Hollywood Knits: Thirty Original Suss Designs [Hardcover]

Suss Cousins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2, 2002

"Knitting is the new yoga," declares knitting queen Suss Cousins, and she's right. It's hip, relaxing, and deeply satisfying. Knitting has made a thoroughly modern comeback, thanks in part to the inspiration and creativity of knitter-to-the-stars Suss Cousins. Suss has invented a new vocabulary for an old art, and in the process has developed a passionate following of young, smart, stylish knitters, among them some of Hollywood's hottest stars. Bringing her ideas to a book for the first time, Suss invites knitters both new and accomplished to make offbeat and colorful projects that are both elegant and wearable. As a sought-after costume designer for both film and TV, she has also chosen to include some of her most inspired designs for films from The Matrix to How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Featuring 30 amazing projects with full instructional details Hollywood Knits is equal parts practical and inspirational.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Suss Cousins grew up in Sweden, where her grandmother taught her to knit, and moved to New York in 1982. Her knitwear took off when actress Noelle Beck began to wear Suss's sweaters - and everyone wanted to know where she'd found them. Before long, Suss was designing Bill Cosby's sweaters for The Cosby Show. In 1991 she opened a retail shop in Los Angeles where she taught knitting and sold her clothing. She also continued to design for film and TV, including such films as The Matrix, Scooby Doo, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and such TV series as Friends, Ally McBeal, Frasier, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In addition, Suss Design has licensing deals to children's wear, launching this year, including an Eloise line for fall. Karen Knauer is a fashion and commercial photographer who lives in Santa Monica, CA.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 136 pages
• Publisher: Stewart, Tabori and Chang (October 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584792264
• ISBN-13: 978-1584792260
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 9.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (44 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,524,013 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

49 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I really want to like this book..., June 21, 2005

By 

S. "S" (New York, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Knits: Thirty Original Suss Designs (Hardcover)

After knitting several patterns from this book, I'm a bit frustrated. I purchased the book because I loved the designs and the majority of the patterns I would either make for myself or make as gifts. There are hip, mod and sometimes quirky patterns and very wearable and stylish. If you're big into designer clothing, these would appeal to you. Suss has a knack for picking great colors, stripe patterns and texture and incorporating them into her designs. Everything seems to be knit on big needles with either bulky yarn or double strands, so it's great for instant gratification (I can complete a sweater in under 2 weeks) or last-minute gifts.

Now, for the gripes and source of my frustration.

The mistakes are numerous in the patterns and the corrections are confusing. There were 4 pages of corrections I printed off the Suss website. Some of the corrections are redundant with the information already in the book- maybe I have a later edition?- but sometimes the corrections themselves were wrong or I couldn't figure out where they belonged in the pattern. I'm a fairly experienced knitter, so if I get stuck halfway through a pattern, I can usually work things out or adjust the pattern. Sometimes instructions are given just for the small size, so you have to stop and think and figure out what to do if you aren't making a small. So I find little things like this to be annoying and perhaps something that a beginner would not pick up on and have a tragic end result. I would really have liked this book more if time was spent on editing and correcting the patterns- it seems like it was rushed to publication with no time to check these things. I don't want to be stressed out when starting a pattern hoping that everything will turn out alright.

Another gripe I have would be the pictures. Yes, I find it interesting to know who she designed the piece for, and in which movie, but the incessant name dropping is annoying and pompous, while the photographs reflect this. The focus is not on the garments, but on the celebrity wearers of the garments. In some pictures, sweaters are downright blurry, while the focal point of the picture is a beautifully illuminated face of a highly-paid model or actor. Please. I am a knitter. I know I like the sweater when someone that beautiful is wearing it and posing artfully and unrealistically. I really like the Yarn Girl's Guide to Simple Knits because the sweaters and garments are all displayed on a mannequin. No distractions and you can figure out by looking at a garment if it would actually look good on you or if it would make you look like you're wearing a fat suit. We're not all waif-like Hollywood types, you know.

One last thing...Suss uses, in many patterns, her own brand of yarn in which you can order on her website. It can be a little daunting to find replacements if you don't want to use her yarn, but it can be done.

Overall, I have mixed feeling about this book. I would only recommend it if you are up for a challenge (even though the patterns themselves are all fairly easy) and don't mind comparing yourself to stick figure with perfect features.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars UGH!, November 11, 2005

By 

Sarah (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hollywood Knits: Thirty Original Suss Designs (Hardcover)

Incessent name dropping and unoriginal patterns loaded with mistake after mistake that only be made using "suss" yarn -- give me a break...don't bother with this one and save your money.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Book LOOKS great. Unless you're emaciated, it's a waste., March 19, 2005

By 

D. H. Timmons (California Coast) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hollywood Knits: Thirty Original Suss Designs (Hardcover)

I purchased this book, after reviewing it in the library. I found the Hollywood schmooze-fest annoying, but figured Suss thought it would sell books to celebrity lovers. I bought it, because there were a few designs I liked, and I wanted to be fair and not copy them from the library book. Silly me.

I noticed the sizes seem off. But I began knitting the two-tone halter anyway. I wear a size 6/8. I started the MEDIUM for the halter. I am now going to frog the whole thing. It looks like something for a Barbie doll. My size 12 stepdaughter realized that there is nothing in there she could knit for herself, other than a blanket or hat. I like the patterns, though they're embarrassingly easy (if you go to the Suss correction page first, of course). I can't understand why so much of the pattern selection is coded for "HOT KNITTERS". When it's so basic for even a beginner.

Bottom line? The photos are intersting. The patterns look cool (and I think that's mostly because of great yarn choices). But.. unless you have the body of a 12 year old boy, it's best to avoid this book. What a disappointment. Oh, and an earlier review mentioned that Suss's employee blamed the errors on the pattern maker, when on their websites' correction page, they blame the printer. I thought Suss designed her own patterns. What a disappointment this book was.