Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey [Hardcover]

Anna Zilboorg (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1994

"Nowhere else will you see this many Turkish socks in their great mad colors. The combination of clear geometric patterns with riotous color choices is wonderful....The color pictures are great...the charts are big, clear, and good."-- "Knitter's Magazine

. ."..full of gorgeous color photos....The pages of history and cultural influence are the most intriguing part of the book....The patterns are a challenge--distinctive, and utterly beautiful."-- "Small Press

. 128 pages (all in color), 7 x 10.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Anna Zilboorg is the mystic grand dame of color knitting in America. Here she presents the vivid sock designs of rural Turkey in a collection that honors the Turkish tradition and adapts it to a Western knitting style. Zilboorg's research into the history of Turkish knitting and her explanation of Turkish design principles are an excellent complement to the fascinating patterns. The knitting instructions are rather spare, but the basic sock shape is quite simple, making this a perfect book for intermediate and more advanced knitters who enjoy somewhat unusual projects.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Lark Books (October 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0937274755
• ISBN-13: 978-0937274750
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #464,364 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Nice try, but I suggest that she try harder, January 29, 2000

By 

Sheila Brynjulfson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey (Hardcover)

I can only conclude that the author has no interest in instructing her readers to actually knit the lovely Turkish socks she presents in this book, or to accurately duplicate the patterns from her diagrams. She confesses that the knitting instructions are sketchy, but they would have been much improved with the addition of just two more simple diagrams illustrating the unusual toe and heel forming methods.

Likewise, I have found her charted renditions of Turkish patterns to often be incomplete and/or inaccurate. There is nothing quite so disappointing and aggravating to discover several rows later that the diagram one has been following faithfully has been carelessly rendered, necessitating tedious (and sometimes impossible) corrections.

The photographs are very nice, but the flat front view of the socks do not present them in their entire complexity.

All in all, while this is an inspiring book in ways, I would not recommend it to anyone except the most die-hard ethnological knitters.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Kaleidoscopic patterns, easy-to-read charts, November 4, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey (Hardcover)

This is one of the books in my fiber arts library that I continually return to for inspiration and motivation. The patterns are easy to follow and the kaleidoscopic photos will make you want to drop everything and start knitting! Zilboorg's descriptions of Turkish knitting traditions are engaging and educational.

A must for anyone who enjoys two-color or ethnic knitting.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful socks, but book leaves some to be desired, May 25, 2001

By 

T. L. Shea (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey (Hardcover)

First of all, the sample socks and patterns from Turkey are fabulous. The designs are very striking, especially in the bright colors the Turkish people love.

My only complaint is with the layout of the book itself. The title font is difficult to read and the graphs are ... weird. They are very large, say 5 stitches per inch as opposed to 10 per inch you usually see. So it's hard to see the whole pattern in a single glance. Second, the symbol used in the graph to indicate the patter is weird, a tilde ~ and it again makes the pattern hard to see at a glance. I found it most useful to copy and reduce the pages and then color the pattern squares in with more readable symbols.

This is not a book for beginner knitters. If you don't already know hot to knit socks you'll have a difficult time. If you already know how to knit, you'll love the patterns and find many uses for them beyond socks.