| Current mood: |  somewhat opinionated |
| Current music: | but generally pleased |
"Confessions of a Knitting Heretic" review
Got my copy of Annie Modesitt's book from Cafepress this morning. Various observations:
I was pleasantly surprised by the physical quality of the book itself; I wasn't expecting much from Cafepress, because I'd heard other people complain about their books. There's a small amount of "ghosting" of images through to the other side of the page, but the paper's of good quality, the printing clear, the binding seems sound. So don't let the "published by Cafepress" aspect stop you if you're interested in this book.
I love Annie's attitude towards classifying knitters: get rid of the "beginner" "advanced beginner" etc. labels. There are newer knitters and established knitters, but ANY knitter can be an adventurous knitter. And that there's no wrong way to knit; if you like your results and your technique is comfortable for you, you're knitting just fine. Both sentiments I would like to shout from the rooftops.
The how-to diagrams are really clear and easy to follow. In addition to some very simple patterns (yep, there's a basic scarf), there are some to interest knitters who've been around the block a few times: I need to try the diagonal colorblock scarf, the shaping used in the plaid bag and the individual flower and leaf motifs. The way she thinks about and explains various sorts of decreases is outstanding. The book provides an overview of many of the tools in a knitter's toolbox, including cables, colorwork, basic lace, and various embellishments. It's a handy size, easy to tuck in your knitting bag and take along. And I enjoyed the personal observations and reflections in the essays spread through the book; fans of Annie's blog will be familiar with the writing style.
There are some ways in which I think the book would have benefitted from an editing and design team. Some pages have a lot of information on them, and can feel cluttered. The chapter-heading font (used on the cover and in many captions) is difficult to read. And while the diagrams are generally very clear, some of the photographs are hard to decipher. Plus the inevitable copyediting mistakes that creep into every manuscript... for example, the vest pattern is written in several sizes, but fails to mention what those sizes are. I'm sure there will be an errata page on Annie's site, if there isn't one already. Those nit-picks (hee, I first typed knit-picks, a Freudian slip when discussing typos in a knitting book if ever there was one) aside, it's a nicely put-together package.
Possibly the book's biggest problem is that I can't quite tell who the intended audience is. Topics are moved through fairly quickly, I think a raw beginner might feel left behind. People who have been knitting for more than a decade (such as yours truly) will probably have much of the information presented in this book elsewhere in their libraries -- or in their fingertips. That said, I think the people who will get the most out of this book are new adventurous knitters -- those who are open to knowing the whys and not just the hows, who want an overview of what techniques are out there that they can try next. Established knitters wishing to become more adventurous will probably enjoy it, too. Not to mention anyone who has been told "you knit wrong."
Joe-Bob sez: check it out!
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small}
emmacrew) wrote in ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small}
knitting,
