Melanie Falick

Handknit Holidays Knitting Year-Round for Christmas, Hanukkah, and Winter Solstice by Melanie Falick
30 different artists have contributed to this book. The book sounds like one I am hoping will lead me to this upcoming season of cold weather. Starts out with tree ornaments, then stockings which some are charted and written out in rows as they have designs built in.
Household items are most exquisite! My favorite is the Aran designs, Love doing cable work. There is also the history of show more stockings included.
Table runners offer a lot of different designs that could also be used in a full size afghan.
Second best would be the stained glass scarf-I have done this method before and the right colors give this a striking effect.
There are so many treasures in this book to make and give away as gifts or keep for yourself. As an added bonus there is a recipe for Norwegian rich nut cookies.
Patterns for everybody in the family, the house and even the dog. Also charity work is mentioned with information. Packaging ideas that help you adorn a gift.
Love this book because there is such a large selection of things to make and in plenty of time before the holidays. Index, explanation of abbreviations and terms used in the book and methods are included.
I received this book from Net Galley via Open Road in exchange for my honest review. show less

Open Road Integrated Media generously donated this book for review.

First Impressions: This book is so pretty! I want to live in each of the pictures in this book. Seriously, everything is so shiny, romantic, and holiday-like. I want to knit everything in this book.

The Details: This book has over 50 patterns! Patterns include ornaments, pillows, hats, scarves, mittens and gloves, socks, sweaters, shawls, and bags. It is important to note that although the book has several patterns for the show more home, children, and women, the patterns for men are lacking. There are no men-only patterns. Some of the clothing patterns are large enough for men, but this book is definitely more skewed towards women's patterns.

Although I love this book so much (I bought the hardcover edition years ago), I have reservations about the e-book. First, my galley copy was a bit "funny." Specifically, knitting charts were cut off. This may be a problem with the galley copy; however, if you purchase the book, check to make sure that you can see all the charts. Second, all of the yarns listed are those that were listed in the original printing. Some of these yarns may not be available anymore. This isn't a huge issue to me; however, because it is hard to keep the yarns in book up-to-date. Finally, the galley copy of the e-book that I received had errors in it that were corrected by the 3rd printing of the book. This is unacceptable. If you purchase this e-book, please look for errata online before knitting any of the patterns. In fact, I would rate the e-book version of this book as 2/5 stars.

Final Impressions: This is a beautiful book. The patterns are clever, fun, and amazing. This book also does a decent job of showcasing patterns for Christmas, Hanukkah, and the Winter Solstice. At the same, the e-book has some serious problems. show less

This is the book I'd buy for a kid who wants to learn to knit. Heck, I'd suggest it as the first book for an adult who wants to learn to knit too. There's a section on how to knit, and then patterns that use the skills explained.

The increase in difficulty for patterns doesn't have a big jump (knit a scarf, then knit a sweater), and the patterns are wearable/useful.

This one book would get you pretty far--meaning you could become a fairly proficient knitter using the explanations and patterns show more in this book, without having to go find other books.

Caveat: I haven't knit any of the patterns, so I don't know how readable/clear they are. show less

I was given this book as a child when I first started knitting, and it has served me well even as I have gotten older. It explains techniques clearly and has good illustrations. The full-color photos of, well, kids knitting, lend good cheer to the book. It contains a number of projects suitable for both children and the adult beginner, and it's a great reference to have. I'd recommend it to anyone looking for an introduction to knitting.