First, the facts:
Title: Noni Flowers: 40 Exquisite Knitted Flowers, 6 Beautiful Projects
Author: Nora J. Bellows
Published by: Potter Craft, 2012
Pages: 176
Type: Knitted flowers
Chapters:
1. The Flowers
2. The Projects
The In-Depth Look:
Well, it’s Spring, which means it’s time for flowers. (Lots of very early flowers if you had a non-winter like we did.) So it’s not exactly a surprise that a book of knitted flowers would cross my desk.
Except, this isn’t just any book of knitted flowers. These are masterpieces.
They aren’t just facsimiles of flowers–a cup of petals for a tulip, or a frill of them for a rose. No, these are practically scientific specimens, recreated as exactly, as perfectly, as beautifully as possible.
The author writes:
“The task of the nineteenth-century farmer-scientist was to explore the details of our world. Flowers were dissected, labeled, their jewel-like structures marveled at. These days, we take the microscope and all the detail it reveals somewhat for granted, and yet, a study of details is something of a rare thing. We look at flowers from a distance. We enjoy a profusion, we like great numbers of them in vases, we settle for a distant celebration of their beauty. Here I bring forty select flowers close through the process of knitting them. I’ve sought to interpret a truth about each flower by using the architecture of actual flowers to suggest how the knitted versions must be formed. …This book has allowed me to take the knitted flower to a higher level of detail and realism than a single sheet pattern could possibly allow.”
This book is ridiculously lovely to look through. The patterns are astounding in their realism. 40 flowers to choose from, as well as 6 projects–bags, wraps, fingerless gloves, a pillow. They’re gorgeous.
I’m not a gardener. I’m lucky my houseplants don’t die, so I’m no expert on how accurate these knitted blooms are, but from what I can see, they’re remarkable.
The photography is a treat, too. Each flower is photographed with real, living greenery, so you can see the knitted blooms atop the real vine or stem or twig that the real thing grows on. It makes for gorgeous visuals. (They’d make fantastic prints to frame and hang on the wall, in fact. Or, maybe a calendar? The publisher should really consider that.)
It’s a gorgeous book, with meticulous, beautiful flowers to knit–as well as six projects to make if you’re not sure what to do with your flowers once you’ve knit them.
You should check this out. Even if only to admire the photographs (which, I’ll warn you, will probably inspire you to want to knit these yourself. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
You can check out the book at Amazon.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!
