Customer Reviews

Inspired Fair Isle Knits: 20 Creative Designs Inspired by the Elements

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

 

 

This book was initially a huge disappointment after the author's great work on Inspired Cable Knits. The sweaters seem much too big for the models and as a result appear generally shapeless (hard to tell whether they really are or not) Also, while I like color, and in fact I like lots of color in my knitting, I do think that when you pile too much of it into a fair isle design, it comes across looking like mass produced acrylic knits, even if the yarns are actually quite nice. (The scarf on the cover is one of the few color combinations that really worked for me.) The end result is that the fit, color and photography gave me a decidedly 70's vibe and gee, I wasn't crazy about that kind of look the first time around!

I seriously considered sending my copy back, but am keeping it. Why? After my initial disappointment I decided to drill down a little further and really look at the actual fair isle graphs, apart from the sweaters and the colors. It turns out there is some nice stuff there -- used with interesting emphasis -- and in the end I'm keeping the book to pull out the charted designs and use them for other garments.

This book is being marketed as fairisle which it isn't. You could label it jacquard or perhaps Norwegian but definitely not fairisle.Why? no steeks, almost everything knit in pieces back and forth the English way and no shetland yarns. The book is extremely pretentious trying to enlighten us with Greek philosophy which has no place in a knitting book unless it's Greek knitting. Unlike her first book, this time the publisher did a much better job. Print is good. Charts are in color but each color has also a symbol so we can figure them out. The author says she's being innovative by adding cables and having less fairisle. Despite her very elementary pages of preparation for the beginner, the beginner in fairisle should stay far away from this book. Knitting back and forth and trying to see what the pattern is from the backside is no fun and a lot harder than the traditional way. The more advanced fairisle knitter will find better things to make if she really wants fairisle. I should have listened to the first reviewer and skipped this book, but I'm a real fairisle lover. Again I agree with the first reviewer that only the charts are useful and that is because each chart tells how many stitches and rows are in each chart pattern.

Not inspiring at all. For example, patterns are a mix of fair-isle and cable, in coarse wool to they are 'pixelated'. Look at the inside pages to see the designs. Definitely not for advanced knitters.

It sounded good enough, and the cover was pretty enough, that I didn't heed my Amazon predecessors' warnings, especially Ms. Poller, whose perceptions are always invaluable. First, Ms. Poller is right: this isn't fairisle, it's just colorwork. And ugly colors, at that. Second, as another reviewer mentioned, the thick shiny yarns with their cheap, loud colors are dreadful and often just don't match. The designs are simple and often startlingly unattractive; some of the combinations really incomprehensible--why would you tack a one-color cable top onto a totally unrelated, patterned color scheme? A keyhole sweater showcasing a man's hairy chest? And Oh, goody--another pillow!

Furthermore, I don't require flimsy pop philosophy to sell me a book of knitting patterns. I didn't realize how much of this book's space would be gobbled up by this shaky "theme." Clearly some people enjoy it, which is fine as long as I don't have to listen to them, but I don't require a book inflated with pages of color daubs and flossy ramblings about the Four Elements. I just want to knit with pretty colors and interesting stitches; I don't have any wild-eyed "itch to find meaning and connections in the world around us in our knitting," as the back cover raves. When did it become necessary to burden sweater designs with the responsibility for World Peace and pantheism? Is this a pompous yuppie attempt to paste some elevated cerebral justification onto a glorious craft? Is it not adequately status-serving to want to knit or ride a bicycle or garden for its own sake, that it must be designated an intellectual and spiritual exercise to justify its existence? Pretentious snobbery comes to the LYS.

Finally, it's just a sloppy book. After page-inflating burblings about the wind and Greek mythology, there apparently wasn't time or energy left over to share with the knitter how many stitches to cast on for the shawl, for example. There are many areas of detailing and finishing on the projects that look sloppy and hurried (in keeping with the use of chunky yarns instead of the fine yarns that help create color subtlety in fairisle). A visit to a good library would help prevent these mistakes, but alas, civic budgets have slain them here. I bought it secondhand, and I'm still not keeping it.

Perhaps this book isn't for everyone, but as a fairly new knitter, i find it to be a delight. I've spent many hours trying to find the most basic information on how to carry the yarns while knitting stranded color work items and finally i have it in my hot little hands. The book has a lovely organization and flow with little tidbits on the elements and pieces of folklore that will inspire the knitter. The photography is gorgeous and really allows the pattern combinations to shine through. Another winner by Fiona Ellis.

Much of Fiona Ellis' design philosophy is contained in this statement from her introduction: "Even though many of the techniques we use in knitting have been around for practically forever, there are always new ways of using them to achieve fashionable and contemporary-looking garments." In Inspired Fair Isle Knits: 20 creative designs inspired by the elements, Ellis explores fair isle knitting, combining traditional with modern to create the unique garments showcased in this collection.

