Every knitter has a knitting book library. Since I'm still relatively new to extensive knitting (I knitted a million garter stitch scarves before finally branching out into new stuff), my library is still relatively small. But I received the gift of another new knitting book last Saturday (thanks Drea!) and I just read it and want to review it today. Book 97 for the year 2011 is Mastering Color Knitting by Melissa Leapman.
Color knitting -- Fair Isle, intarsia, or double-knitting, can be a daunting prospect. In her book, Leapman breaks down the fundamentals of each of these techniques, making them slightly more approachable and somewhat less scary. Fair Isle, the kind of knitting you think of when you picture fancy Scandinavian sweaters, is the art of color knitting in patterns over many rows, carrying the unused colors on the other side of the knitting in floats. Intarsia, or "picture-knitting", is just what it sounds like -- knitting pictures into your knitting without carrying the unused yarn. Double-knitting is a technique where the knitter works both sides of the knitting at the same time, but in contrasting colors and patterns. All of these are more intermediate skills, but Leapman breaks them down so as to make the knitter more comfortable.
There are loads of pictures and charts, most of them colored, and even a handy graph in the back that Leapman encourages the reader to photocopy and use in designing his or her own color knitting. The book boasts 12 original patterns ranging from easy -- a throw pillow, a hat -- to challenging -- a full fair isle sweater with steeking.
I really enjoyed reading this book, and it's definitely pushing my itch to try some color knitting of my own. Perhaps the Selbu hat pattern that I mentioned before? Gotta wait until after Christmas when my knitting is done!
Rating: ****
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