book review: The Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting: Step-by-Step Techniques, Easy-to-Follow Stitch Patterns, and Projects to Get You Started by Lynne Watterson

The Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting: Step-by-Step Techniques, Easy-to-Follow Stitch Patterns, and Projects to Get You Started by Lynne Watterson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I love lace, both knitting lace & crocheting lace. I'm a big fan of bright, bold, color, too, but there's just something about lace that makes my heart beat a little faster.

This was a new to me book, that I randomly found searching through the online interlibrary loan system. Having never heard of it, I immediately had to request it. Apparantly I'm not alone in this; this book or any projects found in it are not to be found on Ravelry.

If you've never knit lace before, there's a good primer in the beginning. Having knit some lace, other than flipping through & looking at the clear, close up photos, I skipped that section & got right to the meat of the book - various lace stitches, with some projects thrown in for good measure. There's a plain, short sleeved lace tee that I liked, using an arrowhead design, but it's not anything any good knitter couldn't figure out on his or her own.

There's a few edging patterns at the end of the book, but they aren't anything new to me or terribly exciting.

All in all... I give the book 3 stars because it's laid out very well, the photos are great, the instructions look very clear, but there's nothing very new here. Of course, it is called the Very Easy Guide to Lace Knitting, and that's exactly what's here.

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book review: Practical Duct Tape

Practical Duct Tape Projects by Instructables
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I picked this up for free, and didn't realize it was put together from Instructables. Anybody who does DIY projects is aware of this site, one I don't really frequent because the vast majority of the projects posted there are poor quality, with even poorer instructions and photography.They put out several others, different titles and subjects, all are equally horrible in quality.

This "book" is simply a compliation of projects from the site, which includes frequent advertising for the website. The directions are complete with typos, nothing is edited and the projects shown are those only suitable for children.

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Brave New Knits

Brave New Knits: 26 Projects and Personalities from the Knitting Blogosphere by Julie Turjoman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

With a foreword from Jessica, one of the co-owners of the "facebook for knitters" site ravelry.com, I jumped at the chance to get a copy of this book to review from netgalley.com. While the galley was very rough (there were notes back & forth in between the actual text, and I had a few dozen pages of garbage to skip through), the true light of the book shown through. Different designers shared a project, something that was suggestive of the designer's usual style.

The book comes with 26 patterns, divided up into different sections that's the usual for knitting books. There's a good variety of projects in different skill sets. Each one starts with a little biography about the designer & their blogging history/background, before one dives into the pattern. There were a couple of projects that caught my eye especially, including "Working all the Angles" blanket & the Lubov Scarf.

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Crocheted Prayer Shawl Companion: book review

The Crocheted Prayer Shawl Companion: 37 Patterns to Embrace, Inspire, and Celebrate Life by Janet Bristow
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I was lucky to get an e-version of this book through netgalley.com.

I am a crocheter, and have made many, many shawls to give away to people. Though in my mind, I don't call them "prayer" shawls, they are along the same idea - to give comfort to someone needing help. I was very eager to both read, and to make something out of this book. The shawls are beautifully photographed, with a variety of skill levels. Each shawl has a little intro, usually a little story about why the shawl was made or designed, and who it was given to. Heartbreaking stories, that make you want to save the world, one shawl at a time. There's also a little section about the history of the prayer shawl, a story which I'm already familiar with, but went into a little more detail.

I was a little disappointed in the actual shapes of the shawls - I prefer to make shaped shawls, i.e. a triangle, a half circle, a farose or 3/4 shawl, etc., and there were very few in the book. There were also a couple of extremely basic, granny square type shawls which I personally felt was a waste of space in the book. Granny squares have been around as long as there have been crocheters, and there are dozens of free patterns for granny square shawls, both in leaflets & on the internet (I have one, too).

All in all, though, I do believe that this book is a wonderful resource, and it's worth buying just for the stories if nothing else.

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Modern Top Down Knitting

Modern Top-Down Knitting: Sweaters, Dresses, Skirts & Accessories Inspired by the Techniques of Barbara G. Walker by Kristina McGowan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I'm a big fan of seamless knitting, especially top down knitting, & I'm definitely a Barbara Walker fan as well. I got this book out of the library after seeing some of the projects people made on Ravelry, because I've been itching for a new top down project.

There are some gorgeous, but impractical projects in the book - Jill's dress comes immediately to mind. I love the simple, classic lines, one color, in a multitude of sizes from 32" to 51" (finished measurements). But... the fact remains, how many people are going to actually knit a dress, at 5 sts/inch, using a beautiful, but expensive yarn? As a knitter, I definitely know that it's more often about the process then the finished object, but in the case of a dress... I do think it's going to be a lot about the finished object. A quick google search yields me an average price of $9/skein - which isn't too bad, really, but you need 10 skeins for the smallest size, yielding a dress of $90. In my size, however, that quickly jumps to almost $110. Of course you can always sub yarns, but this is a dress after all... Considering I buy my dresses at the thrift store, I won't be making this anytime soon, no matter how gorgeous I think it is.

