Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves: Dazzling Designs to Knit [Hardcover]

Nicky Epstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2008

Nicky Epstein’s Signature Scarves delivers what knitting—and Nicky’s—fans have been craving: her hallmark embellished style applied to the simple scarf. Inside there are an array of patterns to delight and inspire: a lovely tweedy wrap with appliquéd leaves; a scarf comprised of interlocking bright circles; a deceptively cute piece sporting rows of tiny skulls. Felters will especially love working on the scarf made of interwoven cut felted strips, as well as the one that’s knit-then-felted and adorned with autumn roses. The 35 beautifully laid-out and photographed designs fully display Nicky’s spectacular range and boundless creativity. Ideal as gifts and short-term projects, scarves never lose their appeal—and when they feature Nicky’s special touch, they’re irresistible showstoppers that no knitter will want to miss!

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

An author obtaining his or her own publishing house imprint is a significant milestone. Yet, considering the art and variety of works produced by this stitcher extraordinaire, Nicky Epstein Books could be a long overdue reward for bookseller, followers, author, and publisher. In this latest contribution to knitting art, Epstein does not disappoint. The type font is large; color photographs, plentiful; directions (and sidebars and charts/graphs/templates) easy to follow. What will immediately grab attention are the more than 30 scarf patterns, each labeled as to difficulty; and each is unexpectedly rich and dramatic in at least one dimension— color, texture, and pattern. A Christmas tree garland in 3D maroon yarn appears with leaves felted and stitched together as an homage-to-autumn wrap; a black-and-white houndstooth-check scarf is spattered with ruby-red tea roses, and even a salute to HBO’s Sopranos series is included: a bada-bing pompomlike neck warmer. Coats and sweaters will never look the same. --Barbara Jacobs

Product Details

• Hardcover: 160 pages
• Publisher: Nicky Epstein Books (July 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933027347
• ISBN-13: 978-1933027340
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 7.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #637,333 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

50 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed, June 6, 2008

By 

Rina A. Stein "sewkrazy" (Wooster, OH) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves: Dazzling Designs to Knit (Hardcover)

I have all of Nick Epstein's books and I love her sense of design and use of color. This book had a lot of patterns found in earlier works and magazines. In my opinion, I found many of the styles to be just plain ugly. Many of the designs looked big and clunky on the models and I know I won't make them. I thought the scarf knitted in mohair and felted with hazel nuts the prettiest, but it was in her newest felting book. So for me, this book was a disappointment. That said, Nicky is a wonderful and creative designer and I will definitely be looking forward to her next project.

24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Agree with the previous reviewers, June 26, 2008

By 

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

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves: Dazzling Designs to Knit (Hardcover)

The copyright page of this book is titled: Nicky Epstein books. There are 22 people or firms listed below that. Which means that for me Nicky Epstein is now a sort of factory putting out lots of books. I can't felt as I have a toploader machine. I noticed some of the scarves have appeared in other publications. The book is quite nicely packaged and I do believe there are enough interesting scarves for me to enjoy my investment in this latest book. I like her fairisle scarf but would want to change the colors. It's an easy fairisle done back and forth. Patchwork floral was inspired by one of her afghans and is nice with flowers sewn on top of patchwork squares. Tudor lace uses a yarn with beads enbedded which I couldn't see in the photo but the scarf looks very nice and lacey. Tea rose is a classic houndstooth pattern with flowers sewn on top. Bullets is for a man and looks fine. Cabled scarf with unraveled fringe looks quite pretty and fun to make but the yarn called for is chunky. Royal crowns has cables going up the sides and a nice crown pattern at the two ends with a simple knit stitch pattern for the remainder. Celtic glory uses Koigu KPPM to make medallions which are joined and perhaps one could extend this into a shawl and also use a cheaper fingering weight or sock yarn. Chakra uses yarn from Diakeito which I love but calls for a zipper up the center which strikes me as quite strange. Hot wheels comes from an old afghan of the author's grandmother and is quite interesting. Shawl collar cable point was originally a Vogue cardigan made into a scarf. The model wearing it shows it almost as a vest without the back. There's also a fastener in the front and the edge near her face is turned back into a sort of shawl collar and the ends are pointed. These are the scarves I find attractive.
There are lots of helpful features such as information on how to join pieces, how to wear the scarves and also many charts for the patterns. The binding, print and photos are all very nicely done. There is no number which shows the type of yarn used such as fingering or whatever so one has to rely on the gauge given for that. Many of the yarns are expensive so it would have been helpful in order to subsitute yarns. But for scarves this isn't all that important anyway.But after looking through this book, I begin to understand that I could go through my wips and make them into scarves using some of the ideas shown here. There are some really nice scarf books out there so look at this before buying.

28 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Not For Me!, June 8, 2008

By 

Jaguar (Boaz, AL U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves: Dazzling Designs to Knit (Hardcover)

I have long been a big fan of Nicky Epsteins, but this book was just not for me! If you enjoy felting and like bulkier scarves you will probably enjoy this book immensely, because this is basically the kind of book it is. However, I am not a fan of felting (partially because when I grew up, felt was a cheap cardboard-like fabric that you purchased to make costumes, etc) Also, as an advanced knitter, I take great pride in what I knit and don't want my stitchwork to be obliterated by being "matted together". Of course, everyone has the right to their own taste. I just wanted to let it be known that this is a felting book for the most part. Most of the scarves that are not felted, while nice, have
appeared in other publications.
Of all the Nicky Epstein books, this is the only one that I haven't been pleased with. (Note: I didn't purchase the "Never Felt Better" book, for obvious reasons).
I still remain a fan of Nicky Epstein's books!