Customer Reviews

Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves: Dazzling Designs to Knit

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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!

This book is a re-hash and filled with unrealistic projects. The felting projects are not for me since I have a front loader and it's not easy to control the process. If you want to make a scarf get out a stitch pattern book and have at it.

I received this book and was very excited by what I was going to find inside. I love the scarves and love to felt! That said I am disappointed mainly because I have found two major mistakes already in two different patterns which are key to knit that project. Does anyone have suggestions on who I should contact to get this known? I do love the book and the patterns and will make quite a few projects out of this book but again if it is going to be filled with mistakes what is the use..

I am a fan of Nicky Epstein - I have a lot of her books and enjoy them for their creativity, inspiration and uniqueness. However, this is the first of her books in which there was not a single pattern that I want to make. Such a disappointment. I hope this is just a 'blip' and she goes on to write many more books to the standard that we have come to expect and love.

I don't see how anyone can give this book less than 5 stars. It is great. I just got it and I can't stop thumbing thru. I allready have some great new ideas because of it. So fun! Especially the scarf on the front. The patterns are not all advanced and are really nice. They would make such beautiful gifts. I can't wait to knit one of the fantastic fashionable ideas. Thanks for something different and full of updated styles Nicky! I have seen some similar styles in Macy's and Nordstrom for sale at a high price. It's a nice change from the same old boring scarves.

This is a really nice book! It was relatively easy to read the patterns, even for a beginner like me. Some of the scarves were quite atrocious, but at least there's something in there for every taste. My favorite is a lovely ruched scarf called Cloud Ten. It was the only scarf in the book I felt compelled to make.
I'll definitely check out Nicky's other books, too.

How could you not love this book..Great, easy to follow instructions to make wonderful and unusual scarves..They all have that unusual flair. Enjoy.

I bought Signature Scarves as a gift for a friend who is an avid needlework artist. She loved it. She said it was easy to understand and gave her many ideas for interesting knitted scarf projects. She said the diagrams and stitch illustrations were great! I was especially happy with the fast delivery. She received it in time for Christmas.