First, the facts:
Author: Norah Gaughan, Margery Winter, and the Berroco Design Team
Published by: Stewart, Tabori & Chang 2010
Pages: 160
Type: Afghans.
Chapters:
1. Knit
2. Crochet
Pattern Size Range: Afghans, all sizes
The In-Depth Look:
This was a rare purchase for me. The knitting books I buy are usually for making sweaters, or socks, or lace. Something to wear.
But … have you seen this book? If you want something warm and cozy to keep you warm, this is definitely the place to look.
This book is a collection of over 50 patterns–a mix of crochet and knitting–for afghans. Some are made in one, big piece. Some are made up of squares or triangles or other geometric shapes. Some make great use of color work, some have cables or other texture. In other words, there’s lots of variety.
The patterns all call for the same yarn–Berroco’s Comfort yarn. I’ve never used the yarn myself but have heard good things about it. It’s a soft acrylic/nylon blend, fairly economical, and with lots of colors, but there’s no reason you couldn’t knit any of these afghans in another yarn. I bought this book primarily for the patterns, not because of the yarn, but still … if you’re going to center an afghan book around a specific yarn, that seems like a good one to pick.
The designers are top-notch, too. I mean … Norah Gaughan, for one, and Marjorie Winter, for another, are responsible for most of the designs. The others are credited to Cirilia Rose, Donna Yacino, and Brenda York. The list is in the back-matter, though, and not listed with the designs. I go back and forth between thinking that’s strange–shouldn’t the designers’ names be with their afghans so you can give them proper credit as you flip through the book–to thinking that it’s a good decision because you can focus on the actual afghan rather than the name of the person who created it.
Seriously, this is a great collection of afghans–lots of variety, lots of skill levels, lots of different techniques. There are at least a dozen I’d be happy to have myself, and the book is a delight to browse through. The photos are gorgeous and atmospheric and really make the afghans’ beauty stand out.
Yep, there’s a reason that this is the first afghan book I’ve bought in about 15-20 years.
I highly recommend going to check it out at Amazon. You won’t be sorry!
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
