First, the facts:
Title: Toe-Up Socks for Every Body: Adventurous Lace, Cables, and Colorwork from Wendy Knits
Author: Wendy D. Johnson
Published by: Potter Craft, 2010
Pages: 144
Type: Socks for men, women, and children.
Chapters:
Part 1: Basic Information for Sock Knitters
Part 2: Sock Patterns
Lace Socks
Cable Socks
Colorwork Socks
Appendix: Techniques for Toe-Up Socks
Pattern Size Range: Men, Women, and Children
The In-Depth Look:
Wendy’s books just keep getting better. I’ve been a fan of Wendy’s for years, ever since I discovered her blog around 2004. I bought both of her prior books right away and liked both of them, though I thought the second one somewhat stronger a book than her first one.
Well, this is her third book, and I think it’s the best yet.
This is a book filled with toe-up sock patterns for men, women, and children, and they’re just lovely. I usually knit just plain-jane stockinette socks (yes, I know, it’s boring of me), but there are at least five designs in there that I’d like to make. That’s a huge number of sock patterns for me to seriously desire.
The patterns are divided into three sections–lace, cables, and colorwork. Each section starts with a couple of pages of tips and guidelines for the relevant technique, as well as a list of the patterns by difficulty level.
Are you thinking, “Wendy just did a sock book–Isn’t it just another book of sock patterns?”
Not exactly. To me, her other sock book (Socks from the Toe Up) was an in-depth exploration of everything you need to knit the socks. It explores the technique in great detail. This book, on the other hand, starts off assuming you know the basics already. There is, of course, a technique section which covers this. You certainly don’t need to have read through the other book to understand what’s going on. It’s just that the techniques are in the back, in the appendix, rather than being the main part of the book.
This book, instead, jumps right into the patterns, and I love them. They’re interesting. I like the sneaky argyle socks. I liked every single one of the colorwork socks. The cabled ones were beautiful. The lace was lovely. These are some seriously great socks.
They make me want to knit something other than plain-vanilla, stockinette socks for a change. I like them that much.
This fantastic book is available at Amazon.com.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This paperback review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!
Other posts for this author:
