****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
Although I may never knit any of the intricately patterned garments in this book, I absolutely love looking at the beautiful photos. With this book, the design on the dust jacket is absolutely representative of the many lovely included designs, and is not necessarily the most attractive design in the entire book.Clearly, this is a pattern book for experienced Fair Isle knitters. Most of the garments are knit at gauges of 22-25 stitches and 28-30 rows to 4 inches, which is an absolute necessity when there is so much fine patterning detail. Also, many of the designs have different patterning in different areas of the garment, so that the knitter will have to refer to more than one chart when knitting the design (take a look at the dust jacket design, which has a patterned panel in front and a lattice pattern elsewhere; and, if you have time, make use of the "Look Inside This Book" feature to see more).However, the author has included a few relatively simple patterns that don't require charts. Both the "Roll Collar Sweater" and the "Cozy Sweater" are knit in plain stockinette with minimal color accents added along the seams.The book starts with a few pages on "Techniques" (e.g., cutting steeks, finishing the facings, small split necks, sewn loops) and "Correcting small problems and mistakes" (e.g., knitting too tightly, loose shoulders, buttonholes are too tight, stranding across too many stitches). In addition, there are a couple of informational pages on "Selbu Knitting" and on knitting "From West Norway". Among other things, the "From West Norway" page discusses the "plastron", which is a knitted and embroidered "ornamental frontispiece" for a woman's dress or dress shirt front. The final pattern in the book is for a cap and wristlets that teach the plastron techniques.My personal favorite pattern is the amusing "Moose", which uses an allover moose motif for the body, along with a Norwegian rose border at the bottom and cuffs. However, I also like the innovative designs that incorporate knitted "straps", side openings with button bands, and applied woven ribbons. And there is a pretty pattern for "White and Blue Cotton Tops" that uses texture (purl stitches on a stockinette background) instead of color to produce diamond patterning.My only criticism is that the complex charts do not use conventional knitting symbols. The charts are printed in full color. This makes them attractive to the eye, but also makes them hard to copy for personal use while knitting unless one has access to a color printer.Adventurous knitters who are not quite ready to tackle such complicated patterns, might want to take a look at Lucinda Guy's Northern Knits: Designs Inspired by the Knitting Traditions of Scandinavia, Iceland, and the Shetland Isles.
