Romantic Style: Knits And Crochet to Wear or Display [Paperback]

Jennie Atkinson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 2006

Indulge your softer side with this glamorous collection inspired by the wistful style of the 1930s. Gorgeous clothing and accessories in delicate pastel shades will put the magic back into your needles and hooks.

• Choose from over 20 alluring designs, many embellished with beads, buttons, and lace

• Feature exquisite stitch patterns in luxurious wool, cotton, cashmere, and mohair yarns

• Find designs that range from an elegant dress and blouse to a cozy throw and pillow, plus "little extras" that include a quick choker, belt, bag, and shawl

Editorial Reviews

Review

The trend in knitting today is towards svelte, stylish, sexy hand-knit pieces. Even bulky winter sweaters are knit with shaping and sexy details. Another book in this arena is Romantic Style by Jennie Atkinson, a collection of over 20 patterns based on 1930s glamour. The majority of these patterns are knitting patterns, though there are a few crochet patterns (mostly for accessories) towards the back.

"Cotton Camisole" is a simple, easy-to-wear camisole with a shaped bust and spaghetti straps. "Beaded Cape" is really a capelet--simple in shape, falling just past the shoulders, and with a spray of beading on the hem. "Butterfly Dress" is the cover garment--a sheer, delicate lace slip dress. "Beaded Jacket" is a sleek, vintage shape speckled with beads. Seed stitch pattern accentuates the hem, collar, and cuffs, and a wide satin ribbon at the waist makes it feminine and flattering.

"Beaded Shrug" is a fluffy mohair lace design with 3/4-length sleeves that lead up into a delicate hood. The hood is edged with beads for a subtle hint of glamour. "Chevron Lace Top" looks like a 1930s blouse perfect for a day at the country club. Ribbed hem and cuffs give it shape, and a button neck that is not meant to be buttoned gives it a playful edge. "Bed Jacket" is too cozy to be relegated to the bedroom. It features a hugely oversized collar (goes well past the shoulders), a tie closure in front, and triangle edging. If that is not enough for you, try "Dressing Gown," the floor-length version with a nipped waist. "Diamond Throw" is elegant but a bit dull--seed stitch diamonds outlined by eyelet lace. The "Crochet Shawl" takes traditional granny squares but does it in a modern mix of silver-grey, grass green, charcoal, cream, and grape. "Lace Shawl" is a quick knit with medium-sized needles and a wide weave. --Knit Picks by Alyse Wax

About the Author

As a pattern designer for Vogue Knitting and Rowan Yarns, Jennie Atkinson has created collections for many notable customers, including Barneys New York. Jennie also works as a design consultant for Rowan Yarns.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Martingale & Co Inc (September 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564777154
• ISBN-13: 978-1564777157
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 8.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #283,178 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lovely, vintage-inspired projects, October 18, 2006

By 

Karen Porter "SweaterGoddess" (New Mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Romantic Style: Knits And Crochet to Wear or Display (Paperback)

Rowan fans will recognize from the cover, that, yes, this book does contain some repeat projects from past issues of Rowan. Not to worry - there are plenty of new projects in here as well, plenty to make owning the book worthwhile, in my opinion. All the styles are soft and feminine with a vintage mood. The three chapters, "Out and About," "Home Comforts," and "Little Extras" include a variety of blouses, sweaters, wraps, and accessories as well as a few home decor items. The garments are sized up to a 38-40" bust measurement. Atkinson offers some lovely and unique items, such as a lacy hooded shrug with a beaded edging and jewelry crocheted in metallic yarn with beads crocheted in. Many of the items are beautifully accented with knit-in beads, ribbons, buttons, lace edgings, and crocheted flowers.

This book is probably not intended for first-time knitters or crocheters, but many of the projects are simple enough for beginners, while others will be stimulating and interesting for the more experienced. This book does not include basic knit or crochet instructions, but does include more specialized directions for crochet and a section of motifs and edgings to practice on (also from a previous issue of Rowan), as well as a few tips for using beads, assembling projects, and yarn substitution.

I'm just itching to get started on the Lacy Bed Socks and the luxurious, full-length Dressing Gown.....

19 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Iffy, February 14, 2007

By 

Cikk "cikk" (Malta) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Romantic Style: Knits And Crochet to Wear or Display (Paperback)

Very pretty and very Rowan. I love their stuff. Well, sometimes they do play up the English eccentric thing a little too much, and their last mag was full of mostly unwearable stuff, but I digress. For shame, Rowan, and the publishers - why should I have to buy the book to find out that many of the patterns have been published before? There should be a warning. If you've bought rowan's magazines, then you have at least a quarter of these patterns. If you haven't, you're fine. That is, if you like impractical knitting. A lot of this is gorgeous but a little bit ridiculous. How many people are prepared to spend ages knitting gorgeous hanger covers with very fine yarn on skinny needles - when their work is going to be covered by clothes? Same with the bolster cover. Then there's a lovely dressing gown, which would be great for my home country but hopeless for centrally heated winters, as it's made in R's kid classic. ie wool and mohair. Would probably weigh a ton too.

Anyway, I have it, it's very pretty, and I like the section which gives a few crochet motifs, but that's about it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A beautiful book, but only worth it if there is something that you really want to knit, March 9, 2007

By 

C. Szeto "virtual doppelganger" (NYC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Romantic Style: Knits And Crochet to Wear or Display (Paperback)

In my case, I wanted the Butterfly dress pattern, and you can either buy this book or a copy of Rowan 37, and they cost about the same. True to Rowan style, the patterns are generally well written and made for a knitter who is buying the pattern(s) not looking for a knitting book with instructions. Although some patterns are appropriate for beginners, there aren't many first projects here, mostly because of the emphasis on "romantic" styles which translates to patterned stitches.

Some of the projects written here are obviously gorgeous, but highly impractical: namely the "dressing gown" made with size 8 needles and taking 18 balls of Rowan Kid Classic. However, there are some really nice patterns that are highly wearable, such as the Chevron pullover. Mostly, the book is true to giving you a good vocabulary of the kinds of garments which might be "Romantic" styles, and geared for the knitter who is looking to add some interest to their regular knitting repetoire. There are projects incorporating beads and also a good mini-primer on crocheted picot edging, something which you could add to any knitting project to given it a romantic feel.

It is a worthwhile book to have, like I said, if there is at least one or two projects you definitely want to make, as Rowan does not sell their patterns separately. Besides, as to the impractical - the title of book is subtitled: Knits and Crochet to Wear OR Display.