.

Warning to sock novices: Some techniques are well described and illustrated; however, this book is not for beginners. If you wish to learn how to knit socks, this is not the book to learn it with. But this is certainly the book which makes you want to master the sock knitting in record time, so that you can walk on fairy feet in the future!

Beautiful, imaginative and from-the-heart-book.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Knitting Socks for Alice, March 6, 2010

By 

Sharon Watterson (New England) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Enchanted Sole; Legendary Socks for Adventurous Knitters (Perfect Paperback)

Just like Alice in Wonderland, this new knitting book is an exciting fanciful new enchanting sock pattern book filled with origins rooted in legend, myth, and fairy tales. One passion for intrigue woven with words has semblance to a knitter's passion to create.

"Legendary socks for adventurous knitters."

Fantasy Woven in Verse -- the story of Alice in Wonderland was an adventure story spun in a dream while Alice slept. There is nothing more enticing to a knitter exploring a new town than to spy a graphic sign with yarn and needles signaling a yarn shop. Like Alice, dreaming by the riverside, yarn shops and their communities of knitters are spinners of dreams.

Indeed, the world of the passionate knitter is filled with fantasy and illusion. The Enchanted Sole has patterns for a Queen: "Galadriel ruled over the Elven land of Lothlorien with wisdom and grace," these socks are laced up the back and tied at the knee with satin ribbons. La dame a la licorne, a series of medieval tapestries is the origin for Ms. Laidman's "La Licorne" socks designed with a banner at the top proclaiming "to my only desire" in French "a mon seul desir" with a field of embroidered flowers and a bunny peeking out from the heel, could it be Alice's flummoxed rabbit?

The Enchanted Sole -- pattern fascinations for sock knitters where dreams were the incentive and now can be real. Detailed instructions with step by step photographed images for "pick up wrap", "kitchener stitch", "bead placement" and "clustered stitches", just to name a few. Twenty fanciful patterns, all beautifully photographed in a sturdy binding for safe-keeping. The illustrations are created by the author, as the front cover where you see the real "Tintagel" socks with pearls laid into the original illustrated graphic, just superb work all round, a treasure to behold.

Once upon a time - The Enchanted Sole with "legendary patterns fit for queens, and pixies, and alchemists" is Janel Laidman's latest book for sock knitters. Spun, seemingly magically, from Ms. Laidman's talented hand, this book is a regal treat for experienced sock knitters. With designs for sox whose design roots lie in tales of the gothic medieval and King Arthur, but still quite wearable in our modern times, Janel Laidman has created a feast of patterns with names like Firebird, Atlantis, Snow Queen, Changeling, Tristan & Isolde, Pixie and more, with unusual construction and promises of exceptional fit.