Blogging for Books: Knitting Block by Block, by Nicky Epstein

I love this book and anticipate getting a lot of use out of it.  In this very attractive book, Epstein presents a multitude of blocks ranging from the simple (stockinette, basket weave) to the three dimensional (textured flowers, Irish cables) to complex and delicate colorwork (leopard eyes, snowflakes, fair isle) that you can combine into an infinite number of potential projects.  She provides directions for a number of projects, from afghans to stuffed toys, but again, these patterns serve best as a template for your own creations.  At the end of the book she provides three very useful addendums:  edgings to pull the whole project together; attractive joinings; and miniature block pictures to copy and arrange in structural diagrams for project planning.

THIS BOOK PRESUMES A LOT OF KNITTING KNOWLEDGE AND A LOVE OF SLOW, INTRICATE WORK.  I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND IT FOR NOVICES.  Where I felt the book fell down was in providing help for those of us who have an artistic bent but lack an engineering one.  I am starting a baby blanket with embossed bunnies, and after struggling with my sample square I now understand the process, but it took lots of trial and error.  Epstein relies on illustrations and diagrams for explanation, but some words would help us verbal folk.  An explanation of how embossing works (an epiphany hit me mid-square–oh yeah, its’s the knit/purl textural contrast) would have saved lots of frustration.  A review of the basic principles of intarsia would have helped too.

Also, while there’s a useful page on gauge, Epstein provides no guidelines for calculating how much yarn one might need for a project.  I will have to ask at my friendly local yarn store.

 

THIS BOOK HAS BEEN PROVIDED TO ME FOR REVIEW BY BLOGGING FOR BOOKS.