Meg Swansen

I borrowed this book, but I'm tempted to buy a copy to keep. The patterns are very good, and EZ's writing is a lot of fun. Once I'm done with Winter Holiday Knitting, I want to make a Baby Surprise Jacket - it's just too odd a thing to miss :)

EZ takes a very three-dimensional approach to knitting. If something should curve, she shapes it with the stitching. She very clearly understands that knitters want to knit, so there's very little sewing up in these patterns. I definitely plan to track show more down more of her books. show less

There are primarily three types of knitting books: project books, stitch dictionaries, and those of educational techniques. It's this last category that is difficult to write effectively, how does one translate a class to paper? A mere transcription of a class session does not suffice. Knitting with Two Colors is a slim book that does the impossible and more. In just 64 pages you learn how to knit effectively, efficiently, and effortlessly with two colors.

The volume begins with some basics, show more covering several methods to cast on, the importance of swatching and measuring for gauge, and there are several helpful tips for confident chart reading. The clear color photos and line drawings enhance the technique descriptions. Personally, I found the tips for trapping yarn the most helpful, and it solved some of the issues I had experienced in my color knitting. The suggestion of hats for skill building is a practical solution, they are great projects to practice color knitting -- they're smaller and faster than a sweater and cover most skills needed to master knitting a two-color garment.

After this introduction, the book delves into the entirety of sweater construction. With tips for casting on a sweater body, to choosing hems, borders, and placing steeks. There are many tips throughout this chapter for the garment, including shaping within a pattern and different methods for working short rows. Steeks are covered in a clear and straightforward manner, and while purposely taking scissors to one's knitting can be scary, with the many tips and photos to guide you, there is no reason for fear. There are many helpful tips sprinkled throughout; I like the low-tech method for keeping track of increases every x rounds. There are amazing example photos throughout for inspiration and illustration of technique.

In the third chapter, you are guided in designing your own sweater. The EPS system for a seamless yoke and drop shoulder sweaters are explained and several cast-on numbers are provided for gauge from 6 to 8 stitches per inch. You are again stepped through the process of knitting a sweater and as a technique is required, it is cross referenced back to the second chapter where it is discussed in detail. It is in this chapter that you learn the magic of working motifs into different stitch counts, primarily through the use of pivot and panel stitches, centering motifs is also covered in more detail.

The final chapter includes a few other tips and tricks that didn't quite fit in elsewhere in the volume but are helpful for two color knitting. Both indexes are detailed and beneficial, the topical index is cross referenced and the photo identification index is wonderful, including the designer and where to find the pattern.

Whether new to two color knitting or highly familiar, I think every knitter will pick up skills and tips. I highly recommend Knitting with Two Colors. show less

Some wonderful sweaters in this book and invaluable information on construction and technique. However, the book is (in my opinion) marred by devoting an inordinate amount of space to some really ugly, complex, and ill-designed colourwork: a sweater with an oversized and unattractive sunface emblazoned across the entire garment and an over-complex phoenix with so many swirls it actually makes me queasy to look at it (the sensation is of incipient motion sickness). The charts for these show more monstrosities take up page after page. There is enough value in the remainder of the book, however, that it's worth purchasing if you don't have to pay a premium price for it. show less

The Opinionated Knitter is my favorite EZ book. Compiled in 2005 by her daughter after her death, the book is a collection of classic EZ patterns, a history of her written works (especially her original newsletters), and a testaments to how EZ shaped the craft of knitting.

The patterns in this book are some of the best--the Baby Surprise Jacket, the Modular Totem Jacket, the Three-Spiral Hat, as well as several sweaters in both fair isle and aran constructed using Elizabeth' Percentage System show more (EPS). They are all written in EZ's chatty style that empowers you to become a master of your own knitting.

EZ's charm extends throughout this book and really makes you feel as if she is a helpful mother, sitting with you as you learn the hidden secrets of knitting. show less