Customer Reviews

Northern Knits

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

 

 

This is a book of knitting patterns (by well-known knitting author Lucinda Guy). It is not a book about knitting history or the ethnic knitting designs and traditions of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles.

The cover photo ("Pia Laceweight Pullover") is a good example of the kind of patterns included. The patterns are for "simplified" Scandinavian, Icelandic, and Norwegian garments, in that the designer uses traditional ethnic motifs, designs, and techniques, but makes the garments themselves a little bit easier and faster to knit by choosing less-fine yarns and by limiting the amount of patterning on each garment.

For example, the "Unnur Icelandic Pullover", which uses the classic Icelandic rose motif around the yoke and above the ribbing, looks traditional but lacks fine patterning detail--because the yarn is Lopi and the gauge is 14 stitches and 18 rows to 4 inches.

As another example, the "Effie Fair Isle Pullover" has patterning detail, because the sweater is knit at 30 stitches and 34 rows to 4 inches--but the traditional shifting of background colors beneath the horizontal Fair Isle motifs is kept to a minimum, meaning fewer ends to weave in but a final fabric that is less interesting.

As a third example, the "Crowning Glory Cobweb Shawl", which is knit with cobweb lace yarn at a daunting gauge of 42 stitches and 50 rows to 4 inches, uses three somewhat challenging Shetland lace patterns--but arranges them in horizontal sections on a stole, so that the project is far simpler to knit than a traditional Shetland lace wrap or shawl that combines several lace patterns.

However, there is nothing wrong with a book of "simplified" patterns, if the garments produced by the patterns are attractive and wearable! In fact, there are several patterns that I like quite well, and that justified my purchase (at a brick-and-mortar bookstore) of the book:

(1) "Moth", a pattern for a short-sleeved top knit that uses Jamieson & Smith's shetland wool in dark brown, dark gray, medium gray, light gray, and cream, and produces an intriguing "shaded squares" fabric with a sort of optical effect. (2) "Hulda", a pattern for a pullover with bold but feathered stripes that start wide at the garment hem and narrow until they end just below the armhole. (3) "Ennid", a pattern for a triangular garter-stitch shawl with a simple but interesting little textured edging, done in laceweight yarn and perfect for mindless television knitting. (4) "Annemor", a pullover using a classic Norwegian star or snowflake pattern across the chest, and using traditional "lice" dots on the sweater body. (5) "Iliv", a pattern for elaborately patterned socks using dancing figures, eight-leaf roses, lice stitch, a decorative cuff, and a star toe. (6) "Ola", a pattern for a white placket pullover with minimalist embroidered cross-stitch patterning around the placket and at the tops of the sleeves.

In all, this is a very nice book, which should serve as a great introduction to knitting Scandinavian, Icelandic, and Shetland garments, and which may inspire some knitters to tackle more complicated, more traditional "northern knitting" garments in the future. The book is published by Interweave Press, which means that it has beautiful photos, professional layouts, charts, and well-written patterns. Also, should the patterns turn out to have errors, the publisher will undoubtedly publish corrections on its web site.

However, do take a minute to use Amazon's "Look Inside This Book" feature before you buy--just to make sure that you like at least some of the patterns well enough to want to knit them. Pattern photos are also available on the publisher's web site.

'Northern Knits' by Lucinda Guy is published by Interweave Press, the publisher of my favorite knitting magazine, Interweave Knits. Usually, a book put out by them is good and dependable. This is no exception.

The book is divided into four primary sections: Iceland, Shetland, Norway, and Sweden.

My favorite Iceland pattern is the Unnur Icelandic Pullover, a classic Icelandic design. I was somewhat disappointed that there were not more classic designs in this section.

Under the Shetland section, there are several beautiful designs. The Crowning Glory Cobweb Shawl is absolutely stunning. I found the Nell Shetland Cap adorable and so 'Shetland'.

The Norway designs were a modern take on classic patterns. I especially liked the Annemor Pullover which I intend to knit myself. I don't feel in a rush to knit any of the other Norway designs in this book.

The Swedish designs are, again, a modern take on classic designs. I love the Ola Placket Pullover. However, if I were to knit it, I would make it longer. The Pia Laceweight Pullover is lovely as well. The Marta embroidered bag is a gem. I think this may be the strongest section in the book.

MY only disappointment is that there are not enough patterns. I felt somewhat shortchanged. Some of the patterns were not really what I would have expected from the geographic area that they were supposed to come from. All in all, though, this is a nice book, one that is a positive addition to my library.

Northern Knits: Designs Inspired by the Knitting Traditions of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles by Lucinda Guy. The first thing I noticed about the book was that I wanted to make all of the patterns within it. The second thing I noticed was no steeks. Steeks are the traditional way to work Norweigen and Fair Isle knitting.

The knitter knits in the round to the neck and then cuts their knitting to make openings for the armholes and button bands. The fear of cutting your knitting is what keeps many knitters from attempting this type of knitting. The reason for working in the round right up to the neck is so the knitter always has the right side of their knitting facing them. By having the right side always facing the knitter it is easy to see the pattern of the two color work, which is nearly impossible to distinguish on the wrong side with the strands colors being carried along.

