The author says in the introduction, “For me, both fashion and knitting serve a common purpose–the opportunity for creative, wearable self-expression–and it was in that spirit that I created this book.”
Job well done, is all I can say.
The patterns in this book are exactly what you’d expect from the title–stylish, and classic. Or, rather, inspired by the classic.
Since several publishers have been kind enough to provide me with review copies, it seems selfish to keep ALL of them, so it seemed a good time to have a contest. In fact, it’s a multi-part contest! You’ve got more than one way to win! Here’s what you have to do. Either… 1. Link to [...]
The author introduces the book by saying, “Boutique Knits is meant to outfit women with an eye on fashion in a collection of stylish and curiously assembled accessories and layers. I picture the knitter who will be drawn to these projects: She insists on seeing her fashion sensibilities reflected in her handmade projects. She pays attention to the little details on all of her favorite pieces in her wardrobe. She is brilliant and quirky. She’s got even better ideas than she knows. She is a designer or artist, although she may not know it yet.”
Part of the excellent “Teach Yourself Visually” series, this book has a lot of what you’d expect–first, and foremost, lots of pictures. Just about every stitch, every method, every step along the way gets a photo or an illustration, so you’re not left guessing as to what, exactly, you need to do to line your knitted bag, or what a sock’s heel flap should look like. As you’d expect, the pictures are clear and basic. Not fancy, “art” shots that wouldn’t really show you the details you need, but simple, bread-and-butter pictures that do the job.
But, of course, I can’t tell you the JOKES. That would be mean, and would prevent you from the pleasure of discovering the punchlines yourself. And it is, indeed, a pleasure. This book is delightful. It’s fun. It’s light-hearted. It’s clever.
The first thing you need to know is that this is NOT a knitting book. It’s an Art Book.
That is, it’s a book about artists who use knitting as their medium–not paint, not marble, not clay, but knitting.
Today’s guest is Franklin Habit from The Panopticon. (You may know him as housemate to Dolores the sheep.) Franklin has a new book coming out called It Itches. Welcome!
This book, despite its title, is not about knitting in the nude. No, no. (Even the Amazon description says, “No, not that kind of stripping. Strips of fabric! Get your mind out of the gutter….”) The book is all about knitting–not with yarn–but with strips of fabric.
The author writes in the preface: “I wanted something unique, different, and interesting, yet not completely out of the norm. Simple, straight-cut strips of fabric were tied together to make fabric-yarn that was knit into a scarf and two pillows. And that was the beginning of a craze. I embarked on a most incredible year of exploration and learning.”
I need to tell you up-front that felting (fulling) isn’t my favorite knitting technique. It’s handy, I’ve done it, but it’s not usually the kind of technique I gravitate to. That said, when I flipped through this book at the bookstore a couple weeks ago, the patterns kept catching my eye, so that I simply had to take a closer look. The patterns cover quite a variety–bags, pillows, sweaters, hats, rugs, blankets, holiday decorations.
I’ve wanted this book since I read the subtitle, “An Exploration of Knitted Cabled Knots, Rings, Swirls, and Curlicues.” That pretty much sums up the appeal of cables for me–that intricate interweaving playfulness as they wind around–and I think it’s clear that Melissa Leapman likes them for the same reason.
It’s an exploration of what cables are and how they work. Why a cross is different than a twist. The different results when you knit all the cabled stitches, or when you purl some of them. What happens when you reverse all of them, or do a complete, 180-degree twist? The author explores all these questions, in detail, and with great illustrations.
I’ll confess that I mostly bought this book solely because I liked the cover sweater so much, but that I fully expected not to be that impressed with the rest of the book. I’d been disappointed with Lace Style, you see, which wasn’t terrible, but didn’t include anything that I would have wanted to knit. So, I was prepared to feel lukewarm about this one, all for the sake of that cover sweater.
Well, what a pleasant surprise. Out of the seventeen projects, there are fully seven sweaters and three accessory patterns that I would consider making, and four or five of them I really want to make. (Ironically, the cover sweater isn’t one of them. Go figure.)
Let’s check out some of the recent books that have come out, shall we? By recent, I mean, some of the highlights of 2008, and many of which came out too early for me to review here and I thought they–all of them–deserved a mention. This is by no means a complete list, of course, and in no particular sequence except for how I stumbled across them on Amazon (grin).
