Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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55 of 55 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Highly inventive, beautiful designs for the whole family, November 5, 1999
By A Customer
Melville has found a brand new technique, which is unusual in itself, since so much in knitting is just one designer copying ("adapting") another. I was glad to see someone daring to be unique. At first glance and at many glances later on, I have to say that her styles in this book are really beautiful -- and she incorporates many different techniques, many different designs, so there is bound to be something for everybody. She's also attentive to color by presenting sweater models in a variety of schemes, so those who like bright colors, or heathery colors, or earth tones will find something they like. The sweaters look fairly simple to knit, also, and if you are using color in the knitting, it is in a way that is not intricate. I have yet to try one of the woven looks, but it must be faster and simpler than intarsia or color stranding. The only disappointment is that these designs are not readily available as kits -- I'd like to make some of them identical to those in the book. The Mannings in Pennsylvania has a few of the designs kitted, but not the ones that I want. Melville presents a really nice collection of sweaters. This is one of the best knitting books on the market, comparable with Jo Sharp's new Knitting Bazaar as two of the most inspiring books I've ever owned. Hope to see much more from this author in the future.
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31 of 32 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful resource on combining colors/using up stash yarn, December 26, 2000
Of the dozen or so knitting books I've bought in the last two years, this is the book that I use the most. I'm knitting a second design and pondering several more. Still, even if you don't like the looks of the designs, this book is worth buying if you have a box or a closet or a room full of leftover yarn or yarn that just hasn't quite become a sweater. (Who us knitters, buy yarn just because? :))There are two huge reasons to have this book if you have yarn. First, Sally provides a very thoughtful chapter on how to organize your stash in a manner that will both stimulate your creativity while protecting your valuable stash. Secondly, she provides terrific instruction on using the color wheel to combine colors in a manner that doesn't just look like you threw a bunch of leftovers together. The designs are a bit boxy -- in part, I suspect, because of the complexity of the color work in most of the sweaters. This is not a book for beginners, but a fabulous resource of intermediate and advanced "fiberholics".
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26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Still looking for ways to use odd balls of yarn..., April 4, 1999
By A Customer
I would have bought this book on the strength of the customer reviews so far alone, but thought I'd look at it first. I'm glad I did. Unlike the rapturous reader who says s/he'd knit any sweater in the book, I didn't find anything I'd knit. First off, Melville favors techniques that don't look knitted. She likes slip stitch color knitting, woven stitch (a/k/a linen stitch), and a technique for knitting a piece and then using that knitting as a warp for weaving in colors of yarn with a darning needles. The many assurances of how FAST this really is to do make me suspicious--I prefer to knit, not weave with a darning needle. An interesting technique, but it nor any of the others (also a lot of garter stitch) are looks I'm after. I would really appreciate a book on using odd balls--but also work on accepting the fact that the pattern/yarn/dye lot event is a rare thing indeed, and all those extra balls of yarn come in handy for color work, darning, strips in small projects...but it will never all be used up!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
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by Sally Melville
by Beryl Hiatt
