Customer Reviews

More Sensational Knitted Socks

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Clean layout, great instructions and graphics, one-of-a kind sock techniques!
I own Senational Knit Socks and am now the proud owner of More Sensational Knit Socks. I teach sock knitting at a Local Yarn Store and am often asked what sock books I recommend. My answer in the past has been if you had to choose only one book, it would be Sensational Knit Socks. I now have another book to recommend as well. Both books have some similarities, but More Sensational....has more must-knit designs and is layed out slightly different. More Sensational goes into more detail on heels and toes and has the stitch dictionary in one place for ease of reference. Sensational Socks is a good book to start with and learn using the Basic Sock and More Sensational is a wonderful follow up book to expand and learn even more about the wonderful craft of sock knitting. Both books have great charts for sizing, amount of yarn needed, etc. I plan on gifting copies of More Sensaitonal Socks as I feel it is a 'must have' for any sock knitter. Thank you, Charlene, for giving such a great book to the knitting community. Leah - Nashville, TN

I got Sensational Knitted Socks and thought it was the last sock book I would ever need. Now comes More Sensational Knitted Socks to let me know how wrong I was. This inspirational companion book has more great designs, more great instructions and tips, and this one has an index! As a knitting instructor and creativity coach, I am always on the lookout for books that work well on all levels and for multiple purposes. More Sensational Knitted Socks guides the beginning sock knitter through the process and also challenges the advanced sock knitter. The designs in the stitch dictionary are full of creative possibilities for many knitting projects, not just socks. If you are a sock knitter, you can't go wrong adding this book to your knitting library. If you are a knitwear designer, the pattern stitches in the stitch dictionary are worth the price of the book. It doesn't get any better than this!

I have cherished my copy of Sensational Knitted Socks and looked forward to More Sensational Knitted Socks for months. This book does contain a lot more sock and stitch patterns, which is great. However, I was disappointed to see that they separated the portion of the book with the sock pattern from the stitch patterns, which were placed in the back of the book. It is certainly not as easy to flip from the front to the back as it was to flip one or two pages with the previous book. I also wish that Martingale Publications, and all publishers of knitting pattern books, would print the books and spiral bind them. I have taken both of my SKS books to my local office supply store and paid to have them spiral bound. This makes it much easier to lay the book flat and follow the patterns.

If you have never knit socks and are looking for your first book, make it this one. Why? Well, maybe you have not yet decided if you want to knit socks on 4 dpns, 5 dpns, 2 circs or one long circ (aka magic loop.) No problem, Charlene breaks it down for all of these methods. Sure, an experienced sock knitter wouldn't need all of that hand holding, but it's reassuring to know how many stitches you are supposed to have on each needle.

Maybe you don't know if you want to knit them in a very fine yarn or worsted. It's OK, she's figured that out, too. Want to surprise your your grandma who wears an 8.5 wide? Look up the measurements on the handy chart included. Not sure if you want to knit toe up or top down? Never fear! Charlene includes directions for both ways. But wait, there's more! Lots of stitch patterns are included, categorized by stitch count repeats. One of my only complaints about the book is that when one of these categories begins on one page, the next page doesn't have a header noting that these, too, are 6 stitch repeat patterns. A small quibble.

This book gains a slight edge over her first book because she includes the toe-up knitting instructions for all of the socks which is not in the first. There is slightly more info on cast-offs because of this, including kitchener bind-off in 1x1 rib and 2x2 rib. I haven't found this information in any of my other reference books, and I have quite a few. That said, if you want a book that tells you how to make 6 different types of heels, 7 types of toes and 14 different cast-ons, it's probably not the book for you.

There is quite a bit of overlap between Charlene's two books in the very basic sock knitting info, for example the foot size charts, sock anatomy diagrams, etc. That's actually a good thing because all of the info you need is here in the second book even if you don't have the first.

Finally, there are many beautiful socks to ogle and study. It is very useful to see for example, how the garter edge stockinette heel flap looks before you knit it, or how a small change in the method of slipping stitches affects the texture. And of course to see how some of those sock yarns actually look knit up into a sock.

I bought this book based on some other reviewers feedback that said it provided instructions for toe-up construction for every sock, and that it included Magic Loop directions.

It does not include Magic Loop, only knitting on 2 circs, just as the first did. The toe-up instructions are literally one line that says, "do Easy Toe then knit the rest of the sock." If you do that, you end up with a heel flap underneath your foot and the gusset pu stitches going the wrong direction.

The layout of the stitch patterns and the instructions is a big pain - you have to flip back and forth and back and forth to get the directions as you go. I finally ended up writing out the instructions as a single doc for ease of use.

The first book was great. I would highly recommend it for knitters at any stage. If you want more stitch patterns, then buy this book, but otherwise it doesn't add any value.

I have both her first book and this one, and both of them are very useful, but I actually prefer this one. I like the way all the socks include both toe-up and cuff-down directions, and all the stitch patterns are in back, each with suggested ribbing. Her technique instructions are pretty good, too. I finally figured out how to do a short-row heel following her directions.

I have Schurch's first sock book and thought I would not need her
second book. However, I took a look at it and I had to have it. The
addition of the index in the back of the book is a thoughtful improvement.
I love this book! The patterns are new, interesting and doable. A great
book for a new or experienced sock knitter.

Although it took me a while to figure out the layout of this book, I absolutely love it. HOWEVER!!!! Watch out for errors in the patterns. If you check the errata pages at the publisher's website, you will find several important errata in the previous book, "Sensational Knitted Socks." So far, though, there are only a few reported errata in "More Sensational Knitted Socks." I know for a fact that there are more. Especially when knitting from the color work charts, BE CAREFUL; there are errors in at least two of the instep patterns. I am going to report one myself this week, so I figure there are probably more out there that are unreported.

Also, I wish there were more than one technique described for working a short-row heel.

All things considered, though, I do love the book, love the layout (now that I understand it), and recommend it.

I loved the first book and I have to say this one's even better! There's nothing I love more than being able to pick different stitch patterns by the number of stitches in the repeat. Brilliant way to set up a book! And one of my pet peeves about most stitch guides where you have to rummage through to find one that fits the design you want to do. As a devout magic-looper I especially appreciate the way this book is presented so I can pick and choose without having every detail explained for each sock pattern which are usually written for DPNs. This is a thinking knitters sock book and I'm a huge fan!!

I would define myself as an intermediate (have made several sweaters, hats, mittens, and SOCKS) to a hopeful advanced (currently knitting an Aran) knitter. I have her previous book, which I also love. This book also has great patterns, and she does all the math for you to figure which pattern would fit for the gauge you have. The only aspects I didn't like were, the ribbing sections. I was confused why she would have so many ribbing options within each pattern choice, then I realized it had to do with maching a pattern (on the leg) with the ribbing (higher up). Then I was pleased with her the extra thought she put into that. I would also agree with previous reviewers, she should have arranged the patterns choices within the written instructions for ease, I hate flipping back and forth so much.

All in all, if you are new to socks, I would highly recommend her previous book "Sensational Knitted Socks" (which I would give a full 5 out of 5 stars and is by far my favorite). If you have that, or have knitted socks before and are looking for more fabulous socks, then buy this book.