Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

"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.

The Koigu wool designs in this book are extraordinary. The komono coat went on my "wish I could afford to make it" list. It requires about 35 skeins of yarn and at the retail yarn price it would cost over $400 to make. Other patterns require much less yarn and the patterns are probably for the advanced beginner to intermediate knitter. I loaned the book to a friend and she keeps it on her desk to show that coat to everyone. If I could only have one pattern book, this wouldn't be it, but the patterns are gorgeous--and maybe next year I'll be able to make that coat.

For the past ten years, knitters have delighted in knitting with the yarns produced by the Canadian company, Koigu Wool Designs. Founder and designer Maie Landra is an artist who found her perfect medium--each skein is a miniature work of art. Every batch of Landra's beautiful yarns produces slightly different results due to the hand-painting process, meaning no projects will ever be identical. She believes that "the perfect dyelot must be alive with highlights and depth, not dead and lifeless," and to date has created more than 300 colorways. The designs in Knits from a Painter's Palette: modular masterpieces in handpainted yarn celebrate the beauty of Koigu Painter's Palette Premium Merino, known as KPPPM.

Landra is known for her use of modular or domino knitting and the majority of the patterns in Knits from a Painter's Palette utilize this technique. This collection contains many favorites from the past ten years, including the famous Charlotte's Web Shawl and Landra's first design, the Oriental Jacket. Beginners will find projects such as Basic Squares Scarf, to assist in learning modular knitting techniques, and the Knit Yarn-Over Scarf. Experienced knitters may be inspired by the Magique Cloak, or the Spirit Skirt, which raised quite a stir when originally published in the Fall 2005 Vogue Knitting magazine.

While the majority of the patterns included are oversized, some pieces are quite form-fitting such as the Groovy Dress, Jazz Cardigan or the Patchwork Pants. Several patterns are also provided in children's sizing.

Koigu designs are very colorful and require a certain panache to carry off for everyday wear. At $13/skein, the larger projects requiring upwards of 40 skeins must be viewed as investment pieces, ones which are saved up for or purchased a few skeins at a time.

Armchair Interview says: Knits from a Painter's Palette is sure to please Koigu fanatics and neophytes alike.

These patterns are breathtaking - this will motivate me to learn short rows. I don't know that it will motivate me to buy enough of the expensive but beutiful koigu yarn to make these designs - but I can see how I will be able to substitute for most of the garments - interspersing a few skiens of their equisite yarns. There are several skirst - which I love. I am a skirt girl - and I love to see skirt designs in knitting books -there is also a coat I am dying to make - and I'm thinking it could be a start and stop sort of project to just alwasy leave on the needles. I highly recommend this book. Once I feel my skills have advanced enough I would make almost everything in this book. That is rare for a knitting book

I love Koigu KPPPM. I have made the Charlotte's Web Shawl a number of times and each time I love the enjoyment of the project. I must admit there are a few patterns that I wouldn't dare to make but there are more patterns that I would love to do. The only problem is that KPPPM is not cheap but it is oh so beautiful.

Koigu yarn is beautiful and this book is filled with beautiful photos of different projects made from this yarn. Unfortunately, most of the patterns are for modular knitting which is a lengthy and often difficult way to knit. There are other knitting techniques that can capture a similar effect. (I took a two week course on modular knitting in Ireland and decided that it just is not worth the time and effort for the outcome). However, if you're a modular knit lover, this is the book for you.

The patterns I would try in this book are the non-modular ones:

Wrap
Keepsake Shawl

There is one other non-modular pattern called 'Floppy Jacket' which is just as the name suggests so it did not appeal to me. The Wrap and Keepsake Shawl are beautiful. If I were to knit the Wrap, I'd use the pattern there but make it shorter (to be used as a shawl or scarf), or I'd widen it and make it shorter (for a lovely shawl). Why it is 80" long is a mystery to me. If I wrapped myself up in something 80" I'd look like a mummy.

If you like to look at beautiful knitting books, buy this. If you're looking for practical patterns to knit, I'd go elsewhere unless you fall in love with the shawl or wrap.

This is definitely NOT for the person who likes plain and simple traditional sweaters.

Knits from a Painters Palette is a breathtakingly beautiful book, one that I often just look through when I need inspiration. The designs range from unusual wearables to runway wearable art, and from scarves and sweaters to long shawls and elegant long skirts. Maie Landra's design sense and her beautiful yarns are a delight for the eyes. The projects are labor-intensive small-needle works of art.

I'll admit that I'm a huge fan of Maie Landra and Koigu yarn. For those who haven't heard of it, Koigu is a hand-painted merino yarn, fingering-weight or sock weight made by the author's company in Canada. The designs in this book make use of the modular knitting technique primarily and use LOTS of different colors, knitted mostly on small needles (size 3-5). One could knit any of the designs with similar-weight yarn successfully, although the resulting garments would look considerably different in terms of color palette. Some of the garments are tailored-looking, others are loose and flowing. And some are amazing-but-who-would-wear-that kind of designs.

There are several patterns included that had previously been published under separate cover as patterns/kits,(Charlotte's web shawl, Toreador Jacket, and Oriental Jacket to name a few) but most of the book consists of new designs, including some adorable yet sophisticated sweaters for children. Included is a useful chapter on how to do modular knitting that is well-illustrated and clear. I've knitted two of the designs and encountered no problems with the instructions.

The only minuses to the book are that they sometimes picture the garments NOT on a body (I always want to see how it hangs on a person, not a hanger), and there are few close-up pictures of either the designs or details on them (which would have been helpful). Very much like glamourous fashion magazines, which makes it a pretty read, but for knitters who want to see the details it's a little frustrating.

Overall, though I love this book and would recommend it to those who love colorful and often challenging-to-knit garments that are worth every minute of time it takes to knit them.

Even if I never attempt to knit any of the works of art from this book, just looking at the beautiful designs is inspiring. Everyone that sees the cover is immediately drawn to the contents.