No-Bull Book Review: Indie Socks by Chrissy Gardiner

I am embarrassed that it has taken me so long to write up this review of Chrissy Gardiner's new book, partly because she sent it to me at the beginning of the summer, but also because, joy of joys, it also features a sock in Black Bunny Fibers yarn. So with abject apologies for being so slow, let's finally take a look at Indie Socks: Knitting Patterns and Dyer Profiles Featuring Hand-Dyed Yarns (Sydwillow Press 2012; MSRP $28.95).

Gardiner -- owner of Gardiner Yarn Works, with an extensive collection of patterns sold on-line and in yarn shops -- has focused on 24 dyers, large and small, well-known and not as well-known, readily available and available less widely. She designed a sock pattern for each individual yarn, and presented it, along with a profile of the indie dyer. Fans of well-crafted sock patterns, in particular, those knit in handdyed and handpainted yarns, rejoice! It's a great collection of patterns and you may also find yourself intrigued by some new (or new-to-you) handdyers to augment your stash.

Gardiner begins with a brief section on selecting handdyed yarns, and a description of what she means by "indie dyer." She then divides the 24 patterns of the book into three sections based on the coloring of the yarn:  Mild, Flavorful and Spicy.

The Mild section highlights semisolid and nearly solid yarns, and therefore uses more intricate patterning.  Hard to pick favorites in this section of 14 good-looking patterns, but I was particularly taken with the following:

Spyglass Socks (yarn by Alpha B Yarn)

the Spyglass Socks, with a wool/silk yarn by Alpha B Yarn in a dreamy lilac;

the Calpurnias, with Schaefer Nichole yarn; and

the Natsa Sukka socks, which use 6 different shades of a more rustic shetland-type yarn (dyed by Elemental Affects).

The Flavorful section includes what I would term "muted multicolors," yarns with a bit more going on with them than a semi-solid, but not the really crazy color combinations of the most zany handdyes.  Here's where you'll find Nami, the lovely pattern in a feather-and-fan pattern with simple wavy cuff:

These are knit in Black Bunny Fibers Superwash Merino Classic in Kathy's Cape

(the blue color reminded Chrissy of the ocean too; "Nami" is the Japanese word for "wave").

Other lovely patterns in this section include

Flamethrower (yarn by the Unique Sheep);

Owenburger (yarn by Lavender Sheep);

Deux Tourbillions (yarn by Mountain Colors; Crazyfoot base);

Rippleside (yarn is Pagewood Farms Alyeska); and

and Gelato, featuring Iris Schreier's Artyarns yummy Cashmere Sock yarn base.

Last up is the Spicy category, with 7 patterns designed for the wildest of your handpaints. Check out Archery, in Abstract Fiber's Supersock:

Seesaw (yarn by Cephalopod):

Muir Woods (yarn by Blue Ridge Yarns):

and Soda Fountain (Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock):

There are lots of photographs, including close-up shots of details; charts where necessary; detailed patterns; and a glossary of techniques (many with clear photographs walking the knitter through them). After the pattern section is a profile of each dyer (done by Donna Armey), with a closer look at their dyeing process, inspiration and so on.

I'm always happy to see patterns designed especially with handpaints in mind, and this is a well-presented, versatile collection of terrific sock patterns to help you use up those beauties in your stash. You can purchase the book at Amazon.com, download it via Ravelry or order a signed copy directly from Chrissy here.

Giveaway & No-Bull Book Review: The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet, by Hunter Hammersen

What do you get when you combine botany, vintage prints from natural history texts and knitting?  You get The Knitter's Curiosity Cabinet: 20 Patterns Inspired by Vintage Botanical Illustrations, by Hunter Hammersen (Pantsville Press 2012; MSRP $26.95 through the link above). Hunter contributed a wonderful pattern to my upcoming book, and so, knowing how talented she is, I was delighted to receive a review copy of her brand-new book.

Having consulted that eminent source, the interwebs (Wikipedia to be precise), I discovered that a curiosity cabinet was

an encyclopedic collection in Renaissance Europe of types of objects whose categorical boundaries were yet to be defined. They were also known by various names such as Cabinet of Wonder, and in German Kunstkammer ("art-room") or Wunderkammer ("wonder-room"). Modern terminology would categorize the objects included as belonging to natural history (sometimes faked), geology, ethnography, archaeology, religious or historical relics, works of art (including cabinet paintings) and antiquities.

It's a fascinating idea, and a perfect theme for a designer who has collected knitterly things--edgings, lace patterns, twisted stitches and cables--and used them to great effect in her patterns.

Speaking of which, let's take a closer at those patterns. Exactly half (ten) are sock patterns, while the other half are coordinating accessories. It's fun to see the same botanical inspiration used in two slightly different ways. For example,

the Crocus vernus socks use a gently-arching lace motif that echoes the lines of the crocus flower. The Crocus Vernus mitts use a slightly thicker yarn and a lace motif that reflects the shape of the leaves of the plant:

In another example of patterns that coordinate stylistically without appearing matchy-matchy, the Linaria bipartita socks feature a lattice-like petal shape

in a divine handdyed yarn colorway called Chocoberry, while the Linaria shawl is done in petal pink, with long vertical elements and a center motif.

Other lovely socks that caught my eye are the Polypodium vulgare:

the Rubus suberectus (with "erectus" in the name, how could I not love them?):

the Loasa lateritia:

and the Narcissus pseudo-narcissus.

I also was quite taken with the Polypodum cowl (love that handdye, too, with all those subtle gradations of color)

the Rosa mitts:

the Pinus silvestris cap:

and the floaty Loasa cowl:

The book is a softcover, with tons of gorgeous color photos (taken by Brett Yacovella of Making the Moment), and all the amenities one would expect in patterns of this nature -- charts, close-ups of design details, tips, definitions of the stitches/symbols used, and reproductions of the lovely botanical prints that inspired the patterns prefacing them.

It's exciting to see relatively new designers putting out such high quality products, and it's fascinating to see how self-published books like this one are really raising the bar for all of us who publish patterns, regardless of medium.  This is a beautiful book full of appealing patterns, and if you are a knitter interested in:

• sock knitting
• accessory knitting
• small portable projects
• great uses for handpainted yarn
• botanical prints and flowers
• lace and lace motifs

then you will want to check out this book. Note that it is available in printed form, but also in electronic download format (for $18.95) and if you buy the print book via Hunter's website (linky link here), you will get a free Ravelry download of the patterns along with your purchase.

And bless Hunter's heart, she's offering a free copy of the book to a reader of this blog! Please leave a comment and make sure that there is a way for me to reach you (either via your Blogger profile or by leaving an email in the comment -- no way for me to get hold of you and I have to disqualify your entry until my psychic address-finding powers develop more fully). Leave a comment no later than midnight, Sunday, August 12th and I'll pick a winner the next day.

Blog Tour: Barb Brown's Knitting Knee-Highs

You may recall that way back in February, I did a thorough book review (with lots of pictures) of Barb Brown's fabulous book, Knitting Knee-Highs: Sock Styles from Classic to Contemporary (Krause 2011). Barb's book is full of beautiful sock patterns featuring stranded colorwork, textured stitches and cables, and the patterns give you the option of selecting a knee-high version or a lower option, like mid-calf. So it's a great pleasure for me to take part in the official Barb Brown Blog Tour.



Since my previous review told you a bit about the book, I thought it would be fun to talk about something that went into the making of the book. So I asked Barb if she would mind discussing her inspiration for two of the patterns in the book. (I let her choose which ones.) Here is what she said (with a few comments from me in italics):

Barb Brown on Designing Art Deco & Maid Marian

This would be a good time to point out that the knee-high samples were knit to fit an “average” length based on a huge survey of women. I forgot that models are so unusually tall, with long, long legs!

Carol: When we were working on Knit So Fine, they asked us to make the sleeves a little longer than normal to accommodate the longer length of the models relative to how skinny they are!

Art Deco Socks

Often people will ask “where does your inspiration for a design come from”? Art Deco is a good example.

Art Deco socks

Some time ago, I acquired an espresso coffee set from the early 20th century, in an art deco pattern. I loved the set, but honestly didn’t know what exactly Art Deco was. Being a research junkie, I went on Google spree, looking for pictures and information. In the course of this, I came across a picture of some fabric. And I saved it in my “ideas” folder. Often, something like this sort of “dings” in my brain, but the idea needs to simmer around for awhile.

About a year later, I began playing with it. As I was graphing, I began adjusting the width of the blocks of colour, and the length. I thought the varying sizes would be interesting, depending on which block the dominant colour was used for.

Carol: Below are the alternate version of the Art Deco sock shown in the book; it's fascinating to me to see how different the pattern looks in different colorways.

Everything on the design now seemed to flow downwards, either straight down or at angle. What I think of as a “zinger” seemed to be called for. (A “zinger” is a bit added to the design; colour, line, texture etc; that doesn’t quite fit, so draws the eye and adds contrast.) The horizontal stripes in the ribbing added the final touch.

Maid Marian

These were inspired by a challenge I set for myself. I wanted to design a pattern using a very simple lace, something that would be achievable for new lace knitters. It also had to have something a bit different about it, something challenging to design, but easy to knit.

The Baby Horseshoe pattern is a very elegant frothy lace, and it’s just a 4 row repeat, with 2 of those being plain.

Usually, shaping in lace seems to be done along a line in the centre back of a knee-high, or possibly along the sides. It seemed that this lace was perfect for doing a panel in the same lace stitch, shaping within the lace. It took a bit of fiddling, and grading 2 more sizes added to the challenge.

Once I had the basic design, it seemed that it needed a bit of order. Stripes down each side for shaping provided that the best. More stripes in the swing knit heel flaps seemed called for. Because of my early childhood immersion in Pysanky (Ukrainian Easter Eggs) design, I like things to be symmetrical, so added the striped pattern to the toes. (This stripe pattern also adds strength to these areas without a lot of added bulk.)

I like my designs to flow into each other, each piece setting off the next. The ribbing pattern was again a challenge when it came to grading. (My poor test knitter wore out her email sending me notes beginning “but, but, but’) The fiddle faddle was worth it in the end.

There it was: frothy, feminine and an easy knit.

Carol: I added a photo of the blue version and the gold version so you could see the pattern stitch in different colorways. (You're welcome, Barbara.)

The Eye of Partridge was added to heels and toes (I like my socks to match).

Still, it needed that little “zinger”. I thought of the truly feminine women I know; sort of light and frothy on the outside, yet with an almost invisible spine of steel. A nice tight cable down the side seemed to be the answer.

For the foot, only one repeat of the pattern is carried down each side. This seems to be more comfortable when worn in a pair of shoes.

Carol: I am so glad Barb had a chance to share her design process with us. It's fascinating to me to hear about how other designers and knitters work. If you haven't already picked up a copy of Barb's book, you really should -- it's even available in e-book format so if you're like my husband and carry your I-pad around with you, you can download the Kindle app (or the Nook equivalent) and have it with you always.....