Review: Knitting Lace

To put it simply, this book is a masterpiece, and that’s not a word I bandy about loosely. Recently reprinted by Schoolhouse Press, this is the story of Susanna Lewis’ classic recreation of a 19th century lace sampler for the Brooklyn Museum.

Review: Power Cables

There is a reason this woman has such a reputation for being an innovative thinker and knitter, and she proves it yet again with this remarkable book.

Review: Color Knitting the Easy Way

Here’s the first thing you need to know about this book–there are lots of books out there that examine color knitting, but this one focuses on color knitting using only ONE color at a time.

That’s right. Not intarsia. Not fair isle. Instead, this book is about adding color to your knitting with stripes and slip stitches.

Review: Reversible Knitting

This creative book takes everything you know about knitting and turns it upside down and inside out.

Am I exaggerating? Maybe a little bit, but not as much as you might expect. Starting with the cover sweater which can be worn right-side up, upside-down, inside-out, this book makes you look at your knitting a little differently.

Review: Knitting Brioche

Darn it, there’s just nothing wrong with this book.

Luckily for you, that means this book is fantastic and one you should run-not-walk to find if this is a technique that you are even remotely interested in. Because, trust me, you’re not going to find a better guide to brioche any time soon.

Still, it’s great books like these that make writing reviews so frustrating.

Review: 400 Knitting Stitches

The bad part about reviewing a book of stitch patterns is that there’s really not that much to say. They’re just stitches, right?

Well, yes and no.

Review: Knitting in the Old Way

Really, it’s a great book. I mean, why else would the publishing gods have granted it a new life with a new edition? It’s a classic.

Review: Ethnic Knitting Exploration: Lithuania, Iceland, and Ireland

This isn’t one of those history-intensive books on ethnic knits. There is brief discussion on the knitting ethos in each of the three highlighted countries (Lithuania, Iceland, Ireland), but the book really focuses on how to knit a sweater–not about what they were doing with yarn in 1857.

Review: Colorwork Stitches

It’s hard, really, to write a review for a book of stitch patterns, even when they’re good. This one, the latest in Interweave Press’s series, covers Colorwork–patterns that use two or more colors to make a design for your knitting.

Review: Knitting On/Over/Beyond the Edge

So, there I was, thinking about what kind of border I wanted to put on the afghan I was making. I had an idea in mind, but needed a stitch pattern, and since it was for an edge treatment, I automatically pulled all three of Nicky Epstein’s books off the shelves and sat down to flip through them. I didn’t even pause at the Barbara Walker collections, or any of the other stitch dictionaries. I went right for these.