First, the facts:
Title: Pop Knitting: Bold Motifs Using Color & Stitch
Author: Britt-Marie Christofferson
Published by: Interweave Press, 2012
Pages: 215
Type: Stitch patterns and ideas
Chapters:
1. Patterns
2. Techniques and Abbreviations
The In-Depth Look:
When this book crossed my desk, I looked at the cover and thought, “Wow, this looks cheerful, but not really my style.” I fully expected that I would flip through it, tell you how pretty it was, and then move on.
But … instead, I was blown away.
This book isn’t just about color.
I mean, yes, it IS about color. It says it right on the cover. “Bold motifs using color and stitch.” Color is a main ingredient in many of the stitches and pictures in here. So is texture.
But, flipping through this, they’re not the main point.
The important word in that subtitle?
BOLD.
The author strides boldly through the world of knitting and comes back with something completely new. Using pieces of braided knitting as bright accents. Using ordinary buttonholes to completely reconfigure how a sweater drapes. Using welts and color to make knits look like hand-woven fabric. Working contrasting bind-offs into the center of stripes to make a horizontal chain. Tying pieces together with i-cord instead of using ordinary seams.
It’s like there’s nothing she’s afraid to do.
I’m amazed and awed.
She says in her intro, “I want to show how knitting has the potential for endless variety. I want to inspire you and every knitter to try new patterns, and I hope that my ideas will, in turn lead you to new ideas for your knitting.”
Well, job accomplished there.
Now, one thing you need to know? While I’m calling this a stitch dictionary, it’s not … quite. Some stitches and shown swatches are yes, definitely spelled out row by row so you can re-create them. But some of them–usually the pages that have multiple swatches displayed–just give you a general outline of how they were created, using a stitch that was already detailed. For example, the first detailed stitch is a four-row, two color garter stitch, fully explained. But the next page is full of samples of how you could use that to put geometric blocks or circles into a field of plain stockinette to create a special effect. But it doesn’t spell out exactly HOW.
To my mind, this makes this book one the author wants you to PLAY with. She’s just reminding you that you already have the tools.
Yep. Awesome.
Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.
This review copy was kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!
