Customer Reviews

Fancy Feet: Traditional Knitting Patterns of Turkey

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

I like the book for the pictures, but her instructions leave me in the dark. I may use some of the designs for hat or headband patterns, but that's about it. Worth picking up used, not new.

Don't be fooled: this is the first edition of Zilboorg's terrific book of patterns derived from toe-up Turkish socks. Zilboorg is a master of colorwork, not a surprise as she works as a hand dyer of wools.

The book features the cast-on method for Eastern (Turkish) socks and it is a bit wierd; even after a lesson I had difficulty to do it. But this book explains it very well.

I personally don't knit Turkish socks if I want a pair of utilitarian socks in a hurry. But I do use this book if I want a special pair for clogs or sandals, or a pair of slippers in bright colors. You can use the charts for other things, like vests. There is a companion book of mittens using similar techniques. If you love colorwork, this book is inspiring.

But it's not for beginners. Nor is it for those that Elizabeth Zimmerman calls 'blind followers'. You will not find line by line instructions here on how to make the socks as pictured. What you will find is gorgeous photographs that will give you ideas of interesting (and different color choices for your knitting) and clear LARGE charts. I have been using the charts to make hats out of. Maybe later I will use them to make socks--but not necessarily the pointed toe socks pictured which look gorgeous (but a bit impractical inside of WEstern style shoes).
While the book is not for beginners, the patterns ARE remarkably easy to knit for multi-color patterns-- you get a very complex look without all the finickiness fair isle often has. I would suggest that someone who is able to get this book (I'm sad that it's out of print and so expensive) should try knitting samples of patterns that look interesting and then let their creativity take over and decide whether they would like this design to be a sock, or a hat, or a sweater, or a pillow or--whatever. But if you're not interested in that kind of knitting (or afraid of it), I'd buy another book.
Ms. Zilboorg's books on mittens has much clearer instructions on how to knit from the toe up, by the way, and if you're determined to make Turkish style socks, you might try the instructions in that book along with the patterns in THIS book. The mitten book has much less interesting designs (at least, according to my taste.)

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.

The patterns depicted in this book are easily adaptable to other knitted items such as tams and sweaters. Don't let the "feet" in the title fool you. Everything is well thought out and easy to understand. A great book about the use of color.

I bought Anna Zilboog's "Knitting for anarchists" a few years ago from Amazon and found it to be one of the most helpful and, yes, inspiring knitting books I had ever bought. She gave her opinions fearlessly, and what good and sensible opinions they were. She also gave lots and lots of marvellous advice.

I've been knitting socks for some years and therefore really looked forward to "Fancy Feet". Unfortunately, though, in this book, advice and instructions are virtually nowhere to be had, except for a diagram on how to cast on for a toe-up sock followed by some very cryptic and confusing instructions (with no diagrams) on how to knit a Turkish heel. The author then goes on to say how important the shape of the heel is, and how doing a European heel will lead to the wrong shape completely!

As it is, the book largely consists of charted patterns which I glanced at and then put away in my bookcase. Somebody else is going to have to teach me how to knit Turkish socks, because this author failed completely.