Customer Reviews

Folk Knitting in Estonia (Folk Knitting series)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(0)
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Nancy has done it again. Her book is a delight and a great "portable project" book. The illustrations, instructions, and patterns are very easy to follow and techniques are unique.

Nancy Bush has done it again. She makes you feel like you are a part of the knitter's families in Estonia. Her illustrations and technique explanations are flawless and the patterns are unique and very easy to follow.

First, and most importantly for a pattern book: the patterns work! After completing several of the delightful small projects in this book focused on mittens and socks, I am deeply impressed with the quality of the designs, the care that was put into the illustrations, especially for special stitches, and the reliability of the yarn recommendations.
The book also gives a delightful overview of Estonian culture and the history of knitting in this baltic Nation. The patters are a great balance of traditional pieces and some very fanciful adaptations. This is clearly not for complete beginners in knitting, but not all the projects are highly complicated, so there is no need to shy away, either.

I absolutely LOVE this book. It is by far my favorite of any knitting books I own. What I specifically love are the instructions in the techniques of braids, nupps, textured and colored cast-ons and wicks (decreasing) to create Estonian inspired projects. I also love the history and the charts. Nancy Bush is an inspiration and this book is a treasure!

Really lovely photos and well done patterns. It gives the feeling that I'll be handling antiques rather than simply knitting. The history and symbolism behind the patterns is fascinating.

This interesting book is readily available at Amazon under a different ISBN: 1883010438 Folk Knitting in Estonia : A Garland of Symbolism, Tradition, and Technique . (At this time of writing, at least, someone is asking $61 for a copy of this edition, but most knitters won't need this exact edition. For some reason, Amazon does not have these editions linked at this moment).

This book is a delight. In it the Author provides historical information about Estonia its culture and rich knitting traditions. She also carefully describes and illustrates many interesting techniques unique to the area including: a couple of braided cast on methods(called Kihnu Troi and Liidia's braid) a fringe cast on, as well several interesting joins, decreases and decorative techniques that are completed while knitting (three color twist and Roositud inlay)---to name only a few. The patterns that follow are for gloves, mittens or socks and are very well described and charted. My only complaint (which I am hesitant to make because this is such a great book) is that the patterns (with a couple exceptions) only provide instructions for one size so you have to play with needle sizes or alter the pattern to make them fit a different sized recipient.

timely delivery, condition as promised, price was right. What more can one ask for?