Product Description

This collection of 31 elegant and ingenious scarf designs tap the expertise of more than 25 knitwear designers who offer new ways to think about this most basic of garments. Designs by Kathryn Alexander, Debbie Bliss, Nancy Bush, Lily Chin, Nicky Epstein, Sasha Kagan, Sally Melville, and Kristin Nicholas are included, representing a varied exploration of techniques that provide innovative ways to think about knitting and crochet. Sections on knitting and crochet basics, making a scarf without a pattern, and a designer's notebook with templates for basic scarves and suggestions for design variations are provided.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #180292 in Books
• Published on: 2004-09-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Dimensions: 1.38 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 152 pages

From Publishers Weekly
More than 30 knitwear designers have contributed their innovative patterns to this impressive collection, which features gorgeous, full-color photographs of various scarves, capes, capelets and stoles. Because of their quick construction, editor Allen (co-author of Knitting for Dummies) calls scarves the "comfort food of knitting," likening them to, of all things, pasta. "Like pasta, scarves can be created with little effort and few basic materials," she writes. While this is true, the patterns found here are largely for intermediate and advanced knitters, though all knitters will appreciate the beauty and complexity of these designs. Kathleen Power Johnson’s Lady Eleanor Entrelac Stole is an elegant creation of hand-dyed tweed yarns woven together in a vaguely medieval style, making it a cozy addition to any woman’s wardrobe. And designers Debbie Bliss, Norah Gaughan and Lily Chin offer ideas for children, women and men that utilize color-work, beading, crochet and other innovative techniques. From Lisa Daniels’s cabled Vintage Velvet stunner to Teva Durham’s whimsical Blue Collar capelet to Amanda Blair Brown’s chic, spiral scarf (aptly called Ruffles), this book has plenty of patterns to inspire creativity, as well a Design Notebook section for those who want to craft their own unique scarves.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"Absolutely not what you'd expect for a book about scarves.... Very few rectangles, but a lot of delightful surprises." -- Knitty.com

"All of the design are beautifully photographed showing stitch detail and the colors sing!" -- INKnitters magazine

"Gorgeous knit and crochet patterns…A must-have for experienced knitters who love scares." -- Seattle Post-Intelligencer

"Saying ‘incredible’ in ten different languages would be a good way to begin this review... definitely a must-have book." -- Knit ‘N Style

"Simply the single most elegant fiber arts book I’ve seen to date." -- Crochet Me

"Some of the most innovative and interesting scares you can imagine." -- Knitnet.com

"The best of the latest crop…This is knitting as adventure." -- The News & Observer

"The designs are wonderful and creative. There are interesting and helpful notes given with each pattern." -- Knitting News

"This is one of the nicest books of scarves I’ve seen in ages…truly imaginative." -- Textile Fibre Forum magazine

About the Author
Pam Allen is the editor of Interweave Knits and coauthor of Knitting for Dummies. Her designs have been featured in Melanie Falick's Knitting in America. She lives in Camden, Maine.

Customer Reviews

Great Scarves, bad photography
I consider myself an intermediate knitter and was really hesitant about getting this book. I didn't think I'd have anything to learn from a scarf book. Boy was I wrong. There are some really great ideas here; ones that you can also translate into a larger garment like a poncho or even a sweater. The instructions are clear and easy to follow.

My problem is with the photography. While they are great photos they often focus more on the model's face than on the scarves. Many of the photos either don't show all of the scarf or have a soft-focus so that your eyes get bleary trying to see the how the stitch pattern hangs at the bottom of the scarf. You get great impressions of the scarf but not a good look at them. I would definitely want this photographer to take pictures at my wedding or of my kids, but I found her style very frustrating when trying to get a picture of what the knitted item looks like.

Scarves for EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE
This book has scarves for everyone. There are manly cables, colorful tapestries, dainty laces. There is a fuzzy, elegant mohair wrap that is a scarf, yeah, it's just a scarf and Itzhak Perlman is just a fiddler.

There are funky scarves with fringe in the middle instead of the ends (like a serape), there are chenille scarves, intricate intarsia dragons, plain garter, you name it. If you were a knitter who wanted to start with scarves and grow into knitting techniques, this book would take you from relatively simple knitting to magnificent advanced technique. All while making your Christmas presents for friends and family. My particular favorite was a weird but wonderful shrug; it's two arms and a turtleneck and NOTHING else--like a body-less sweater. I love it--if you want your shoulders and wrists warm, but are too hot in a conventional turtleneck, this may be for you. If you don't want to face questions about where the rest of the sweater went (moths?) then you can wrap the arms around your neck as if it were a standard scarf. Is that fun or what? I'm knitting one for me, for sure.

I'm going on record saying I like the photography. This is a fun, fun book and really changed my mind about scarves. Not boring anymore, no way. Highly recommended for almost any knitter, but especially those who are familiar with colorwork, texture, intarsia and cabling. And there are a few crochet patterns as well. Highly recommended if you want to knit a scarf.

Soft focus on scarves
I ordered this book and could hardly wait to receive it. It arrived today and having just looked through it, I can't comment on the accuracy or clarity of the patterns. The range of styles and skill levels seems to be just what I was hoping for. That being said, my only complaint, thus far, is that the photography is beautiful, but useless if you want to really see how the scarf looks, how it is put together, how the pattern(s) works, etc. For the most part, the full length photos are in soft-focus, with the clearest focus being the part of the scarf that is tied or wrapped around the neck. The "tail" of the scarf, which would give you the best idea of its pattern or construction, is fuzzy. The small photos showing the details of the stitch pattern certainly don't give any idea how the overall scarf looks. For example, one scarf has an intricate color pattern forming a good portion of the ends; the center is an Aran pattern. One photo focuses on the color portion with the cabled portion blurred; another focuses only on the Aran pattern. How the two completely different patterns look together is anybody's guess. The inability of the reader/knitter to get an overall idea of the various scarves is a major drawback of the book. After waiting for the book to be published and then for my copy to arrive, I was extremely disappointed, almost (but not quite) to the point of returning the book. I really hope the patterns, themselves, aren't as muddled as the photos. February 27: As an update to my original review, I would also like to add that, yes, I think the photos are beautiful; and the creativity of the designers is remarkable! Who would have thought scarves could be so beautiful, complex, and challenging? My only complaint was (and still is) that many of the photos simply aren't useful in discerning the interplay of the pattern(s)