The Art of Knitting: Inspirational Stitches, Textures, and Surfaces (Paperback)

by Francoise Tellier-Loumagne (Author), Sandy Black (Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Knitting is the reigning queen of the crafts, enjoying a surge of interest that cuts across demographic groups."

Product Description
A unique, visually inspiring, all-color survey of knitted textile designs and patterns.

Françoise Tellier-Loumagne has taught textile and knit design in France for more than thirty years. Drawing on her experience as teacher and practitioner, she has assembled a creative and inventive overview of stitches and fabrics, both hand-knitted and machine-made, presenting hundreds of sumptuous ways of working with yarn, from silk thread to Shetland wool. Other books propose patterns to copy; this book uses basic patterns as points of departure, opening up endless possibilities for sophisticated knitting designs.

The book is organized by fabric types: simple knits, jacquards, fine jersey knits, interlock, open-work, and many others. It covers hand knitting, domestic machine knitting, and industrial knitting, explaining the relevant techniques and notation for each.

The author encourages the reader to be innovative and to experiment with the various techniques, drawing inspiration from the natural world and one's personal surroundings: pebbles on the sand, autumn leaves, snow sparkling in the sun, weeds and grasses bending in the wind. Every type of stitch that she describes is accompanied by enlarged photos of the textiles, detailed diagrams, and written instructions. The yarns used here are highly textural and attractive, which further encourages experimentation with yarn combinations and knitting techniques.

The book will appeal to domestic knitters, professional knit designers, textile designers, and students, and will be a source of inspiration to anyone working with or interested in knitted textiles. Over 600 color illustrations and hundreds of diagrams.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Thames & Hudson (June 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0500285578
• ISBN-13: 978-0500285572
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 9.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #590,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 54 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Visually Stunning, July 2, 2005

By	Jennie (metro DC) - See all my reviews

This book is beautiful. Even if you don't knit, the stunning photographs take knitting and photography to a completely different level.

If you do knit, most of the techniques are based on the machine knitter, however, most of the charts also work for hand knitting. Most of the uncharted techniques and stitches can be easily figured out by the advanced hand knitter.

This is not a book of patterns or a stitch library, but a book of inspiration, to get your creative juices flowing.

The entire staff of my yarn shop fought over who got to buy it!

63 of 71 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars very disappointing for hand knitting - machine knitters may love this, July 1, 2005

By	K. Doan "kddid" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Found it at a local bookshop in cellophane wrap - purchased it on the basis of "Hey - a new knitting book!!" initial enthusiasm... Unfortunately while it had many lovely photos of stitches and textures, instruction was focused on machine knitting, not hand knitting. There was a brief summary in the back about casting on but I could find nothing -for myself- to justify having this book, and so returned it the following morning.

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Inspirational - but mainly for commercial machine knitters, October 28, 2005

By	TaosBrit "fibre diva" (Taos, NM USA) - See all my reviews

I purchased this book because I'm always looking for edgy ideas to develop my handknitted accessories. The photography is fabulous: melding natural elements with the fabric helps you to see possibilities.
However, the book seems to be intended for students of commercial design studios. Most of the text describes effects that can be produced using commercial (industrial?) knitting machines for knitted fabrics, including the needle setting to be used.
Some of the ideas are translatable to hand knitting, and there is a nod to this in some pages describing basic hand knit techniques.
The tone of the book is scholarly and seems at odds with the ideas and illustrations.
Overall, if you are studying commercial knitted fabric design, this is a great resource. It's of limited use for hand knit designers.