SimpleChic: Designer Knits, SuperQuick! (Minnowknits Books) [Paperback]

Jil Eaton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 28, 2005 | Series: Minnowknits Books

Knitwear designer Jil Eaton offers up this collection of 20 colorful concoctions that knit up to perfection. The look ranges from the high fashion mohair wrap to the classic cashmere sweater to the whimsical Pop Top hat. Even the family dog is in on the knits, with a functional waterproof jacket. Projects are quick and full of fun, with bright colors, soft yarns, and unmistakable design touches like cable detailing on sweaters and mitts, tassels and trims on hats, and buttons and bows for babies. The guide has a quick refresher section for those in need of a quick review or beginners. Tips, tool and sizing guides, and care instructions are also included. For seasoned knitters looking for flair or new knitters needing achievable but stylish projects beyond scarves, the patterns in this book are clear, exciting, and inspiring.

Editorial Reviews

Review

""Knit in a riot of color with never-expected details, Eaton offers a lively and sophisticated array of projects for tots, teens, and adults. . . . Another winner!" --Trisha Malcolm, editor in chief, Vogue Knitting International

About the Author

Jil Eaton is an internationally acclaimed knitwear designer whose work regularly appears in Vogue Knitting International and other knitting magazines. She has published and distributed worldwide a collection of hand-knitting patterns under the Minnowknits label. She is the author of After Dark, Big Fish Little Fish, Minnies, MinnowKnits, and MinnowKnits Too. She lives in Portland, Maine.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Breckling Press (September 28, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193330801X
• ISBN-13: 978-1933308012
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 7.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,892,296 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Simple What?, February 5, 2004

By 

Rebecca S. (Philadelphia, PA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: SimpleChic: Designer Knits, SuperQuick! (Minnowknits Books) (Hardcover)

For those of you Minnowknits fans, this book will be a disappointment. It's unfortunate that this talented designer, who has had such success with her children's and infants patterns, felt a desire to take on adult fashion. Where the square shaping, bright colors, and single-stitch patterns can be packaged so well for babies, it's just not working in this collection.

Few knitters would want to spend hundreds of dollars on cashmere to knit the unflattering Cashmere Creme sweater, which is billed as the highlight of the book. It's not just that the designs are not hip and new as the book promises, but the monotonous plain stitch patterns, limited shaping, and lack of color patterning will not attract or challenge even the novice knitter. Putting a cute button on a dull sweater is a tricky enticement, but most people will realize that they could buy a machine-made sweater with similar results. The poor folks who had to knit these samples must have been bored to tears.

Granted, the best designs in the book are the dog sweaters. I don't have a dog, nor would I knit for it if I did have one. The pointy Christmas tree hat shown on the cover is also cute. (But since I celebrate Hanukkah I probably wouldn't knit that one anyway!) Don't run out and buy this book for that hat alone since practically the same hat can be found in Too Cute! by Debby Ware, which came out last Spring and is chock full beautiful kids' knits, and is a much better value. The other fashions in this book are either clownish (i.e. the hats) or extremely frumpy looking. Where is all of the high fashion that the title proclaims?

Unlike many knitting books where the pages are filled with instructional text and obscure abbreviations, this book's content conveys a big personality. Unfortunately, it's not a likeable one. Her first book, Minnowknits, is still the best bang for your buck. It's been a downhill ride since then.

23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Ho Hum, January 19, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: SimpleChic: Designer Knits, SuperQuick! (Minnowknits Books) (Hardcover)

I'm fairly new to knitting, and very gung ho about it, but this book doesn't excite even me. There really aren't any patterns that make me want to pull out my needles. The stuff in it went out of fashion years ago, yet Ms. Eaton claims to have her finger on the pulse of "chic". She would be wise to henceforth eliminate that word from her vocabulary, and to remove the exclamation point from her keyboard, since her overuse of both is tiresome.

37 of 42 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Yawn., October 8, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: SimpleChic: Designer Knits, SuperQuick! (Minnowknits Books) (Hardcover)

What a bore. Maybe I just don't care for Jil Eaton's "style" (lots of boxy shapes and drop shoulders---what decade is this again?) but I didn't like even one of these. The patterns are so simple, you already have similar ones, or can make them up yourself, trust me. Spend your money on something with a little creativity.