Customer Reviews

Stitch 'n Bitch Nation

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(16)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

There are many appealing patterns in here, from a mock-cable scarf to a gorgeous felted bag customized with one's initial to an aqua kimono jacket. My only gripe is that I think it would have been helpful to rate the patterns by difficulty. For this beginning knitter, some projects look like they would be simple but then require more advanced skills (such as the grafting in the felted slippers project). It definitely helps to have the first Stitch N Bitch book to refer to, in those cases.

The beginning section about the spread of the Stitch N Bitch phenomenon and about customizing one's own patterns is very enjoyable to read because the author has an engaging, enthusiastic writing style. I admire her for starting and capitalizing on a trend that is providing hours of creativity and enjoyment for many new knitters... and indeed ceasing to be a trend, instead becoming part of our popular culture and a link to the past.

I'm knitting my first sweater, "jesse's flames" from this book and found a "duh" mistake in the pattern. I assume that when she says to change to the main color, she really means contrasing color 2, to match the stripe in front with that in back.
There are more mistakes, like in the razor's edge poncho lace pattern, which was completely rewritten. There were some problems with her first books, but mostly stuff that can be worked out with a change of a word or two, but most of the corrections in this book are long. fix the errors, and you have a five star book. And check out her website before starting in on any of that patterns.

I recieved this book as a birthday gift less than a month ago. I've been knitting for a couple years, but I'm self-taught and usually just make things up myself rather than following a pattern. But I decided this year I would take some classes and start trying to be a more technically proficient knitter.

First let me say what I like about the book:

-Good selection of fun, interesting patterns.
-Nice photos and page layouts.
-Enough non-clothing patterns to keep me interested. (I hate wearing sweaters and have no interest in knitting them, thankyouverymuch!)

But I have some definate gripes about this book, and here they are:

-The patterns I have tried are not written very clearly, or explained well. Now, if I alone had trouble with them, I'd be more forgiving, because I don't have much experience with pattern reading. But at the class I'm taking, the teacher has been stumped several times and had to figure things out by trial and error. And my instructor is a knitting goddess, she *knows* what she is doing! So the fact that she in confused by these patterns tells me something is wrong here. Things could be explained a LOT better, but it seemed like it was more important to keep the page count down.

-There are a LOT of errors in this book. As I read reviews and look at messages boards discussing knitting, it seems like it's just a given that most of the books out there will have a lot of errata that need to be corrected by finding the book's website and downloading corrections. It's not just this book, and I find the trend alarming and I think better editing needs to be done in all these books. I mean comeon people, test these patterns out before you publish them! I had a dreadful time with the "hurry up spring" armwarmers until I discovered there were errors in the pattern. I can't believe how many errors slipped through the cracks. I suggest going to the knithappens.com website and printing up ALL the corrections and tucking them into your book before you start anything. It will save you a LOT of grief, trust me.

-Like I said, I've had this book for less than a month, and I am very *gentle* on books, most of mine look brand new. But this book is already falling apart. The spine has cracked and a big chunk of the book has detached from the spine, so I expect that any day now the pages will all start falling out. What is up with that? I have NEVER had a paperback book do that, and I'm not being rough with this book or folding the pages back or anything. In fact, I've been making copies of the pages and working off of copies most of the time because it's easier to keep a piece of paper with me than to lug around a book to class. So I really don't understand why it's falling apart already.

As a side note, I don't have the first SnB book, but I did thumb through it quite a bit at the bookstore the other evening and there are my impressions: It's a lot more heavy on instruction, probably one of the best books I've seen as far as instruction, but I didn't read any individual how-to excerpts so I'm not sure how well things are explained. The pages feel like recycled paper and there is a noticeable lack of quality color photos showing the projects, which really disappointed me. It also seems like there's a lot less patterns than SnB Nation, and the patterns seem less interesting. I just thought I would note this since it seems like a lot of the reviews say the first book is better.

Finally, one pleasant surprise was discovering that the author and oftentimes, the original designers of the SnB Nation patterns, read and respond to posts on the SnB website (knithappens.com). If you have a question about a poorly explained direction in a pattern, you can often get an answer fairly quickly from the pattern's creator or from Debbie herself. That's really cool. I just hope in future books things are a little easier to figure out on your own!

In Debbie Stoller's first book "Stitch N' Bitch," the author provides a fun and whimsical whirl through the ABC's of knitting, including patterns with color photos of the latest trends in the craft. Now, in her second tome - utilizing the same lush squatty trade paperback format as the first, Debbie explores what she calls the "Stitch N' Bitch" Nation, a veritable sorority of knitters from all around the United States. Simply put, this volume adds the dimension of camaraderie and grafts in a sense of mutually shared satisfaction that every knitter has experienced individually after gazing at his/her finished craft. Essays from the nation's knitting "sisters" succeed in generating a newly-found 21st century pride in an update of an age-old tradition as they attempt to explain their fascination with the art of creating a garment or work of art with two sticks and a ball of fancy string.

