Customer Reviews

Runway Knits: 30 Fashion-Forward Designs

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Photography is stunning, most of the designs gorgeous, with a few looking dated to my taste.I was very exited about this book when I bought it, and immideatly started to knit the Seafoam top for my daughter.I am an expiriensed knitter, and I found author's instruction unclear and misleading -she tells you to slip the first stitch while working the edges of V-neck shaping. Then, when you are picking up stitches for the ruffle around the neck edge, you are to knit into front and back of the edge stitches. The total number of stitches to be picked up not given, and it would not be crucial if she would tell you that to achieve nessary ruffle fullness you need to pick up not from the slipped stitches(half number of rows worked), but from every row.I wasted an entire evening figuring this out. This is the first and last of Berta Karapetian designs I am going to knit.

Berta Karapetyan has written a fabulous book. It is not a book for the beginning knitter, especially considering there is little to no technique or how-to section. That being said, advanced knitters with a penchant for knitting beautiful garments should definitely try out this book. There is an excellent selection of shrugs and cardigans (and I'm not a shrug kind of girl) and some elegant, beautiful scarves, some with matching hats. The construction of the garments is elegant and innovative as well. The directions are well-written and she includes a yarn substitution guide for those with different yarn taste or a limited budget. I recommend this book for all knitters who want to create lovely garments.

written by Berta Karapetyan, She grew up in Moscow Russia and has been knitting since she was 12. Her family owns the Karabella yarn co. If you have ever knit with Karabella you know what wonderful yarn this is. All the designs in the book use Karabella yarns, maybe that's why they look so wonderful. Or maybe it's the great photography. Or maybe its the beautiful models. Whatever it is this is a very pretty book. One of thoes books that you just have to bring home with you so you can look at it over and over again.
The book has 30 designs ranging in skill level from fairly easy to more advanced. If you are a beginner you will need a reference book becuse there are no basic knitting tips in this book. which I love because I don't need that information and I'd rather they use the pages for more patterns. Each pattern has several pages of information. so, I'm guessing at this point that her instructions are thorough. I won't know for sure untill I try one, but at first glance they look good.
My favorites, the ones I will probably knit first are: The leaf Panelled sweater. ( pg 72)I LOVE this. It's a tank that has a leaf stitch running up the front and along the edges. Love it. I also really like the Cabled Cardigan ( pg 87) very pretty. Other favorites Seashell shrug pg 47, v-neck from page 82, silky turtleneck, the soldier sweater is unusual but I think I like it and the A line jacket is a maybe not loving the enourmous buttons.
Only complaint I have is that there are not alot of size variations. Most patterns have 3 so if you don't fit in thoes sizes you will need to do some alterations.

I eagerly awaited this books release, but was disapointed when I saw it. It's lovely and she is an expert designer, but I think she should have included more of her newer, current styles that are available on the Karabella Yarn website (her family's company). The projects are all really old-fashioned. They also look like they'd take a really long time to knit, and I like faster, shaplier knits. I know she's created a lot of patterns, so I hope her next book will be more to my taste.

I was looking for a good book to make something unique and think I found it! The title made me think that there might be some really odd patterns inside, but they all look like clothing I could wear everyday. The patterns inside include a caplet, several cardigans, shawl, 2 dresses, 2 tank tops, shrug, hat& scarf set, t-shirt, and several sweaters. I have not completed a project, but don't anticipate any problems since the instructions are clearly written out row by row.

What a fantastic grouping of high fashion knits, with skilled technical drafting. My style conscious twenty something daughter selected several garments for my "to do" list. Only a knowlegdable knitter could configure such items as the Cozy Moss Shrug. I trusted the designer's directions and was extremely pleased with the results. The shrug is very high end and with an incredible fit!

This book has some great patterns, the only reason I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 is it doesn't have some plus sizes. I am looking for patterns with bust in the 40's. There are a few patterns that have this, but a lot that don't. Otherwise great book.

This is the first book I have seen where pretty much all of the designs are fashionable and wearable, and not frumpy looking like a lot of knitting books. My only complaint is that, after having worked four patterns out of this book, it tends to make assumptions or be unneccesarily unclear in the directions. The some of the patterns run a little bit small, but unless you're an XL you should be okay. Nevertheless, I'm still giving this book five stars. My suggestion is just to read through the whole pattern and think it over before beginning to work.

I bought this book because a friend of mine brought it back to Australia from America and I loved it. My friend has knitted the A-line jacket with oversized buttons and I plan to do the same, hopefully with the same success! The designs are unusually chic, flattering and in many cases office-worthy. There are several that I could imagine wearing and others that I just enjoy looking at and appreciating their art. Definitely an outstanding collection from a super-talented designer.

I am impressed by the quality of these designs. Most are unusual and attractive. I'd make all of them, if I could find time. I completed the Trellis Shawl with sleeves. It's warm, cozy, and stylish. Had I been able to see the back (there was no back view in the book), I would probably have made it wider to fall further down my back. But that's a personal aesthetic.
My only real complaint so far is that the back views are included for only four of the designs. But that's fairly common in knitting books, unfortunately.