Like her first collection Inspired Cable Knits, Ellis draws inspiration from nature. Each of the four natural elements - earth, air, fire and water - influence her choices in color palette, design elements and fair isle pattern. While Ellis has provided 20 stimulating and challenging patterns, her hope is that her designs will inspire creativity and new ways of thinking in her readers, and to facilitate this she includes design notes and reflections.

Each element is the focus of one section of Inspired Fair Isle Knits and is distinguished by its own color palette, yarn properties and design elements. For example, the water section is worked in blues, greens and purples with shiny or smooth yarns that "recall water's reflective properties" and wavy edges brings to mind the movement of water or snowflakes.

Ellis designs for a wide range of sizes with finished chest measurements ranging from 32" - 56", with the average falling between 38" - 50". Inspired Fair Isle Knits includes two child's patterns, as well as designs for two wraps, a pillow cover and a felted bag. Many of the patterns here are geared to advanced or experienced knitters with a few suitable for those starting out in colorwork. Those wishing to explore color theory further should consult the reading list included at the end of the volume.

Inspired Fair Isle Knits focuses on color and Ellis has pushed the boundaries with some of her design choices, thus knitters' personal preferences are more likely to affect their opinions of this volume.

Armchair Interviews says: Knitters may not like every design, but Ellis' strong writing and clear instructions have produced an instructive volume that showcases her growth as a designer.

I love this book. I confess that I bought it based upon an earlier review stating that it didn't contain traditional steek patterns. Since I hate steeks, I thought "ok,hmmm, one step in my direction!".

The author has a delightful color eye and I found multiple things in the book charming and needleworthy. This is a book filled with cheerful patterns and nice design touches. Although I had not seen it before buying, I'm glad I own it.

OK, so I agree this book leaves something to be desired, but I don't think it's terrible. Ellis' combining of cables and colorwork or lace and colorwork is interesting, and I think about half of the patterns that do this work well. The other half do kind of look like someone sewed 2 different sweaters together.

I really like Ellis' use of color and considered buying a copy of the book (I have a library copy) just for that. In the end, I don't think I will because of the cost.

Things I didn't like: She starts the bottom of EVERY sweater with a seed stitch border. I really don't like it when designers do the same thing over and over again (like Stefanie Japel with her garter stitch ridges everywhere). All the Aristotle mumbo-jumbo. I know every book has to have some type of theme, but I think she took it a few steps too far. Just naming the sections Earth, Water, Air, and Fire and a tiny blurb about Aristotle would have been sufficient. As it is, the book comes across pretty cheesy. Finally, the styling. I understand the need for stylized shots of the finished products, but a couple of the sweaters don't have any good shots where you can see what they really look like. Sway and Glowing are good examples. The model is sideways, bent over, with her hand in front of the sweater... not helpful. Also, I agree that the man's sweater with the notched collar was pretty ridiculous.

Unlike one of the other reviewers, I don't really think it's a terrible sin to call this book "Fair Isle," when she really means "stranded colorwork." Although it isn't true Fair Isle, the common usage of that term (at least as I have seen it) now encompasses all stranded colorwork, and is used as opposed to "intarsia."

While I gave the book 3 stars (the same rating as the average), I felt that the text of the other reviews was a lot more negative than I felt about the book. I usually only write reviews when I don't agree with those already posted.

I bought this book because I fell in love with a pattern (Drifting) featured in a Knit Picks yarn catalog. This experience will make me leery of doing that again.
First, what's wonderful:
1. Fiona Ellis is truly an *inspired* designer. She's taken the traditional Fair Isle approach and opened it up using it on sleeves, pockets, hemlines and yokes.
2. The author's use of color is amazing -- wonderful and brilliant combinations that I might never have considered.
3. The charts are also in brilliant color, so you can go back and forth between chart and photograph to get a sense of how it will work up.
4. The layout, photography, and paper of this book are luscious.
5. A nice guide in the back to the yarns used for the projects reveals a variety of yarns used from mohair to wool and cotton to Hempwol.
6. The mostly sweater designs offer a variety of styles.
7. Fiona shares insight into her design process inspired by Aristotle's four elements and she adds interesting little tidbits.
What is disappointing:
1. I'm guessing most the disappointments I have are from the editors not serving this designer well. But the one design aspect that is frustrating for me is that these sweaters are constructed by knitting back and forth and not in the round leaving, in some cases, many dozens of ends to weave in when finishing up.
2. The "things you need to know" and "techniques" section are so abbreviated that the editors might as well have left them out. This is my biggest disappointment. I imagine that Fiona is a wealth of information on Fair Isle knitting and has dozens of little tips to offer the reader. While I realize this is not a technique book, I think a book on Fair Isle would offer more than two brief paragraphs on stranding.
3. For me, the overall content doesn't match the cover price although I realize the glossy paper and frequent photos drive up the production costs.
Like other reviewers, I'll probably keep this book for the designs charts even though the only pattern I'm likely to knit is the one that infatuated me in the catalog.

I like Fiona Ellis' new book. She packs lots of information into the opening chapters. The patterns are very accessible for knitters new to color work. And they can be used as a springboard for many designs of my own. I am looking forward to knitting several projects from this book.