Customer Reviews

Knitting Nature: 39 Designs Inspired by Patterns in Nature

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

This is a stunning book. Beautiful designs inspired by nature. Thank you to Norah Gaughan for bringing us such a great pattern book. Similar to Teva Durham's "Loop-d-loop," this book pushes the boundaries of design to the next level. However, unlike Ms. Durham's designs, which are more cutting edge and sometimes over the top, Ms. Gaughan has contained her beautiful designs within garments and pieces that are classical in shape and styling and ultimately wearable by people of various shapes and sizes. Some of the garments mimic natural objects, such as the cowl sweater that has a beautiful fluted sleeve mimicking the shape of a snail's shell. Other designs are basically simple sweaters decorated with beautiful and innovative design elements.

I was afraid this book may be a shill for Berroco Yarns (Ms. Gaughan is the design director for the company). However, the designs incorporate yarns from different companies to stunning results. The techniques may be too difficult for a novice knitter; however, the instructions are so clear that anybody, including a novice, can knit projects from this book. Ms. Gaughan used a lot of textured knit stitches, such as cables, in her designs; thus, her designs remind me a lot of Elisabeth Lavold's or Cornelia Tuttle-Hamilton's.

Get this book; the photography is beautiful and the stylings are minimalist but eye-catching. I can't wait to start knitting the mind-boggling star fish shawl. Thank you again to Ms. Gaughan for bringing us knitters this wonderful book.

The garments are beautiful. I am eager to start on several. However, a close friend knit one garment and found tons of errors. Since then errors in this book are described all over the web, but no way to get corrections from publisher. Consider this before purchasing.

My initial read of the book wowed me. I've long combined my own love of math with a passion for knitting so I felt instantly at home with Norah's approach. The book has inspired me to incorporate some of the concepts into my own designs. However, I don't recommend attempting to knit directly from the patterns. They contain so many errors that it's clear no one tested the patterns before publication. This is very disappointing for such an expensive and beautifully designed book.

I'm a bit of a science geek and a hippy, so this book is well suited to my tastes. It has lots of unique designs based on nature's patterns, with interesting construction methods. Fans of textured knits will be happy, but there's very few colourwork patterns.

Drawbacks are a) the lists of errata I've seen online, so check your patterns carefully before you start on them, and b) the photography. The photos themselves are truly beautiful, with stunning scenery, but many don't show the garments' necklines or sides, and it's difficult to tell how they were constructed. It often looked as though the models were too small for the clothes! Given the size of models these days, I'm not really surprised, but it doesn't really show how flattering they are. A quick search online shows pictures of what people have made from the book, and they often look more attractive when shown on a 'real' person.

Because of this, I wouldn't recommend the book to beginner knitters who aren't sure of how to choose a good size. However, intermediate or adventurous knitters looking for something different from the usual sweaters and shawls should definitely check this out.

This book compels me to write my first review because it is so good. While I'm pleased with the fact that knitting has lately becoming a hobby with mass appeal, however, the more recent knitting books has been focusing on easy-to-do projects that requires little time, skills, or reflection from the knitters. It has been a while since I've seen a knitting book with originality and beauty.

I rarely buy pattern books as I prefer to knit my own designs most of the time, but this book is so unusual and intelligently thought out that there are 7 designs in there I want to make. Everything is not only unique and unexpected but also WEARABLE, which we all know are two things that don't offen mesh well in knitwear design. I was really inspired by the designs and pleasantly surprised by how approachable they are.

This is a wonderful book, I don't know any knitter who wouldn't find something to make from it!

I'll be short and sweet, this is one of the best knitting books I have purchased in a long time, and I own a lot of knitting books. I plan to actually knit some of these designs, not just use them as inspiration, but to learn. All the designs are beautiful, and wearable. Some I will have to fiddle with for tummy cover but a lace panel insertion should work.

If you are a fan of Loop de Loop ( I am ) by Teva Durham, this book is a must.

Beautiful photos, innovative designs, and clear instructions.

I have been a fan of Norah Gaughan for some time and have ofter marveled at her patterns in the various knitting magazines. So when I saw she had written a book, I did something I rarely do. I ordered it sight unseen, hoping it would be interesting and I might be inspired to try something new. Well I wasn't just inspired to knit but to actually go out, look around and marvel at nature.

When I opened it for the first time, the book literally took my breath away. The designs are stunning and each design is so beautiful photographed, I kept paging through it again and again. "Knitting Nature" delivers page after page of beautiful designs that will make your fingers tingle to cast on. The look and feel of the book is first rate. Turns out Norah, in addition to being a talented knitter, is a math wiz and in "Knitting Nature" she takes you through her design journey using shapes and theories taken from Nature. The commentary of her design process is fancinating to read. I can't wait for the book tour because I would love to learn more about her approach to design.

The test of any knitting book is the quality of the instructions. The designs in "Knitting Nature" seemed a little daunting at first but as I read through the pattern instructions, I began to feel a little more confident because the instruction are clear, concise and easy to read. I can't wait to try my first project. I should mention that some of the recommended yarns are on the pricey side. For those of you who are looking for more than just another simple pattern book - who want to be inspired; this is the book to buy.

Finally a book for those who know how to knit and would like a little more challenge. These have pleanty of challenge and a lot of beautiful patterns. Most, if not all wearable. Only 1 with multiple color work the rest are stitch texture. Not an odd ball book, these take planning and a trip to your yarn store to get the right materials.

Although there is some criticism that this is a book of 'nature knock-offs,' I was impressed by the inspiration the author found in shapes that nature prefers. Her explanations of designs in nature are interesting and fun to read and the way she incorporates them into her designs turn out unique without being unwearable.

Not only will I be knitting a great number of the patterns, I found inspiration for adding some of the techniques to standard patterns I use to jazz them up a bit.

As a knitter in a scientific family, this book is too fun not to have, but it is also the most useful book of patterns I've seen. Usually a book has 2 or 3 things I love it in, but this one is just full of them!