Customer Reviews

Handknits for Kids: 25 Original Designs for Girls and Boys

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is by far the best children's knitting book I've seen in a long time. My three-year-old son wants every boy's sweater in the book and trust me, he's never taken an interest in my knitting before. And why wouldn't he want them when one sweater has a dinosaur, one a truck, and the other a dog? And the little girl sweaters are equally wonderful (the dress on the cover is actually my least favorite).

There are just the three boy sweaters in this book, although there are also a couple of hats and a scarf. There are four girl sweaters (well, one is a dress and one is sort of a coat), three hats, a scarf, and a purse.

Besides the patterns being so original and fantastic, there is something especially thoughtful about this book. The patterns are grouped by season, and each season calls for only one type of Rowan yarn (wool cotton, cotton glace, 4ply soft, or kid classic). Since there is a LOT of colorwork in this book, the little bits of color left over from one sweater can be used up in another, or in making an accessory (like a sweet little flower posy pin), or in toy (there's a dog, a mouse, a cat, and a very funky bird). When you buy a bunch of colors for some intarsia, it's nice to have a project ready made to use up the left over yarn.

Honestly, I want to make everything in this book (except the four blankets - I'm just not in to blankets). And how often does that happen?

I was convinced I wasn't going to buy this book (add yet ANOTHER children's knitting pattern book to my library??). Well, I was wrong. This book grabs you on the first page. The art work is a treat, and seeing the sweaters, etc. on the whimsical characters is actually very charming.
Now to the patterns: The designs are unique and playful - not babyish. I found no errors and the patterns were very concise and easy to follow. Great book for knitted gifts. I'm eager to see her new book.

This sweet book delighted me at first glance in December 2005, so I put it on my "Santa list." The next day I went back to the shop and bought it for myself -- Santa's usually good to me but why take chances? I'm cautious about books featuring a specific brand of yarn but Rowan's so luscious and children's knits use smaller amounts, so it seemed worth using the real thing.

I chose the Wildflower Sweater for my 2006 Knitting Olympics entry and enjoyed every second of the project. Nine months later I had the pleasure of seeing my granddaughter dig deep to find her pretty "flower jersey" and pull it on over her pajamas on a cool Australian autumn morning. Priceless!

I'd happily knit anything in this book -- the plump, abstract little animals, the gorgeous blankets, the hats and bags, dresses and pullovers. My only reservation is the crocheted picot edgings, which are perfect finishing touches but challenging for me since the crochet hook is not my friend. It's a skill worth cultivating, however, and this book is great motivation. I found all the instructions clear and fault-free.

Lucinda Guy's inspired designs are a pleasure for the knitter and a treat for the lucky little recipient.

I have a library of knitting books, but this book is now at the top of my list! It contains patterns for the coolest and chichest kids' clothes, accessories and toys and I'm excited to get started.

The instructions are clear and the photos and illustrations are wonderful -- my 2-year old daughter actually reads through it as though it were a book for her!

I've already pre-ordered the new book from this author and I'll continue to recommend this book to all my knitting friends. HIGHLY recommended.

Frankly, I really love the book. It has fun designs and easy instructions. I am not a very experienced knitter and am so far doing very well. It might help to know somebody who is more of an expert knitter to help you with the harder designs. Best thing about the book, even my little girl loves to browse through it.

I have only looked through this book and have not knitted any of the items....yet! Here's what I found. The items range in size from 2 years to 5 years. I wish the range was a little larger as my 9yo daughter loved some of the designs. 4yo boy instantly zeroed in on the "Big Digger" sweater, and he has never asked me to knit him a sweater before.

Designs include sweaters, blankets, a purse, a couple hats, a scarf, small stuffed animals (a cat, mouse, bird, and dog,) knitted flowers and blankets. All are adorable! The boys' items are as appealing as the girls'. As with many kids' books, there are the obligatory intarsia designs, and lots of stripes. Most of the shapes are simple. All yarns specified are Rowan, though I don't think it would be hard to find substitutes.

The artwork and photography is very attractive, though I think it is more useful to see the finished garments on real bodies. The quality of the book and paper is very nice.

The only thing I saw that I didn't like was the garter stitch borders at the bottom of sweaters. It would get way too stretched out, esp. on a kid's sweater in cotton. But hey, that's easy to change!

It is a wonderful book have very unique but classic pattern in the Book. The details on each pattern is what making it such a nice book to have. I really enjoy the pattern and have knitted a couple of thing from it.

I have been a knitter for over 20 years, but my passion for this art got a whole new perspective after my daughter was born two years ago. I generally love to invent my own patterns, so I never ever bought a knitting book before. When I saw this book, though, I could not resist it. Lucinda Guy's patterns, ideas are simple yet sophisticated, funky and absolutely age appropriate without too much frill :-). I love the idea of the outfits for different seasons, complete with blankets and TOYS!! I have been thinking about knitting little toys for a while, and even though I pride myself for being very creative, I am grateful I don't have to experiment with a pattern endlessly; I can just make all those little birds, mice and doggies!The explanations are easy to follow,and I know the yarn is available in the US - that's a plus, I guess, for beginner knitters who don't want to experiment with following the patterns using a different brand. I can't wait for the next book to come out in May 2006!!

My 4 year-old loves it -- though it is a little on the heavy side using cotton. I really love that this book contains such a nice variety (wearable things, blankies, accessories) and they are grouped, so if you want to make a FABulous gift you can make everything in the group. or, just one thing is lovely as well. My only complaint - I wish the book gave actual measurements (e.g. rib to waist should be x inches, etc) it makes things fit much better and makes it much easier to expand the sizes. Otherwise, I love Lucinda Guy's books and just ordered "and so to bed". Cheers.

This is such a great book to find cute things to knit for little kids for all season, as the book is actually divided between the four seasonss. What's especially so great about this book is that besides of having cute things for girls, it has equally cute things for boys - which can be a hard thing to find. In addition to the usual knitting recipes, for sweaters, hats, etc. etc., there are also recipes for the absolutley cutest stuffed toys that you'll actually want to knit, as well as blankets and darling little flower embellishments.

Two big thumbs up on this one.