Customer Reviews

Interweave Presents Knitted Gifts: Irresistible Projects to Make and Give

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a book of little gifts, only a few I'd really want to knit as a gift myself. There are thin scarves, felted pot holders, hats, mittens and even a hobby horse. There is a cute baby bunting but it has a zipper on the bottom. I don't like adding zippers to my finished projects. There are some lovely sock patterns and a nice pattern for a folded tweed bag.

Some of the gifts are just plain silly such as the 'wool lint juggling balls' , the 'texter gloves' (for people who IM a lot) and the 'felted mohair scarves' (which look like moths have eaten them). The other patterns, or very similar ones, can be found in my other knitting books. Besides, and this is a pet peeve, this book uses charts and I am not a fan of charts.

I ask myself the same three questions that I do every time I buy a knitting book:

Will I knit any of the patterns? The answer is 'maybe'.
Are the patterns easy to follow. The answer is 'no'.
Will I use this book as a resource. The answer is 'no'.

This is the kind of book for someone who does not have many knitting books in their library and needs to come up with an idea for a knitted gift. Except for the scarf and felted pot holders, most of the gifts take a long time to make. I'm not saying that the gifts are not nice; it's just that, except for the hobby horse, none of them are really unique enough for me to want to invest in this book. I am usually a fan of books put out by Interweave Press but this is not one that is special.

This is a delightful book, filled with 37 different projects -- something here for pretty much everyone on a gift list. Some items make excellent house gifts (such as the coffee clutch, napkin rings, bottle sleeve, felted hot pads, coasters, oven mitts, candle cozy, pillow covers). Others are for women, including scarves and a lacy vest(lace is my major interest now), a felted bag, a catnip mouse for that much-beloved pet, several baby items -- blankets, sweaters, bunting, that above-mentioned hobby horse, and a set of alphabet blocks. I can hardly wait to make the ballet slippers with their beautiful floral toes for myself plus a pair of fresco patterned leg warmers, and I also look forward to making socks, scarves, and mittens for several good friends. Fortunately there's plenty of time to begin these projects for the most special people on my holiday gift list.

This book delivered just what it promised.Fun to knit and to give gifts. I Knitted "Herringbone Scarf" using a very soft Merino wool and have two neighbors who want one also (even same color). I used a beautiful fuschia RY Cashsoft DK yarn. Was extremely easy. Completed it in one sitting. I just found the perfect yarn (in my stash) for the "cable and twist" pillow. All of the projects are beautiful and directions are very precise. What a perfect way to finally make a dent in my "stash". This book is truly A KEEPER..

I was attracted to the cover immediately. The patterns embrace beauty and simplicity, while there are a few more complicated patterns for fun. There are over 30 patterns that are nice, but not revolutionary. In fact, some look very similar to free patterns found easily on-line. And other patterns are similar to so many already out there, but with a slight twist (texting mittens). Mittens, leg warmers, childrens blocks, sweaters, scarves, a few houseware ideas, etc. fill the pages. NOTE: The hobby horse was worth the price of the book. And I also thought the texting mittens were very cool.

There are many books on the market geared towards gift-giving, meaning the projects are easy enough to complete quickly, but maintain the quality that you want in a hand made gift. And this is a great example of gift-giving oriented patterns. Unless you don't already have a gift giving oriented book in your knitting library, I would suggest browsing this book to see if you really have a niche that this fits.

The title had me going - and the fact it was an Ann Budd book, but to be honest some stuff is a waste of paper. If that sounds a bit harsh it is because I was so annoyed to see felted coasters and a bunch of other things which I doubt any of my friends would appreciate! I will make the Shaadi mitts and probably the curry and spice scarf and beret. Maybe I will do the gentleman's scarf and maybe a sock pattern.....but I was hoping for a bit more.

I love any book written by Ann Budd; her books are uniformly fabulous. But Knitted Gifts is truly special. I snapped this one up the first time I saw it at my local book store.

As a Blackberry addict, I was overjoyed by the Texter gloves; this pattern alone is worth the price of the book! These gloves provide for a removable thumb so that the wearer can easily text message. Brilliant! I also love the oven mitts, the gorgeous Nancy Bush Ulla scarf (Nancy's work is also consistently wonderful), the Gentleman's Scarf, the clever Neck Warmer Hat, and much more. I've already started on the oven mitts as a housewarming gift for my cousin.

It's another great book from Ann Budd and Interweave. Go for it!

As a knitting teacher, I've really liked being able to say about Interweave that they are consistently well-edited and well-thought out patterns. This, unfortunately, is not the case in this book. One of my students bought the book and has worked on several patterns, all of which had errors. In one lace pattern, with only 2 pattern rows, BOTH rows had errors. I find it really disappointing.

The patterns are interesting and if you are a skilled-enough knitter to understand what the pattern SHOULD be saying, you'll be fine, but I wouldn't recommend it for the beginning knitter. There are errata on Interweave's site ([...]), but you should check back.

this is a nice variety of projects for the new knitter as well as for someone learning to felt. I am first going to try the neck warmer hat.
it looks easy as well as practical. I highly recommend this book.

This book caught my eye instantly! I love just about every pattern in this book and will eventually use them. The main reason I purchased this book was to knit the Hobby Horse for my daughter. The ears were way off...they actually looked like rabbit ears--nothing like the picture and the i-cord is too thick.

If you are buying this book for the Hobby Horse Pattern, you should,

Felt the ears separately and then sew them on and only use three stitches when stitching the i-cord. When I knit something I expect it to turn out exactly like the photo. I have always been successful in doing so.


I still recommend this book, but was not 100% happy with the hobby horse pattern.

I started the His and Her Socks and when I got to the foot and followed the instructions given, it didn't come out at all like the socks in the photos. The designer Ann Budd says to work the foot section in the same pattern as the leg, but in the photos there is an accent pattern along each edge of the instep and what looks like a rib or something in the center of the instep. This element is the main appeal of the socks and the instructions for how to do it don't appear! This goes for BOTH patterns for the socks. Very frustrating after buying the yarn and working through more than half the sock. I looked on the publisher's website and there is no errata listed for this book.

I am hesitant to try any more patterns in the book because of errors. I'll probably return this book