Nancy Bush (2) (1951–)

Five chapters on the history of sock knitting, primarily in Europe. One chapter of how-to with various kinds of heels and toes explained. Then 18 sock patterns for men and women, based on historic patterns. I love Nancy Bush's sock patterns because they are meticulously written, well designed, and well explained. I have found them easy to adjust for different sized feet, as well.

Nancy Bush, a knitting expert, has written Knitted lace of Estonia to showcase the beautiful scarves and shawls produced in Haapsalu. Nancy discovered the shawls on her first trip in the 90's and was enthralled. She learned the traditions and techniques from the women of the area as well as recent patterns and books. The first thing she found was there was no one right way to do anything.

In the book, she begins with the history of the shawls, then how to knit a Haapsalu shawl, in great show more detail, from cast-ons to bind-offs, joining yarn, sewn on and knitted on edges and my nemesis, the nupp. The nupp looks a bit like a bobble but is made differently. Needless to say a life line was essential for me - Nancy doesn't use one. And note that this is not a beginner's book. There are no basic knitting instructions.

Next are the fourteen different shawls and stoles, each one a beauty, with pictures and patterns, using charts. There are errata sheets on the interweave.com website and it is best to check there before starting a project. There is an Estonian lace stitch dictionary with abbreviations and symbols for the charts, and pages of patterns for shawl design and edgings for the brave and experienced who want to try and design a shawl themselves. Nancy also has a section explaining how to calculate stitches for the lace edges. There is a source for yarns but be aware that the book was published in 2008 and many are probably no longer available. There is a bibliography (mostly of Estonian sources) and an excellent index.

The best part of the book is the CD-ROM in which Nancy gives a workshop on how to make your first scarf. The pattern for this is available on the Interweave website and I would recommend that this would be the best place to start. Her workshop is excellent and a great way to begin your knitting adventure.

And you don't need to stop here. Interweave, in Piecework Magazine occasionally publishes more of Nancy's designs, in addition to other kinds of lace shawls and samplers, including Orenburg. So get your needles out, buy some yarn and begin! show less

I bought this book hoping to learn the traditional techniques involved in the production of the wide variety of beautiful socks from many cultures featured in tantalizing color photographs. I was deeply disappointed to find that this was not the case. And the first edition, which i have, had many factual errors in knitting history, some of which have been corrected in subsequent editions.

Bush teaches few of the actual traditional techniques represented by the lovely ethnic socks. In fact, show more her "reproduction" socks are all highly simplified modern inventions, based only in part on some of the colors and patterns of the original socks, but not truly involving their interesting and sometimes unique techniques.

While many of the original socks were traditionally knitted from the toe up, in every case Bush knits her versions from the cuff down. The photographs are just teasers that left me frustrated and unfulfilled. I finally stopped looking at her directions for her simplified socks. Instead I analyzed the socks in the photos to attempt to knit them as they were originally made.

It is a good book to learn modern sock knitting and in it Bush does cover a wide variety of techniques. For example, she teaches many sock heel techniques, and her instructions are good. But the book doesn't cover what its title says, and that was what i wanted to learn.

If you want to knit modern socks with an ethnic flair, you will probably like this book. And if you are new to sock knitting, Bush is a good teacher on the many possibilities for knitting cuff-down. But if you're looking for the traditional knitting techniques of other cultures, you won't find them in this book. Rather, Priscilla Gibson-Roberts' book "Ethnic Socks & Stockings" will actually teach you the varied techniques of folk socks from many cultures. show less

I'm fairly new to lace knitting so this book appealed to me as a way of learning more about techniques. It was well worth the money just for the patterns alone, which introduce all sorts of techniques I haven't yet tried. Expect to find knitted-on and sewn-on edges and three completely different approaches to the triangular shawl (although most of the patterns are for square or rectangular shawls, or scarves).

This isn't for the novice knitter unless you're very determined - some of the show more techniques are quite challenging. That said, I find that most patterns are much simpler than they look once you get started on them. Ms Bush includes a lot of information about techniques, so it'll also be a useful reference - plus, she gives a wealth of information about the history of Estonian lace and the knitters of the area of Estonia from which most of these patterns are derived. I would have liked a few more patterns in the sample collection at the back of the book.

I find myself looking quite often at this book - I'm rather backed up with projects right now, but as soon as I can I'll be embarking on one of the triangular shawls, which is one of the prettiest shawl patterns I've seen. This is an excellent buy. show less