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Hollywood Knits, Norsk Strikkedesign
I just made a long friends-only post about my evening, which was the Tori concert. I had a good time. I'm feeling a little under the weather, now. I missed my puppy. (awww.)
I got my copy of Suss Cousins's book Hollywood Knits in the mail today... one of the recent crop of Hip Young Knitter books. To be honest, I haven't liked a lot of them... I want to see the Sally Melville Knitting Experience books, and Knitting Pretty (by... Kris Perceval, I think?), but I've seen a lot of the others. Very disappointed in Hip to Knit by Judith Swartz. The Yarn Girls' Guide is nice, but pretty basic, and uses expensive yarns. The Urban Knitter, ed by Lily Chin, is pretty cool as far as it goes, though the book itself is hampered by the fact that none of its projects are shown on models... I have it, I've used it, I like it, and the price is great, and it has shoes in it! But all I really want is a v-neck raglan pattern, shaped or close to the body, with overly-long, slightly-belled sleeves. But noooo... if I want this, I'll have to design it myself.
(I think this all means that... I am progressing out of being a "beginner". I've already taught several people to knit, albeit not terribly well, and if Marcia is interested I'll teach her as much as I can. But I'm noticing that I'm starting to get bored with plain patterns, and starting to be interested in colorwork and lace, and feeling less intimidated than I did a year or so ago, and etc. Yay! I wondered how you know when you're, like, "Intermediate" - when you've gone up a level - and now I understand a little. Though I still feel intimidated by some Intermediate patterns.)
At any rate, of this new crop of books, a few have really caught my eye and impressed me... Hollywood Knits (which will compete nicely with your latest issue of the Rowan seasonal book), and Norsk Strikkedesign, which I will get to a little later.
I was wary of the advance press for HK, because of some commentary insinuating, um, a bit of starfucking on the part of Suss Cousins. She is actually a Swedish knitter who has done a lot of film costuming - the recent Grinch and Scooby Doo movies, The Matrix Reloaded (I don't know if she did the original movie too... maybe). I like the designs in this book... there's a cowl, a couple of interesting hats and scarves, some baby stuff, some men's sweaters, a strange little "ballerina wrap", pillows and throws, a couple of fantastic bag designs (including a water bottle holder and a cellphone holder), and a handful of really lovely women's sweaters. I don't really like that all her cardigans are single-closure-at-the-top style, or that her "large" sweaters are still, by my standards, pretty small (if the "large" is my size or smaller, the sizes are running too small - this is also a problem for me with Rowan, but nowhere else. I have a 40" chest, thanks). But I like the sweaters! There is the pattern for the Velma sweater, and for the skating sweater from Serendipity. The "stars" showcased in the book aren't really obnoxious ones... Julia Sweeney, Julianne Moore, etc. I got this one from Amazon and I think it will end up being worth it, even if I just make some bags as presents for people.
On the other hand, I can't find Norsk Strikkedesign (originally published in Europe, now available in English translation in the US) ANYWHERE on Amazon. It's basically a book of Fair Isle sweaters and a couple of arans. And it's beautiful... anyone who likes Alice or Jade Starmore should be interested. You can see the book and some designs HERE. I would like to do the Page 8 "Virgin" jacket, the p26 Swan sweater, p50 Princess Line sweater, p60 Rainbow Jacket, p66 Short Blue Sweater, and maybe p118, "The Season of Darkness and Winter Light" (which is a short swing jacket). You can go to the website and click on the pics to see larger views. These things are gorgeous! But it looks like if I want the book, I will have to pay full price from some knitting store or other. *gnaw*
(you can also get the kits, with different prices and crappy pictures, HERE.)
I got my copy of Suss Cousins's book Hollywood Knits in the mail today... one of the recent crop of Hip Young Knitter books. To be honest, I haven't liked a lot of them... I want to see the Sally Melville Knitting Experience books, and Knitting Pretty (by... Kris Perceval, I think?), but I've seen a lot of the others. Very disappointed in Hip to Knit by Judith Swartz. The Yarn Girls' Guide is nice, but pretty basic, and uses expensive yarns. The Urban Knitter, ed by Lily Chin, is pretty cool as far as it goes, though the book itself is hampered by the fact that none of its projects are shown on models... I have it, I've used it, I like it, and the price is great, and it has shoes in it! But all I really want is a v-neck raglan pattern, shaped or close to the body, with overly-long, slightly-belled sleeves. But noooo... if I want this, I'll have to design it myself.
(I think this all means that... I am progressing out of being a "beginner". I've already taught several people to knit, albeit not terribly well, and if Marcia is interested I'll teach her as much as I can. But I'm noticing that I'm starting to get bored with plain patterns, and starting to be interested in colorwork and lace, and feeling less intimidated than I did a year or so ago, and etc. Yay! I wondered how you know when you're, like, "Intermediate" - when you've gone up a level - and now I understand a little. Though I still feel intimidated by some Intermediate patterns.)
At any rate, of this new crop of books, a few have really caught my eye and impressed me... Hollywood Knits (which will compete nicely with your latest issue of the Rowan seasonal book), and Norsk Strikkedesign, which I will get to a little later.
