Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders [Hardcover]

Nicky Epstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 28, 2004

Compiled by an acclaimed knitwear designer and teacher, this collection of 350 knitted edgings, borders, and trims runs the gamut of styles and offers something for all tastes. A wealth of individual project ideas are featured for ribbed edges, ruffles, lace, fringes, flora, and garters. Color photographs accompany each of the designs, which rely upon readily available yarns and which come complete with line-by-line stitching instructions. Decorate cuffs, finish hems, and customize your own unique sweater. Develop distinctive styles and patterns using ideas such as the feather lace ruffle, bel epoque, garter stitch weave, sea scallop edge, sugar drop and much more.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

With so many general knitting and pattern books recently available, it's no surprise that the ever-enlarging market would expand to include more specialized guides. But what may be surprising is the fact that a book on a specialty topic like edgings could turn out to be as useful and lush as this one. Knitwear designer Epstein offers a reference book with instructions for 350 different edgings, everything from ruffles to laces and fringes to floras. The instructions are easy to follow, but it is the amazingly crisp photographs of the different edgings executed in colorful yarns and set against pure white backgrounds that will get knitters' hearts pounding. This book is so inviting and so easy to use (simple triangle symbols explain from which direction the patterns are knit) that knitters may find themselves edging projects already in progress. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review

“What may be surprising is the fact that a book on a specialty topic like edgings could turn out to be so useful and lush as this one. This book is so inviting and so easy to use.”—Booklist. 

 “[This] embraces a love for detail. You'll turn to these pages time and time again.”—Vogue Knitting.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Sixth&Spring Books; First Edition edition (March 28, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1931543402
• ISBN-13: 978-1931543408
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 11.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,355 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicky Epstein is one of today's most prolific and versatile knitwear designers, authors and teachers. She has gained worldwide recognition for her artistic, distinctive and innovative work, whimsical sense of style and informative workshops. Her designs continue to be featured in many knitting magazines and publications, on television, and in museums.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

117 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fraught with Mistakes!, April 3, 2005

By 

S. Freeman "Frustrated Knitted" (New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders (Hardcover)

While the designs and photographs in this book are absolutely beautiful, I don't know if any of the reviewers actually tried knitting anything. The book is filled with mistakes and typos! I tried to contact the publisher, but there is no listing in New York for Sixth & Spring Publishing. I finally found a phone number in a knitting magazine. They were not very pleasant, but did tell me to contact "[e-mail]" to get the corrections. The book does have a disclaimer about mistakes, but they should have tried knitting from their own instructions before publishing this expensive book!

64 of 65 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars HELP! I want to use this book!, March 10, 2005

By 

Sharon "[e-mail]" (Stamford, CT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders (Hardcover)

How frustrating! I really wanted this beautiful book and finally got it. Poured over it for weeks and then I got the time to concentrate and actually try out the patterns. Try as I might, I COULD NOT EXECUTE THE PATTERNS! I am a grandmother who has been knitting since I was a kid, armed with my "Handook of Knitting" and ready to understand abbreviations, etc. YET.... I found that the amount of cast-ons at the start of the edgings I tried did not match up with the directions on the first rows. For instance, if it said "Cast on 9" - when I went to do the first pattern row, the instructions always went past those 9 stitches and I could not complete that first row.
I am utterly frustrated and crying out for help. Someone PLEASE HELP!

78 of 81 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars License to Creative Flights of Fancy, May 18, 2004

By 

Kristin E. Piderit "teacher, reader, blogger,... (Pleasanton, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Knitting on the Edge: Ribs, Ruffles, Lace, Fringes, Floral, Points & Picots: The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders (Hardcover)

What a cool book! There are three pullover patterns, two scarves, a purse and a cardigan, but the real stars are all the different stitch patterns for edgings. These are organized in chapters by type, and range from ribs, ruffles, lace and fringes to flora, points and picots. Each chapter's sample swatches are knit in a different color theme and are shown on the same two-page spread as the stitch instructions. The swatches range from the simple to the very sophisticated, the colors are lush and tempting, and the instructions look straightforward and clear. The number of alternatives offered is dizzying! The reader can peruse 102 different rib swatches, for example.

Now I know why I have not been able to start my next bag yet -- I was waiting for the inspiration of this kind of a collection! I'm sure I'll be able to pick out one of the cabled fringe edgings soon and cast on for a new project. How could I not, with so many tempting images before me?

My only gripe -- there's no index, so if you remember that you wanted to use the saxon braid and you didn't write down the page number, you have to scan through a whole chapter to find it. This is a minor concern, but given that some chapters are upwards of 20 pages long, I thought I'd mention it. The entire book is just under 170 pages.

This is probably the perfect companion to Ann Budd's Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns.