New Books

Vintage Baby Knits: More Than 40 Heirloom Patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s - $30

This is a great new book! It's got piles of attractive and not overly complicated patterns you'll want to knit. They have done a great job of interpreting and updating vintage styles for today. Many of the yarns used are reasonable, washable, and easy enough to substitute if you can't find it or don't want to spend that much. The patterns are original, not the kind of thing you can find for free all over the internet. Projects range from cardigans, pullovers, several blankets, soakers, toys, hats, a hood, a pretty lace dress, kimono, sailor top, an old fashioned snow suit (with leggings), slippers, pants. Sizes vary from pattern to pattern and range from 3 to 24 months.  In additon to the patterns, the book is just plain pretty. Lots of pictures of adorable babies, the colours used are pretty and the layout is very attractive.  Good job folks!  This is definitely a quality purchase.

Design It, Knit It: Secrets from the Designer's Studio - $26.95

I was very curious to see this book and find out what veteran knitting designer Debbie Bliss has to share. First off, this book is not exclusively for people who want to design knits, there are lots of gorgeous Debbie Bliss patterns, 3 per chapter, 36 total. Each pattern ilustrates a design principle that she is discussing, but you certainly don't have to read the chapter to knit the garment.  As far as the design part, she has filled in a huge gap in the literature. Deborah Newton's Designing Knitwear is the bible, it's strenght is teaching you the logistics of how to construct a knit from the ground up, but the aesthetic side of desiging garments is missing. Debbie steps in and teaches you the nuances of design, especcially the details she is so well know for. She discusses incorporating shaping, colour and texture while maintaining proportion. Then she delved  into designing for children, and a design workbook at the end which includes knitters graph paper. Just one caveat: this book is very inspiring but is not a replacement for more technical guides.  The chapters are brief, they are not exhaustive lists of different types of details you can add, how to design complicated shaping or sizing. If you want analytical support I suggest you looks at Deborah Newton's Designing Knitwear.