I was wary of the advance press for HK, because of some commentary insinuating, um, a bit of starfucking on the part of Suss Cousins. She is actually a Swedish knitter who has done a lot of film costuming - the recent Grinch and Scooby Doo movies, The Matrix Reloaded (I don't know if she did the original movie too... maybe). I like the designs in this book... there's a cowl, a couple of interesting hats and scarves, some baby stuff, some men's sweaters, a strange little "ballerina wrap", pillows and throws, a couple of fantastic bag designs (including a water bottle holder and a cellphone holder), and a handful of really lovely women's sweaters. I don't really like that all her cardigans are single-closure-at-the-top style, or that her "large" sweaters are still, by my standards, pretty small (if the "large" is my size or smaller, the sizes are running too small - this is also a problem for me with Rowan, but nowhere else. I have a 40" chest, thanks). But I like the sweaters! There is the pattern for the Velma sweater, and for the skating sweater from Serendipity. The "stars" showcased in the book aren't really obnoxious ones... Julia Sweeney, Julianne Moore, etc. I got this one from Amazon and I think it will end up being worth it, even if I just make some bags as presents for people.
On the other hand, I can't find Norsk Strikkedesign (originally published in Europe, now available in English translation in the US) ANYWHERE on Amazon. It's basically a book of Fair Isle sweaters and a couple of arans. And it's beautiful... anyone who likes Alice or Jade Starmore should be interested. You can see the book and some designs HERE. I would like to do the Page 8 "Virgin" jacket, the p26 Swan sweater, p50 Princess Line sweater, p60 Rainbow Jacket, p66 Short Blue Sweater, and maybe p118, "The Season of Darkness and Winter Light" (which is a short swing jacket). You can go to the website and click on the pics to see larger views. These things are gorgeous! But it looks like if I want the book, I will have to pay full price from some knitting store or other. *gnaw*
(you can also get the kits, with different prices and crappy pictures, HERE.)
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i too am frustrated with the patterns that are available for both knitting and crocheting. even the books that say they're "hip" or "young" or whatever just aren't what i'm looking for. argh.
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i think hollywood knits has a greater variety of stuff though, from a long stripey stocking ski cap, to the different bag designs (which are all awesome), to the simple men's sweaters, etc. most of it is pretty similar to Rowan stuff but uses different yarns and is maybe a bit more whimsical.
the book that i thought was really boring was Hip to Knit.
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Can you recommend any good sites, books, etc. for a newbie? It's getting cold and I wanna make myself a cute stripey scarf ;)
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i taught myself! i got a book called The Harmony Guide to Knitting Techniques. it's a very large (think sheet-music-sized), thin paperback, around $20. and i taught myself with that and the book "the knitting goddess", which is all newagey.
that Yarn Girls Guide to Simple Knits - which is about $30 but a little less on Amazon - has a ton of simple patterns and the whole first half of the book is instruction.
i have an article from Real Simple somewhere about knitting a stripey scarf. I'll see if I can find and scan it. It's about a year old, might be worth checking the library. it has basic knit instructions and the scarf pattern.
but, if you decide to go without a pattern (which should be no problem...)
i'd recommend using Brown Sheep Co's Lamb's Pride Bulky Superwash. The yarn for a nice soft woolly scarf should be around $20 total. you can get the yarn at knittingonline.com - check out the bulky yarns page. get some needles too, the size for that yarn is #10. i like brittany birch 10" needles but you could also try bamboo, or even susan bates. (I really hate the Boye metal needles they sell at walmart!) you can also get those needles at knittingonline.com, but if you go for bamboo, get them elsewhere & get Clover brand. all that site sells is Plymouth brand bamboo, which i have had BAD experiences with.
there is one little trick with stripes i'll tell you about if you need to know.... if you get far enough along. you need to mark the "front" (first side you knit on) and "back" of your piece if you start it. a safety pin is fine. basically, IIRC, you need to start a new stripe when you're about to knit a back-side row (IE, the "back" is facing you).
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vogueknitting.com
learntoknit.com
and the various knitting mags. try family circle easy knitting or interweave knits. they usually have a couple of good, easy projects that aren't cheesy.
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you can find yarn shops in yr phone book usually under "yarn". some of them might give lessons or a beginners class or something!
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Kid's Knitting is an incredible guide and it has patterns for hats, scarves, pocket scarves and the cutest sweater - all in adult & kiddie sizes.
And the explanations and pictures are SO EASY.
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they look like you had to really stretch the fabric to fit it over yr boobs. :(
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i got back into seed beading, after flirting with it right around the time i got out of high school, and i remembered how much i hate it. so lately, i have been on a bit of a Knitting Kick, after falling out of it for a while (when i was knitting only at school during lecture/discussion classes where profs didnt mind). and it's something productive i can do while i'm watching tv in the evening or etc.
i feel more like an enthusiastic puppy tho. like i said, i'm just starting to feel like i can tackle "advanced beginner" and intermediate projects. and surprised to find myself really wanting to do fair isle. the problem is that i hate 80s preppie fair isle, dorky ski sweaters, but i see stuff like Alice and Jade Starmore's colorwork and like the Norsk Strikkedesign book and THOSE are really great, like tapestries or something, and that's what I want to do. sweaters like ones i've had in my head for many years.
otoh, as far as the books... i think everyone should check out different books & decide for themselves. i do like that Yarn Girls book, but i think the stuff in it is too simple and maybe too similar to stuff i already have, since i have a couple of years of magazines here and a small stack of books. i have a similar feeling about a lot of the other "simple knitting" books that are coming out. and i've just gotten bored, after 3 garter scarves, of doing garter stitch! but i also have certain preferences for sweater patterns and so on. i'm trying to retrain myself, so i buy MORE yarn and FEWER books.
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thanks for the other book recs.
i just learned how to knit. i started out with white, just knitting, about 20 stitches, size 7 needles. the joke was that i was knitting toilet paper! : )
i unraveled that and started on my first project - a black (single-color), ribbed (knit 2, perl 2) alpaca scarf. i had to cast on about 20 times (no joke!) because i kept screwing up the 2nd row. that darned 2nd row is the death of me! finally i have about 6 inches done. i know it has a few mistakes, but i don't care - i'm going for it!
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