Hollywood Knits Style (Hardcover)

by Suss Cousins (Author), Deborah Jaffe (Photographer)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist
Cousins, the author of Hollywood Knits (2002), elaborates on her concept in a volume that offers more than just knitting projects. A knitter to the stars, Cousins not only knits up items used in movies (hats for Russell Crowe; leg warmers for J-Lo), she also owns a shop in L.A. frequented by well-known knitters. Although there are a few tidbits of gossip here, the focus is on the knitting projects, which include one really ugly skirt and a variety of attractive purses, dog sweaters, clothes, and baby presents. Cousins also uses her book as an invitation to socialize knitting, providing lots of ideas on how to combine knitting with various celebrations-of-life events (mother-daughter parties, showers). The project schematics are clear, as are the eye-catching color photos. Lots of bang for the buck here. Ilene Cooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Review
This gentle gem of a book is the definitive guide to the knitting life. -- Vogue Knitting, November 1, 2004

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 144 pages
• Publisher: Harry N. Abrams (September 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584793457
• ISBN-13: 978-1584793458
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #676,341 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

53 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great designs again, same problems, September 3, 2004

By	x-girl (Houston, TX United States) - See all my reviews

Suss's first book Hollywood Knits had some of the best designs I'd ever seen, this new book is no different. great patterns that seem very modern and arty and now she added recipes and knitting group ideas. Obviously she is inspired by the stitch n bitch craze and melanie falick's excellent book "weekend knitting". my favorite patterns are the bags, the sweater with the clever zippers, the blankets and the cute dachshund sweaters. However,

This book suffers from the same problems as before, there is a lot of name dropping, which I didn't mind and even enjoy but many others were annoyed with. She is still knitting things flat instead of in the round which may frustrate experienced knitters. Her sizes are still tiny even for the dogs. She almost always uses her own yarn line and accessories which you can only get from her store and this time does not offer alternatives.


I gave this 4 stars because I love the designs and that is the only reason I buy her books. Her use of color and clever shapes is very original and I can always incorporate her ideas into my knitting

31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Many errors in this book, August 19, 2005

By	Dara Aubrey (Boston, MA) - See all my reviews

I would not recomment this book to beginners because of the frequency of mistakes. I'm an experienced knitter, and had a hard time with some of the patterns. For instance, the cast on and number of stitches weren't even mentioned in one of her hat patterns. I eventually figured it out by counting the stitches that were in the rounds.

Suss Counsins...Knitter to the Stars! Please. This book looks all shiny, pretty, and hip. Upon closer inspection, the patterns are a bunk. I've tried to make several items in this book, and just about every pattern has a correction to it. To find the corrections for the pattern one must visit Suss Cousins's website. I find this frustrating, because I was expecting a level of quality that wasn't there. I will, however, grudgingly admit that the book does make knitting seem glamourous with photography. In the end, save your money, and check this book out of your local library.

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars be forewarned: sizes are unrealistic!, May 11, 2005

By	knitting librarian (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews

I agree with the reviewer who said that anyone who thinks a 32 inch bust is a Large has been in Hollywood too long.

I bought this book after flipping through it quickly at the bookstore. I liked the designs. Some are quite cute, for example: the bamboo-handled purse, the heart-shaped pillow, and the fuzzy baby booties.
I'm now kicking myself. I should've read some of the patterns more carefully. A skirt that I thought I could make for myself goes up to a size Large - a whopping 33 inches (and remember - that's the size of the FO, not the person wearing it)! GET REAL, SUSS!

Don't make the same mistake as I did. Take a pass on this one.