Title: Handknit Holidays: Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice
Author: Melanie Falick
Original Publication Date: Oct 2005; Kindle Edition: Oct 2012
Price at time of review at Amazon:
Kindle edition: $14.74, digital list price $24.99
Book description from Amazon: For many people, the best part of the winter holidays is the anticipation: planning the perfect gifts, decorating the house, looking forward to seeing family and friends. Holidays can be particularly special for knitters, whose preparations often start months in advance and involve their own creations. In Handknit Holidays best-selling knitting author Melanie Falick presents an eclectic collection of more than 50 original gifts, decorations, and clothing pieces for Christmas, Hanukkah, and the winter solstice, providing year-round inspiration for knitters of all levels.
Created by top knitwear designers, the projects include colorful ornaments; funky and classic Christmas stockings; a wire-and-bead menorah; sparkly ribbon scarves; a poncho and matching dog sweater; and a range of super-quick projects for that last-minute holiday rush, from a Santa hat, to elf caps, to flower pins. Rounding out the volume are a few grand projects-an Aran tree skirt, a patchwork afghan, a lace shawl-destined to become family heirlooms, plus features on such topics as the origin of the Christmas stocking, the meaning of the winter solstice, knitting for charities, strategies for finishing holiday knitting (on schedule!), and even a delicious recipe for festive crescent cookies.
Beautifully photographed by Susan Pittard, Handknit Holidays is a creative celebration of the holiday season and a treasure for all knitters who seek to bring more of their own handwork-and artistry-into their daily lives and their holiday festivities.
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My Rating:
 |
| 3.5 out of 5 stars |
My Review:
This book features projects by 30 different well-known designers, each bringing their unique style to the different holiday-themed projects (mostly centered around Christmas and Winter Solstice). Along with the 50+ patterns, there are also stories about the origin of some holiday traditions from around the world, recipes, tips to help organize your holiday knitting, and even a list of charitable knitting opportunities.
Although all of the patterns have clear instructions, there are mistakes in some of the patterns and I would have liked to have seen more pictures of the items in the book. No problem though, since this book was first released in 2005 and therefore most of the problems have been worked out and all the pictures I need of the projects are available on Ravelry: click here to see ravelry projects.
Most of the projects in this book are for the intermediate knitter, but advanced beginners should do fine since there are so many projects to look through on Ravelry to help you through. There are schematics and charts where appropriate and as I mentioned earlier, the instructions are clear, but be sure to check on Ravelry for any known pattern errors. Many of the projects are big and will require some time, so plan ahead. This will be a go-to book for me when I need some gift-giving inspiration.
*Review copy courtesy of Open Road Integrated Media, provided by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!*
My plans for this winter include a few pairs of the Log Cabin socks and if I can find the time, I would love to start the Bohus-inspired Sugarplum Pullover. Stay tuned!
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