Knits from a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Handpainted Yarns [Hardcover]

Maie Landra (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 28, 2007

For more than a decade, Koigu Wool Designs has been a revered source for top-quality handpainted merino yarn and exquisite patterns. Its wools feature a unique and rich palette that’s as gorgeous as a painter’s. Now, the many needleworkers who are positively obsessive about Koigu can make 25 of the company’s best designs and learn more about how owners Maie and Taiu Landru achieve their amazing technicolor results. Over 100 photographs, many shot on location at the Koigu farm, showcase the special wool-dyeing process and fashionable garments, while a special essay discusses the family’s background, Maie’s influences, and Koigu’s day-to-day workings.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books (January 28, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933027061
• ISBN-13: 978-1933027067
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 10.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #607,940 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

70 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars retrospective collection, January 22, 2007

By 

M. Poller (Israel) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knits from a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Handpainted Yarns (Hardcover)

Koigu yarns and Maie Landra are by now famous words so I've been waiting for this book for maybe half a year ever since it was announced. All the yarns in the book are her fingering wt yarns called KPPM. Many of her patterns which I bought separately are included and some have been corrected. Other patterns are not included plus several are new to me. There are no patterns for Kersti and her other yarns. The designs are primarily done in the modular style using many different yarns in each piece. Many of the pieces are oversized which are no longer in fashion.
Designs included are: Charlotte's web shawl, jazz cardigan, knit yarn-over scarf, spirit skirt and sweater, basic squares scarf, toreador jacket, midnight rapture skirt, top and wrap (formerly alligator wrap), patchwork pants and vest, keepsake shawl, floppy jacket, magique cloak, robe-diamond dress, butterfly poncho, joker tunic, oriental jacket(changes made), mosaic jacket, carousel sweater, play blocks vest, jigsaw vest, and log cabin vest. I would have liked a glossier paper for the pictures. Binding and print are fine.
I'm happy with the book and don't feel cheated because before I bought it I was aware that some of the patterns I own would be included.
But my favorite Koigu patterns are not in the book! I've moved away from oversize and modular. Good value for the price. The yarns are gorgeous and very expensive with nothing else approaching it so no substitutions. Not an essential purchase but lovely to enjoy looking at even if you never knit one of them.

46 of 48 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Big Disappointment, March 18, 2007

By 

Knitting fool (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knits from a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Handpainted Yarns (Hardcover)

I was disappointed that on some items the photography doesn't show the color(s) of the item. All the yarns listed in the patterns are identified by numbers so there isn't any way to tell what color family they refer to. There is no description, nor pictures, of the yarns in the back of the book to help out with the deciphering. One shawl looks golden because it was photographed from below against the sun. I saw that shawl at a yarn store and they said they used the colors listed in the pattern and the colors were nothing close to the ones in the picture (and they were appalling). There are some innovative designs in the book, but I can't imagine anyone wearing them (do you wear knitted form-fit multi-colored slacks?).
I don't think this book shows off Koigu yarns very well. The yarns are actually quite lovely. If it weren't for the Oriental Jacket I would have returned the book to Amazon.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mystical Koigu, February 18, 2007

By 

babybmr (California) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Knits from a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Handpainted Yarns (Hardcover)

"Knits From a Painter's Palette: Modular Masterpieces in Hand Painted Yarn" is what I expected from the title of the book, pictures I had seen of it and the reviews I read. I am not one bit sorry I bought it. But I wish it was so much more than it is. Having knit with Painter's Palette, I can attest that the yarn is close to magical, a magic the book does not get across at all.

Charlotte's Web, for example, why would anybody photograph this beauty with the light behind it, focusing on the pattern which is not what the shawl is about at all? I suggest that anyone who wants to understand Charlotte's Web in Painter's Palette google it to see what it really looks like.

Probably the photos of the Butterfly Poncho best convey the beauty of the yarn, but in general, neither the photography nor the modular knitted items do Painter's Palette justice. I realize Maie Landra is an artist and expert knitter, but modular knitting is not new and the results actually appear more restricted than innovative so it's puzzling that she would find it particularly interesting.

Koigu is wonderful, I am grateful to Landra for it, I would never not have bought this book, but can't we have a second one with a few more garments ordinary knitters like me could dream about making or maybe even actually make? And please, please, different art directors, photographers, etc.--in fact, how about a different publisher altogether as this one clearly wasn't up to the job.