ISBN: 0942018192
List Price: $34.00
Amazon Price: $34.00
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Avg Cusomer Rating: 5
Reviews:
Summary: The book made me want to give up the day job
This is craft raised to the level of art; mouthwatering. Sweaters (with added socks etc.) mostly two-coloured, mostly knit circular, but I should give special mention to two aspects. One: many of the designs use the all-in-one construction with real innovation, as if an artist had taken a plain 'toile' and painted it without regard to seams, etc, making best use of three dimensions. Second, the book contains pages and pages of charts - not the automatically symmetrical ones you get with fair isle; big, little, corners, bold - for plundering. All I want to do now is knit them and I can't choose which to opt for first.
Summary: Terrific technique section, wonderful charts, pretty designs
First, for those who are not familiar with Joyce Williams, let me offer my humble opinion that she is one of the most inventive knitters alive today. Joyce has an amazing ability to solve little nagging problems that have been deemed "unsolvable" by the greater universe of knitters. This book is chock full of these solutions.The first 30-plus pages of the book concern techniques - including a nice write up Joyce's great two needle circular method (no more double pointed needles when knitting socks!!!) This part of the book is worth the price all by itself. The bulk of the book are Joyce's designs for a variety of garments, most of which are knit in the fair isle or stranding tradition. These are gorgeous garments. One blessing/caveat -- I was lucky enough to participate in a showing of these garments at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp and they are very heavy and warm. It's also important to note that Joyce deliberately leaves out needle sizes and yarn amounts for these patterns. Why? Because most of the sizing is accomplished by changing needles and guage. Her instructions on this are clear but the presentation is likely to be disconcerting for knitters who are used to conventional "blind following" of patterns. The final segment of the book is a terrific collection of charts for stranded or textured knitting. This is where the "Latvian" aspect figures into the art. All of these patterns are based on Latvian weaving patterns. The result is nice group of charts (and resulting knitting) that strongly resembles it's Nordic "cousins" but has its own sort of spice. Bottom-line: An absolute keeper for the technique and charts alone. Not recommended for novices or beginners who are heavily reliant on patterns. A wonderful addition for thinking knitters who miss Elizabeth Zimmermann's works.
Summary: I waited a long time for this book
And was not disappointed. Joyce Williams is a real artist and genius. She's adapted Latvian weaving designs to knitting and...so much more. She has the most innovative techniques for using modules of knitting, I-cord and colors. This is one of the most unique books on knitting, and it's very inspirational. It was worth the wait.
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