This Week's Review

Hi Everyone, Karen has given me permission to contribute to our website, so as an inveterate buyer of craft books and a dedicated internet shopper, I thought I might take this opportunity to review recent purchases and useful websites.


This week's book is "Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Tradition, Techniques and Design" by Nicky Epstein and published by Nicky Epstein Books (ISBN 1-933027-67-3).


It's a delightful coffee-table book, with loads of full-colour photographs as well as very clear technique diagrams and charts. It gives a brief history and background to knitting from around the world (Far North, Windswept Isles [Britain!], Old World, Mediterranean, Far East, New World) and includes a very contemporary pattern based on the styles from each country within the larger area. Included are socks, shawls, scarves, capes and sweaters as well as a dragon soft toy and some very interesting shrugs. Most of the yarn used is American, although Rowan makes an appearance from time to time. Nonetheless, the gauge is given for each pattern should you want to substitute and internet addresses are provided in case you wish to order the actual yarn. It's a pattern book that is worth reading from cover to cover and would make a lovely gift for a knitter. There are some very complex and intricate patterns here which would challenge the experienced knitter, so this is probably not a book to engage a beginner -- but it would certainly give them an idea of what can be done in time. The RRP is £19.99 but Borders on-line have it for £14.99 with free delivery to your local store and Amazon are currently showing it as £9.99 but postage is extra.



If you are still to find the perfect Mother's Day present for a knitter, then you might want to check out Mili Style who make a beautiful collection of silk bags for knitters. I recently treated myself to a gorgeous silver bag, hand embroidered and beaded. I had a promotional code from a magazine which gave me 10% discount, but even without this they seem good value at around £26. This bag is called 'Holly' and is currently half price in the end of line clearance. UK delivery is free! I ordered my bag before lunch and it arrived in the first post the next day. Soon I shall have enough knitting bags to use a different one for each project! The link for Milistyle is:
http://www.milistyle.co.uk/acatalog/index.html
That's all for now. More next week. Ginnie