Sixth & Spring Books

This book is exactly what it says on the cover. Quick knits and rather nice ones. There are some good scarves in here. Zigzag Scarf, project 14, designed by Amanda Blair Brown, was particularly intriguing. I "never" make scarves (what, never? hardly ever) but I can see myself trying this one. It's only 5 inches (12.5 cm) wide; in chunky yarn it would be a more substantial scarf, in fingering weight it could possibly be a necktie. I now feel I should mention the zigzag is the texture of the show more stitch pattern, not the shape! There's also a pattern for flip-top mittens that I wouldn't mind trying. All the patterns specify "Cascade 220" which is a basic, workhorse, wool, worsted weight yarn. In Canada the equivalent would be Patons Classic Wool Worsted. Daughter and I stored the book alongside the yarn we have set aside for the Red Scarf Project, because it looks like some of the scarves would knit up quite fast and be suitable.

I bought the book at a thrift store because for 50c, I figured it's a better use of my time to check it out in detail at home. I was not disappointed.

Update: Those still look like attractive patterns, but after owning the book for 18 months, I still have no plans to make them nor any ambition to make plans. It's probably time to let it go. It's really an excellent book for someone who knits scarves, wears scarves, likes hats. Not, unfortunately, for me. show less

nonfiction - crafting/knitting (intermediate/advanced/expert)

a slew of unisex zippered cardigan patterns inspired by Mister Rogers' wardrobe (not the original patterns that Fred's mom used to keep her son warm, but reasonable facsimiles), including a few adapted for kids/babies, plus an assortment of other knit patterns inspired by the show, including some themed lap blankets and puppets. Most projects fall under the "intermediate" skill level and adult sizes range from chest measurements show more 34-1/2" to 60".

I've never knitted anything as big as a cardigan before (it's like a really big hat, right?), and I managed to finish one "Friendly Neighbor Cardigan" (the very first pattern in the book) -- thankfully it includes diagrams for me to make sense of the armhole and sleeve measurements, which also helped me to understand the instructions for "simultaneous shoulder and neck shaping" (not as complicated as it first seemed, but that was only the first of many hurdles for me). The cardigan patterns are a heck of a lot more trickier than I expected and some parts could definitely be made clearer, so I probably wouldn't recommend these on your first try (intermediate/experts would fare much better). But the back matter provides nice illustrations on stitching neat seams, and a possibly helpful guide for substituting yarns -- it always feels like a gamble for me nevertheless, but I ended up with plenty of yarn to spare this time. The instructions for sewing a zipper into a knit cardigan are woefully inadequate (as though abbreviated to fit a small space) so you would do better to find guidance on that elsewhere. show less

There are many nice projects in this book. I've reduced the rating because I'm finding it disturbing that so many baby knitting and sewing books—including this one— feature only white babies as models. Monkeysuits is one of the rare books that gets it right.

This is a very cute book with great ideas for mittens scarfs and hats.