This is like the other half of her “Color Knitting the Easy Way.” That book focused on things like stripes and slipped-stitches to add color to your knitting. This one is all about stranded, intarsia, and double-knitting

From the Preface: “The revised edition of Wild Color brings the craft of natural dyeing into the 21st century and is the result of over three decades of experience with natural dyes. … Today, when concern for the environment and conservation of the resources of the natural world are of paramount importance, it is vital that we look towards the future and consider their environmental and human impact of our activities.”

A knitted square is the foundation of all knitting. The first thing off most of our needles was a simple square. It might have been garter stitch, it might have been stockinette. It might have been intended to be a scarf, but chances are, the first thing you knitted was some variation on a rectangle. There’s something comforting about knitting squares. There’s no shaping involved, nothing it has to “fit,” and it brings us back to the beginning. Except, in Nicky Epstein’s hands, that simple square is anything but simple.

This book gathers 20 designs from Rowan’s in-house designer Sarah Hatton. According to the press release, “This collection of fashion-conscious designs features the best of the Rowan Studio collection with playful skirts, sexy tops, chic dresses, and delicate cardigans. These fashion trends straight off the runway translate perfectly into the innovative knitwear designs found in this book.”

Unlike their first book (the wonderful, but badly-titled Mother-Daughter Knits) this book provides patterns for the whole family, starting with the wee ones

Seriously–do you really need me to review this? Of COURSE you want this book. It’s one of Alice Starmore’s outright masterpieces, reissued at a price that people can actually afford.

I just posted a pattern on Ravelry … please go take a look! Dawn’s Bag. (No Ravelry account? Check it out at Chappysmom.com.) Thank you. We now resume our regularly scheduled book reviewing.

I’ve always thought of entrelac as one of those knitting techniques that people either love or they hate. It’s not one of the favored children like cables or color work that everybody at least claims to admire, even if they don’t enjoy the actual process. No, entrelac has always been like the ugly duckling of knitting, the technique that is misunderstood or disliked on principle, because nobody’s really gotten to know it.

I’ll admit that I don’t quite understand the obsession with vampires. I was a big fan of Buffy the Vampire Slayer when it was on, but the only vampire book I’ve read is Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. So, when I saw this book, I was a little skeptical. I’m not really the target audience, you know? But…

The flap says, “Love ‘old’ but want to be ‘in vogue?’ Welcome to Knitting It Old School where you’ll find patterns for knitting and crocheting everything from cheeky hot pants to his-and-hers sweater sets, all drawn from the fashion trends of the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s.”

This is a tricky one for me, because while I have a few books on weaving and am intrigued, curious, awestruck, and tempted by the things weavers can do … I don’t actually weave myself. I’m like the star-struck kid who devours Variety and other movie magazines but has never gone to Hollywood.

I haven’t done one of these posts in a while (wow, last year), so here you go–some new and upcoming books to whet your appetite for the cooler weather to come! 1,000 Fabulous Knit Hats by Annie Modesitt. (Is it immodest of me to mention that one of my hats is in here?) 60 Quick [...]

The author writes in the introduction, “In times past there was always an older generation of very experienced knitters on hand to help the novices. As that is not always the case in our very busy and technologically-saturated world, this Knitting School collection is designed to teach you to knit or to encourage you to return to knitting and to help you refine your skills.”