I also really like the Blueberry Cardigan, that calls for Blue Sky Alpaca Silk, that averages $13/skein. I love the stitches used in this, but I'd personally mod the cardigan so much, my finished object would bear little with the original.

Looking for a smaller project? There's a cute hat, Mulberry Hat, that I really like... but there are a dozen very similiar, free hats available online (ditto the Pigeon hat).

My conclusion? If this technique is new to you &/or you don't have any other top down books in your library, then it's definitely worth buying for the infomation, but if you are already familiar with top down knitting... get the book from the library.

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A Homemade Christmas: Creative Ideas for an Earth-Friendly, Frugal, Festive Holiday by Tina Barseghian

A Homemade Christmas: Creative Ideas for an Earth-Friendly, Frugal, Festive Holiday by Tina Barseghian
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

A very disappointing book. Being a crafter, & growing up always making homemade presents because that's just what we did (and of course a lack of money, too) I had really high hopes for this book. But I didn't see one idea that was original in the book. Everything was way, way too basic/simplistic - hang up Christmas lights! Reuse your Christmas cards! Buy a real tree or get a used fake one (what does that have to do with a *homemade* Christmas, anyway? Last I knew, buying a used tree doesn't count as handmade).

And even if you came across an idea that you liked, that was new to you (it's possible, if the person who bought the book doesn't go online at all), there are no real instructions to guide you on your way, and no photographs to give you an idea of where you were headed, either.



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Knitted Teddy Bear

The Knitted Teddy Bear: Make Your Own Heirloom Toys, with Dozens of Patterns for Unique Clothing. by Sandra Polley by Sandra Polley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

CUTE! cute, cute cute teddy bears, how can one resist?

These are fully jointed, "real" teddy bears, like grown up teddy bears you'd pay $100 for in the store, complete with clothing. Though I think these teddy bears are more intended for adult collectors then children, with some minor adapting they'd be great for any kid in your life who wants a new friend.

There's a LOT of assembly, a lot of little fiddly pieces to make and sew together. Everything is well explained, however. The other great thing about making bears and bear clothes is that you don't need a lot of yarn or a lot of fancy yarn, to make these critters.

There's the usual how to section in the beginning of the book, geared towards making a good, well finished teddy bear, including sewing and embroidery.

The patterns for the bears are spelled out, so you not only know you are knitted the head, but which part of the head you are knitting - hints like this really do make patterns more accessible for beginner knitters. It's not the knitting that is hard, so much as the pattern reading that can be hard.







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Fair Isle Sweaters Simplifed

Fair Isle Sweaters Simplified: Philosopher's Wool [With Book Comes W/Flaps] by Ann Bourgeois
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I received a copy of this book from paperbackbookswap. I've often gotten it from the library, and actually learned how to knit fair isle from this book years ago. The sweaters are gorgeous & most of them are easy enough for beginner fair isle knitters. My favorite is a sweater that actually uses slipped stitches and fair isle knitting.

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book review: Casting Spells

Casting Spells by Barbara Bretton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I saw a review of this book on another blog - sorry, original blogger, I didn't save the post - and since I'm an obsessive knitter & obsessed with vampires, witches, fairies, and the like, I immediately requested the book from interlibrary loan.

You'll saw my huge library pile I got last week, this book was in it. Well, it was the first one to be picked up from the stack (even though I was reading 3 other books at one time), and I absolutely laughed out loud - literally made my cat cross eyed with me - from the very first page. Obviously Bretton was sincere in her desire to make a GOOD knitting fiction book; it's been done before, but usually the knitting references are done in passing, and it's obvious the writer has no real connection to knitting (an exception is The Shop on Blossom Street, by Debbie Macomber). The addition of paranormal elements made me just giddy. There's a bit of romance, which I'm not a huge fan of, but the book is so well written, I felt myself rooting for the relationship between Chloe & Luke all the same.

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review: Yarn

Yarn: Remembering the Way Home by Kyoko Mori
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

As a knitter & crocheter, naturally I enjoy reading about the subject, whether a non-fiction or a fiction book. This book is a memoir about Kyoko's life, starting with her childhood & a personal tragedy. She grows up, moves to America, gets married, and lives her life. The stories about her life, are intertwined with stories about learning to knit, making her first sweater, discovering circular knitting & Elizabeth Zimmermann. I'm a huge fan of EZ, so whenever someone talks about discovering her for the first time, I get a big thrill.

I am giving this book four stars for two reasons: one, I had difficulties keeping track of time. She goes back to her childhood so often, that I often couldn't tell if she was talking about the past or the present. Towards the end, she was retelling a story involving her husband that I thought took place in the past, until I realized after rereading it, she actually meant the present.

Two, I felt the story moved along slowly - I guess I just like more action in my books.

Again, these are just my personal opinions, just because I felt the book moved slowly doesn't mean someone else wouldn't greatly love the pacing.



I received a copy of this book for free from netgalley.com

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