Sock Knitting Books – Inventive Knitters

First, for those who are not familiar with Joyce Williams, let me offer my humble opinion that she is one of the most inventive knitters alive today. Joyce has an amazing ability to solve little nagging problems that have been deemed unsolvable by the greater universe of knitters. This book is chock full of these solutions.

The first 30-plus pages of the book concern techniques - including a nice write up Joyce's great two needle circular method (no more double pointed needles when knitting socks!!!) This part of the book is worth the price all by itself.

The bulk of the book are Joyce's designs for a variety of garments, most of which are knit in the fair isle or stranding tradition. These are gorgeous garments. One blessing/caveat -- I was lucky enough to participate in a showing of these garments at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp and they are very heavy and warm. It's also important to note that Joyce deliberately leaves out needle sizes and yarn amounts for these patterns. Why? Because most of the sizing is accomplished by changing needles and guage. Her instructions on this are clear but the presentation is likely to be disconcerting for knitters who are used to conventional blind following of patterns.

The final segment of the book is a terrific collection of charts for stranded or textured knitting. This is where the Latvian aspect figures into the art. All of these patterns are based on Latvian weaving patterns. The result is nice group of charts (and resulting knitting) that strongly resembles it's Nordic cousins but has its own sort of spice.

Bottom-line: An absolute keeper for the technique and charts alone. Not recommended for novices or beginners who are heavily reliant on patterns. A wonderful addition for thinking knitters who miss Elizabeth Zimmermann's works.

Also see; socks.

About The Author:

Rony Swede is a successful author and regular contributor to http://www.socks-n-socks.com. Having indulged in countless sporting activites over the years, Rony is a self-appointed expert on socks and enjoys sharing his insights with consumers.

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