Customer Reviews

Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens (Search Press Classics)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Lovely possibilities! WARNING ! Must LOVE to knit with tiny needles and finger weight yarn!

I love this book. I have already made most of the little animals, and look forward to making my first gardens this week. The animals were greeted with delight when given to children at Christmas. I love to knit, but also enjoy creating all kinds of fantasy worlds. This inspirational book will be a companion to my creative spirit. It is full of great ideas and practical help.

I bought this after seeing it on Amazon, and love it. It has instructions for a lap rug, a bedspread, and a pillow (which I'm making), as well as a friary garden and cottage garden, complete with buildings, veggies and other plants, small animals, and people. Whimsical and very entertaining.

I LOVE this book, more for the inspiration than the instructions. Jan M. works very much like I do- fly by the seat of your pants! If your looking for a step by step type of book- this isn't really going to hold your hand through the steps. If you like to be creative (i.e. you never follow a pattern step by step anyway) this book is FANTASTIC! I would say its worth getting either way.

This book is more about a way of thinking creatively about knitting, more than a series of specific projects. I'm finding it very entertaining and inspiring, and am glad I bought it.

Jan's creative knitting needles have reproduced animals, people and various gardens with many kinds of yarns. The book starts off with helpful hints such as how much yarn is required, various colors and sizes, gluing and knitting in small units. Next she explains how to plan your garden. Jan gives graphs, illustrations and dimensions on how to plan the garden of your choice.

Building up your garden on page 53, instructs us on how to create garden walls, fences, greenhouses and other garden extras. You will see exact details on measurements, stitching together and graphs to recreate 3D buildings.

On page 77, Jan teaches how to make tree, bushes and hedges. How to knit cabbage, carrots, onions, and rhubarb are just some of the vegetables she has included.

My favorite part of the book is populating your garden. Here, she gives instructions on creating, women, men, children, animals and birds. Although I am not a true knitter, I must say, this book was well worth the price just to knit small people. I confess, you will not see a garden in my home, you will see small figures on my garden hat which was recreated from Jan's knitting book.

Knitting know-how concludes the book. Basic knitting stitches, abbreviations and embroidery stitches are explained in full detail.

If you enjoy knitting small items with #2 knitting needles, this book is a must have for your library.

Wonderful little book with different horticultural ideas from bedspreads and cushions to actual little gardens laid out on a knitted base. I LOVE the friary garden with the monks tending the beehives and vegetable patch. You could very much use your own artistic flair to create your garden as instructions are given for all the individual features- fences, spades, topiary trees, greenhouse...everything you could wish for. A knitter's dream come true

I am so pleased to own a copy of Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens. I love to knit and have been knitting regularly for my grandchildren, other family members and friends for about a year now. I have found that I have developed a particular interest in wanting to knit toy animals and anything in miniature size since I love and own some miniature pieces of ordinary household items that sit on shelves in my kitchen. Jan Messent's Knitted Garden Jan Messent's Knitted Gardens (Search Press Classics) is the perfect fit for anyone who shares a love for knitting toys and anything in miniature size because this book is full of wonderful projects that you can do alone for your personal use, or, as one of the book's reviews suggested, as a group effort by a knitting group of friends that can be raffled off as a prize for a school or community fundraiser. Jan Messent has authored other Knitting and Needle Crafts series of books published through Search Press Classics. I will most likely purchase some of her other books and probably purchase them through Amazon.com, as their service was so good and my book arrived on a timely basis.