Handknit Holidays by Melanie Falick, c. 2005, offers so much more than its title implies. Although dedicated to Christmas, Hanukkah and Winter Solstice, this volume contains more than 50 projects that make for wonderful year round knitting and gift giving. Only a few of the designs are actually holiday-specific, including: an ethnic fair isle/intarsia combination that results in an heirloom worthy tree skirt; an exquisite pillow, featuring a variety of decorative knitting stitches in the shape of a menorah, set against a reverse stockinette background; and a bobble laden adorable Santa Claus hat “brimming” with holiday spirit. I love the book because the designs are rich in learning experiences for a variety of knitting techniques. You will see bead embroidery embellishing feminine alpaca/silk gloves, modular techniques used to coordinate scarf to hat; a lace panel delineating the back seam of a pair of Victorian over-the-knee socks, and double knitting used to make an especially warm, reversible scarf. This book is a keeper!
Last Minute Knitted Gifts, c. 2004, is written by Joelle Hoverson, shop owner of Purl, located in Soho New York. This is a beautifully photographed collection that uses yarns carried in the store. The shop, as well as the yarns required, still exist and are readily available. The projects are very cleverly arranged in chapters according to the number of hours estimated for completion. So, thinking in terms of ETA (Estimated Time of Arrival), if you have 0-2 hours of knitting time, think about some adorable angora booties; 2-4 hours will result in Cascade 220 Leg Warmers; 4-6 hours for Blue Sky Alpaca Draw String Pouches; and some fabulous stuffed animals estimated to arrive in 6-8 hours! Who said knitting can not be fit into our busy lives?
Knitting Never Felt Better, by Nicky Epstein, c. 2007, may just as aptly been titled “Felting Never Made Better Looking Knits”. This book is rich with ideas that will take you and the felting process to totally new levels and way beyond the hot water cycle on your washing machine. Here you will see how to apply the felting technique to lace work, stranded knitting, intarsia, textural stitches, mosaic knitting, drop stitch knitting, and those beloved cables. In addition, the use of I-cords, beads and embroidery to embellish felted backgrounds is described and illustrated. Who knew that laundering woolens could result in such creative designs!
Sweater Design in Plain English, by Maggie Righetti, c. 1990, is a workhorse of a text, having survived 19 years in print and still proving itself to be a valuable source of information. This volume guides the reader through the basics of understanding how various fibers behave; knitting for specific body types; taking accurate measurements; choosing appropriate stitch patterns and colors; reviewing knitting techniques; and calculating the arithmetic necessary to execute well fitting garments. I enjoyed reading the book, page by page, rather than jumping “to the good parts”, because there is a lot to learn in each section. The second part of the book uses particular sweater projects as examples of how to formulate a pattern. Unfortunately, the designs are somewhat outdated but the principles and lessons are invaluable to those who hope to take that step toward designing original knitwear.
Jackets, by Jean Frost, c. 2003 is an XRX publication that I thoroughly enjoyed leafing through. Although the book contains mainly designs for jackets in the Chanel style, many stitch patterns are provided for creating interesting fabrics as well as edge details such as borders and slits. So, even if you don’t go for Coco’s classic, tailored look, consider applying some of these luscious woven textural fabrics and applied details to more unstructured silhouettes. I know I plan to!
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Any member of the Guild who is interested in borrowing any one of the 10 books reviewed to date, may e-mail us at liknitcrochetguild.gmail.com.
Greetings From Knit Café, by Suzan Mischer, c. 2006, is the product of a young woman who is living out many of our own fantasies. That is, she left her stressful high power job as an executive at CBS to raise her children in Los Angeles. She soon became an avid knitter, honing her skills in a local Starbucks coffee shop after dropping her children off at school in the mornings. Like many of us, she dreamed of opening a yarn store for knitters to congregate and relax, complete with soothing beverages, good food, music, books and an eclectic mix of her own favorite yarns. The store opened in 2002 and welcomes knitters 7 days/week.
Knitorama, by Rachael Matthews, c. 2005, is a collection of some of the zaniest projects I have ever seen and believe it or not, many of them are actually quite functional! Among the projects are cotton dishcloths, which can be washed and bleached repeatedly, are a great way to experiment with a variety of stitch patterns, and as stated in the book, are a way to “feel proud as you leave it draped and drying over the taps”. Fried Egg Ear Muffs (theirs are sunny side up) are crocheted and merely slip over your auricles. That’s pretty zany, right? In addition, there are shoelaces, duster gloves, apple protectors, sponge covers, booties to cover the ends of the drumsticks of your Thanksgiving turkeys and brassieres to choose from.
101 Designer One-Skein Wonders, edited by Judith Durant, c. 2007, is a book I have seen many times in bookstores as well as local craft outlets and I have always passed on purchasing it. Having to peruse it more carefully today, I see now that I really did not “get” what makes this volume unique and worth reading. The problem I had was that all the projects are pictured (3-4 per page) within the first 32 pages. You really need to study these photographs carefully to determine if you would want to knit an item because you don’t get any second looks or additional views of the projects before turning to pages 33 - 256 of printed instructions. However, once you decide, as I did, that you love the Christening Shawl, 3 Seasons Lace Vest, Rhea Lace Stole, Dogwood Blossom Wrap, Ruffled Neck Warmer, Horseshoe Messenger Bag, Cable Mittens, Cabled Baglet, and Cross Stitch Scarf, you will head for the chapters which, by the way, are organized by yarn gauge. Now that’s unique!____________________________________________________________________ 
Yarnplay, by Lisa Shobhana Mason, c. 2006, is a well organized book containing an introduction that discusses yarns, needles, and tools. The projects follow and are organized according to items for the household, clothing accessories, sweaters, vests and tank tops. The photographs are beautiful, plentiful and especially informative because they depict a variety of angles and details for each of the projects in this volume. The author is very specific about the yarns she chose for each project. So, if your stash happens to contain some very well known brands including Rowan, Araucania, Filatura di Crosa, Lorna’s Laces, South West Trading Company, Artyarns or Noro, you are in luck!____________________________________________________________________ 