Sunday, 7 March 2010

Can you knit&read?!

At the same time, I mean? I can, only I make many mistakes! :D

I've been knitting a lot lately but, besides knitting, I have also been reading about knitting. And I would like to recommend you some of the books that I have come across lately.

The truth is- I'm not really in love with knitting books. I find the majority of very popular books to be non imaginative, overly expensive and often lacking in some basic informations. I apologise to the authors (not that anyone knows who they are!) but it is true. :)
And yet, I do have a secret wish- list and this winter I was lucky enough to actually become the owner of some of the books from that list. But it turns out that some of the books that I'd badly wanted, turned out to be a complete disaster and were erased from my wish-list whilst Luckily, I had a chance to see them before buying them which has saved me some money. At the same time, I fell in love with some other books I didn't even know existed. A few of them are now on my shelves.


Here are some of them:




This is one great book and I'd never even heard of it before this winter. A really great book! Great for beginners, great for intermediate knitters and something every experienced knitter should have or at least read.

And you'll find all sorts of tips and useful explanations in it: cast on, cast off, increases, decreases, blocking, pockets, collars, grafting, short row method, joining yarn, striping, sewing, shaping shoulders (now, that is something that you can't find very often), buttonholes and hems ....many, many great things and yet it is a very simple book. You'll even find some basic tips and advices for shaping garments, taking measurements, adjusting tension etc. ('cause in order to finish something you first have to know how to make it, aye?! :) )




A real jewel, I think it would make a great present for a knitter beginner.
"Knitting on Top of the World" by Nicky Epstein is one of those books that I'd wanted for quite some time and that didn't disappoint me at all. First of all- it is a REAL book , with many pages and many pictures and all. :)))
Second of all- it is full of lovely patterns, inspiring pictures and lovely colours. I'm sure you'd love it.


Now, although my list of great books for lace knitters or, should I say, for the knitters of lace :) is much longer and although I'll probably post it here soon, I just had to mention these two books:
- the first one is called "The Gossamer Webs Design collection". It is a booklet rather than a book is a real treasure for all those interested in mastering Russian shawls from Orenburg. It is probably a rare widely available source of all the tips, techniques and explanations necessary for making traditional Orenburg shawls and it isn't very expensive either.


- the second book is called "Haapsalu sall"and it is a "must have" for every lace knitter especially those who do not own the "original" Leili Reimann's book. In Hapsalu sall you will find what is probably the biggest collection of traditional and lace stitch patterns in general.

This book is still pretty new to me but I think that some of the patterns published in it can be very inspirational for all of us who are still thinking about knitting heavy jumpers and warm shawls and having trouble realising that warm days are just around the corner. I think you could use this book to turn your needles into the direction from which the summer is coming. Because it is on its way!

And, by all means, Jared Flood's "Made in Brooklyn" : brilliant, imaginative, full of fun knits, lovely patterns and actually wearable things. :))) I just love it! You will too- that I can guarantee!



Finally,  there's one more thing that I think you should definitely treat yourself with- the Interweave knits Fall 2009. issue. It is called The Natural issue and I'm not even sure what it is that makes it so special - most patterns are quite simple but they're all amazingly appealing. Bulky yarns, easy yet fascinating knits, natural colours, lovely colour-work, warm hoodies, casual purses....oh, just get this issue, it is great!!!!
Here's what you will find in it (among other just as lovely patterns).

Do I need to say more?! :)

11 comments:

  1. So glad you're back :)))

    What a great collection! I didn't even know of some of these books, thank you :) I'm especially intrigued by Finishing Techniques. Looking forward to your projects.

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  2. yes- me back! Thank you! :)
    Beware- there are two books called Finishing techniques but I think that this one is definitely the winner. ;-)

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  3. Nice to see you back! And what a coincidence, I bought the Jared Flood book last week and am busy knitting huron - bliss!

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  4. hey, aj, nice to see you too!
    And we have another coincidence- i have just CO a new "something" that will eventually become a fairisle raglan jumper, only i'm improvising.

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  5. Sad nemo' da si pisala, pa onda da te opet nema par meseci !!
    Hvala na ovim preporukama, narocito me zanima "Made in Brooklyn", videla sam na njegovom blogu da ima divnih stvari.
    I ja sam dosla do nekih knjiga od kojih su neke predivne, a neke ... onako. Ipak ispadne da kupovati Verenu je sasvim dovoljno, jasno i zadovoljavajuce :)

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  6. slažem se da je većina stvari dostupna iz časopisa i, već znaš- Verena mi je nr.1! Prate je Mani di fata.
    Zato ssam i napravila ovako kratku listu :))))). Jaredova knjiga je zaista fantastična- u krajnjoj liniji, to je malo veći časopis ali on je tako maštovit i svaka mustra je tako originalna da se to ne nalazi često. Zaista, zaista pun pogodak!
    Prva knjiga je korisna, čisto tehnički. Knjiga od Nicky Epstein je puna divnih mustri ali prvenstveno mi je interesantna zobg okupljanja različitih tehnika i etno uzoraka.
    I obećavam- ostajem aktivna. :)

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  7. Hvala na preporukama za knjige, tek da krenemo u odabir neke od njih. Pozdrav. Loredana.

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  8. Posjedujem sve što si nabrojala i daleko više od toga. Mei su knjige uglavnom razočaranje, iz više razloga:
    - modeli koje predlažu rijetko su mi dovoljno zanimljivi
    - dobar dio knjiga troši stranice na info koje su većini poznate, ako baš nisu tek jučer kupili prvu štrenicu s parom igala
    - tek zadnjih godina u anglo izdanja ubacuju i shematske pikaze, meni je tlaka čitati 5 stranica za jedan prosječni džemper
    - za mene su daleko pogodnija izdanja koja se posvećuju tehnici, recimo prva o kojoj pišeš ili općenito izdanja koja ti pomažu riješiti čisto tehnilke probleme
    Nakon ovih par opaski, jasno je da nemam ni najmanje volje trošiti novac (bez obzira što neke knjige i nisu tako skupe) da bih iz knjige napravila tek jednu kapicu. Da ne govorim koliko su mi mrska izdanja koja uporno nude šalove, jednostavne kape ili rukavice bez prstiju - po meni unaprijed bi trebali naglasiti za koji nivo pletačkog iskustva je knjiga pogodna.

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  9. improvising a fair-isle raglan jumper - I am in awe!

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  10. Jako se radujem da si se vratila. I ja nisma veliki fan knjige , ali opet bash sam u zadnje vrme kupila nekoliko :)
    Jeli ti heklash? Sta mislish o knjige za heklanje?

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  11. Welcome back Maja! :D I was wondering where you disappeared to. I know what you mean about the IK Fall issue. Gorgeous patterns, too bad I live in a tropical country. I am on the lookout for Romantic Style though..lots of lovely patterns!

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