Customer Reviews

Nursery Knits: 25 Easy-Knit Designs for Clothes, Toys and Decorations

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

 

 

This book's patterns are seriously flawed. My attempt to follow the "outdoor snuggly" for a 0-3 month old baby resulted in a 32 inch waistline snuggly with legs that were too long and arms that were too short. In addition, the photos of the snuggly did not match the pattern's instructions. My cousin used the baby poncho pattern and had a myriad of similar problems. Do NOT buy this book!

I really like the designs in this book - just as good if not better than the previous Adorable Knits (which I am also a fan of). I've knitted the Baby Snuggly and it turned out great, so I don't know what went wrong for the other reviewer. I know some of the patterns do have corrections to them but they're available from Hamlyn, the UK publisher (email info-ho@hamlyn.co.uk).

I'm one of those knitters who will tackle any project--what's the worst that could happen, right? I've done just about everything, now, and I've made many a child's sweater. But the Boy's Own Jacket has some serious flaws. Just for starters:
* The instructions for placement of increases on the sleeves are unclear.
* The hood is the same size as the entire body of the jacket.
* The whole jacket is simply too small to be intended for a 24-month-old child, though my gauge is accurate.

All these problems, and yet no errata for this pattern. Bizarre!

I'm wondering if these books are using test knitters at all? I just can't figure out why the directions always seem to be so vague, and I hate that there are no schematics. Such a shame, since the patterns are adorable.

I bought this book after buying Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots and knitting several items from that book. From this one I have made the teddy, the cloud pillow and am about 70% of the way through the kaleidoscope blanket (I decided that knitting 49 squares was too much like hard work and so adapted the pattern to be knit all in one go on a circular needle- its going well but maybe the squares would have been easier!). My knitting friend has also made the dolly with fabulous results. With the exception of the cloud pillow I have substituted local yarns with no problems. the only problem I have had was with yarn quantities- The cloud pillow called for six balls of expensive Rowan yarn, which was more that enough for two pillows. I plan to knit the star and moon blanket and the kitty cat jumper next. This is a lovely book with plenty of fabulous patterns.

This book comes with many cute knit patterns, all of which I would consider making. (When buying books usually the case is 1 or 2 patterns worth a look, and the rest of a book turns out to be junk, as many of you know.)For once, I found all of the patterns adorable: there is a dolly, a teddy bear, blanket, hat, mittens, and so on. That being said - for as cute as the items seem to look, I have a few problems with this book.

1)This book, like many others, pushes specific types of yarn and doesn't give other suggestions. For every pattern it suggests either a brand called "Jaeger" or "Rowan". The author is British, and doesn't seem to consider anyone outside of England might buy this. Personally, I've never heard of Jaeger, and haven't ever seen a store near me carry Rowan. Could these be British yarn companies, or just ones I've never seen? No idea, but she could at least say what weight yarn was used so you could substitute your own. I don't know about you - but I can't afford her pricey suggestions such as cashmere, and the ones she used aren't available to me anyways. So, you are left to assume she used a sport weight and hope yours works out the same.

2)Again, this author forgets to consider outside of the UK a little. In the patterns there are first the metric measurements, and then the equal size is given in inches so they do help you out there. However, many of the patterns are made with UK size 3 mm needles. Now, if you look in the back of the book to see which UK size equals what US size, you will find a blank. This is because there is no US equivalent to UK 3mm needles, (UK 2 1/4mm = US 2 and UK 3 1/4mm = US 3). So, you are left to decide for yourself whether to use US size 2 or 3 needles and hope it works out.

3)Some minor things: in the back under the helpful abbreviations page there is an error. g-st should stand for garter stitch, not grams. g stands for grams, but it says both g and g-st stand for it. I presume it's a typo. Also, as cute as the scarf and matching hat are - for a toddler I think a scarf is still somewhat of a choking hazard. In addition, I found some of the ways things are explained in this book confusing.

4)There is some more guesswork in this book. I have tried out 2 patterns, the hat and also the booties, and have had problems with both. For the booties, it says work a stitch until it reaches a certain length, but neglects to specify which side of the work should be facing before you move onto the next instructions (something like "ending with a purl row/ or knit row" would be helpful).
For the hat, it tells you to increase several times throughout the pattern but doesn't tell you any specific way to do it (does it want a YO increase, a cast on, a M1 ? etc). There are several ways to increase and there aren't any notes in the pattern for any particular type so you are left to come up with whatever you think is best I guess. I haven't really given any of the rest of the patterns a good look at how they are worked out, but I wouldn't be surprised if there are similar problems with the other items.

Very cute patterns, but too much guesswork for me. If you are an advanced knitter, I'm sure it's easy to come up with whatever might work out a problem. But for beginners, this may give you a headache as it isn't specific at times.

I purchased this pattern book after falling in love with the Outdoor Snuggle and Luxury Lettered Coat Patterns. As I started knitting the Outdoor Snuggle I discovered there were flaws in the pattern. I located an errata on-line and found the updated instructions to be correct. I am now making the Starlight Blanket but the charted pattern has a dark blue background like the blanket and that makes it almost impossible to scan or enlarge the tiny squares of the pattern to count the stitches. I have spent hours counting out each tiny square and I am now making a hard copy for my files in case I would like to make the blanket for someone else. I did have success making the teddy bear. The instructions were easy to follow and it is a much loved cuddly toy. If you are interested in making an item from this book it is worth researching the pattern on [...] for reviews before you start. I did so before beginning the Starlight Blanket so I knew that I would have to work out the chart before I purchased the wool required. For each pattern I have substituted the wool and have had much success.

I really fell in love with this book. I am a young adult and my motherly instinct is kicking in. I absolutely loved the look of the baby snuggle. However, the book only came with the gauge for the smaller sized needles (which are used to create the edging on the hood and sleeves, I believe), so the main portion of the snuggle is turning out to be much too large (I calculated it out to be 36 inches!) I've only done a little more than half of the first side and I am getting so frustrated! My life would be so much easier if the gauge for both needle sizes were in the pattern instead of the gauge for the smaller needles only. This is the only pattern I really wanted to knit from the book because it is so unique to all the other baby patterns I've seen. I'm afraid that now I may have to rip out all of my work and start over with much smaller needles. I would love to know the previous reviewer's gauge as mine seems way too big for a newborn child. Maybe a 1-2 year old would fit it. I have no idea. [...]