Ms. Guy's patterns are lovely and look like traditional Northern Country knits, but with the back and forth knitting from the arm holes up, may make it more appealing to those who have never tried stranded knitting. On the other hand, although there is no need to cut when you work back and forth, a whole other set of problems arise. The inability to see the pattern in one, but even more importantly, the ability to keep a steady tension is harder to do when you are stranding on a purl side. When working in the round and then switching to back and forth knitting your gauge may change dramatically, so be very careful.

If you are one of those knitters who would like to do multi-colored knitting, but have been afraid to because of the whole cutting thing this is your opportunity. If you aren't afraid to steek, this book will still work, but some patten modification is called for. Is that enough to make me wary of recommending this book, maybe. All I can say is to make sure you make a really, really careful gauge swatch and practice stranding across the purl side of your work before starting the sweaters in this book. I am not sure the beauty of the patterns is worth the risk of gauge problems that may arise, and these patterns are beautiful.

Disclosure: A review copy of the book was provided by the publisher

Northern Knits: Designs Inspired by the Knitting Traditions of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles
I recieved this pattern and information book today. It is one of the most informative and beautiful pattern books I've seen. If you love to knit I highly reccomend adding this one to your collection. The instructions are color coded,which I love. The illustrations and large photos are wonderful.I thought it was a great by at any of the prices listed. The patterns are up to date in fashion and I reviewed it with a friend who has High school and College age girls and she agreed that the girls would love the sweaters and many clothing patterns provided.

I know there are strong knitting traditions all over the world, all with their distinct trends and cultural inputs, but when I think about knitted sweaters, I admit that I think of northern Europe before any other region. Fair Isle. The Aran and Shetland islands. Scandinavia. Those are the places I look to first for inspiration and ideas.

Apparently I'm not the only one, because Lucinda Guy's new book does the exact same thing.

I'm loving this book because she takes the time to visit each of her favored regions to discuss trends and history, but lightly, easily. It's not serious (i.e. boring or hard to read) history, but more along the lines of a good folk story. The focus of the book, of course, are the patterns inspired by those long, cold winters.

They are lovely patterns, too. Socks, mittens, gloves, hats, and sweaters ... and even a shawl or two for good measure. I like these patterns. Each one is inspired by a specific region-Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Fair Isle, and so on. Some are straight-forward, classic patterns, some are more "inspired by" than "taken from" but I like almost all of them.

The techniques span the countries, too, most notably with the section of twined knitting patterns-that distinctly Swedish two-end knitting technique.

i looked forward to the release of this book as it's from Interweave & Lucinda Guy but how disappointing. the historical background sections contain nothing new on the knitting of these northern countries & the patterns are mostly a reworking of many hackneyed items to be found in nearly any any beginning to intermediate level knitting magazine. my impression was that Ms. Guy was more concerned with plugging the yarn companies associated with each area than truly increasing our enjoyment & appreciation of these magnificent cultures. if you're looking for patterns from these areas i suggest the Dale of Norway & Lopi Company patterns for authentic designs & Alice Starmore for the definitive works in fairisle & aran sweaters. don't waste your time & money on this book.

Folk traditions, classic design, beautiful yarn - what more could a knitter ask for? With a background introduction to the areas covered and a how to knit, we get into the 'meat' of the book - 19 pattens inspired by the traditional knitting of Iceland, Norway, Sweden and the lovely Shetland Isles. Without doubt, the best pattern for me is Effie - a true fair-isle and very handsome indeed. I would knit at least thirteen of these and thought the standard of design very high and suitable for many knitters and age groups. Personally I am not fond of knitting in the round. As always with American books, check your tension with your substitute yarn for the UK, there is one British supplier included. Fortunately the pattens I like best are from this British supplier, so no problem with yarn finding there. This review first appeared on Karen Platt's book review website.

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for people who are, like me, fascinated by Nordic knitting. The beautiful book offers gorgeous patterns for sweaters, socks, bags, and more. Lucinda Guy serves up both classic and updated designs. I'm really glad I bought this book; it is a worthy addition to my knitting library.

I too was disappointed with this book. I've always looked forward to Interweave Knit books but this must have been something they just threw together to make a deadline. There's nothing original in the book, nor is there anything you couldn't find in any of a dozen other books. I've seen every single pattern before, just in different colors. The cover pattern is the only thing in this book I'd waste my time on & I could have created this pattern on my own.

I only saw 2 patterns in the entire book that I would ever want to make, the Norwegian beanie hat, and the Icelandic yoke sweater. These patterns aren't too terribly original, but they are faithful to the traditional styles of these regions. Perhaps if you are lucky, you can order the J&S yarn in the same colors as those used in the samples and have the chance at getting something close in shades, unlike older patterns where the colors are no longer available. I don't know how anyone can produce a plethora of designs in the short amount of times you hear about with publisher deadlines, but some books do manage to produce an abundance of patterns that make it worth the investment. On this one I'm sitting on the fence since I have similar patterns in my collection. I give a 5 star rating to the two patterns I liked.