The theme of this common thread runs through the book with the quick and unexpected downward thrust of a wayward ball of yarn. Stoller garnishes about 50 new and very funky pattern contributions for all knitting aficionados and their ilk ( cats, babies, cars and couches are decked out in knitted splendor) with lush color photos, diagrams and creator's bios, and by including fun-to-read tips in highlighted "aside" format by sisters-of-the-stitch alumni. Some of my favorites include: "making perfect side to side seams", "pre-knitual agreement" making a nicer decrease," and "knitting two pieces at the same time." Although some of the patterns may not appeal to the traditional knitter, the contributors nonetheless offer a sparkling array of fresher ideas that can be tweaked to produce whatever effects the creator wishes to achieve. Of note, Jesse's Flames sweater screams out to knitted for that edgy man in your life or yourself while the Poster Boy tote bag gives a rocker's riff update to the carry-all seen in all major knitting magazines. at least once a season.

"Stitch N' Bitch Nation", while by no means a must purchase- the first Stitch N' Bitch provides all the technical information necessary for you to begin your knitting odyssey, adds a modern stitch to your knitting compendium with its eclectic collection of contemporary ideas that you will not find in most of the publications about the craft. Bottom line: buy it for an injection of nationwide inspiration.

After falling in love with "Stitch and Bitch," I automatically ordered "Nation." Unfortunately, I returned it soon after I got it. I looked through it and realized there wasn't a single pattern that I would wear.

I am a thirty-something Californian, so I'm not stuffy or ultra-conservative. But this book definitely fell on the other side of the "hip" line from me. I would imagine it would appeal to a certain audience, but I wasn't in it.

The first book had a much wider appeal. I'll be sticking with that one.

I received this book as a gift and was really excited about it. The patterns are fun, but please check the following website for corrections to the pattern BEFORE starting anything [...]. I found errors in 3 patterns I have attempted to make. Don't waste the time and energy working off the wrong pattern.

Stitch 'n Bitch Nation features 50 hip, new, even funkier and more fabulous patterns by Stitch 'n Bitch designers, who come from San Francisco to Brooklyn, Chicago to Cambridge to St. Paul, Minnesota. The Om Yoga Mat Bag. Felted Monster Slippers. The London Calling Union Jack Sweater, because even punks get cold in winter. A Double-Duty Shrug. Polka Dot Tankini. That '70s Poncho. The Boob Tube. Spiderweb Capelet, Cabled Newsboy Cap, Chunky Baby Booties and Baby Bunny Hat. And the most ingenius project, a Knit-Your-Own Rock Star doll--with a choice of Joey Ramone or Henry Rollins. All designs are complete with full-color photographs and step-by-step instructions, and are made from sexy, contemporary yarns, including multicolored angora, alpaca, lace, and mohair. Includes the best tips, shortcuts, and techniques from Stitch 'n Bitchers, profiles of knitters and their groups, and a how-to refresher on all the stitches used in the book.

I am a beginning knitter and have spent the bulk of today going crazy due to the bad instructions in this book. Cute images but why not update the book, warn about corrections, fix errors, tip in an errata or something to make up for the dozens of corrections that can be found on the SnB website? Why make people look for it. And the corrections for the Razor Edge shawl are still not right - there are unanswered post on the author's website that have been there since 2005. Is it the author or the publisher that does not feel that it is worth fixing bad instructions in a "how to" book that affect a large percentage of the projects. Before you buy, just take a look at all the corrections, comments and problems posted on the authors site. Perhaps experienced knitters can wing it but if you need instruction and usable patterns skip this book. Too bad.

A very solid book. Enjoyable to read, better organized than the first and a large variety of projects. True, it might not be THE book for the beginner, however it is perfect for anyone with any experience or an enthusiastic beginner as the tone is so up beat - "anyone can do this stuff!" I've purchased many, many knitting books and the Stitch n Bitch books are two of the three that I keep and refer to often. This one is different than the original, as it should be - and its logical follow-up.

Stitch 'N Bitch Nation is definitely a follow up book. If you're a first time knitter I wouldn't recommend this being your first knitting book, as there are better resources out there (such as the first in the series, Stitch 'N Bitch).

While I wouldn't necessarily buy Stitch 'N Bitch Nation for the patterns (I only found one that I personally would want to knit), there was one section that made it worth buying: how to alter patterns. I've found as I pick up patterns that I will usually have to alter them to fit me, but many of the knitting books and magazines I have lack that information. So I'm either stuck with a sweater several sizes too big... or I just have to guess.

Stitch N' Bitch Nation (which, by the way, is a lot slicker than the first book with glossy color pages) has that information, which I found to be the most important part of the book. Everything else is a slight recap of things found in Stoller's first book, as well as new patterns and tips from other knitters around the country.

Overall, a good resource for a knitter's library.