Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting in Knit 1 Read 2

From the Bookshelf of Knit 1 Read 2…

Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting

Melissa Leapman

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

No group discussions for this book yet.

What Members Thought

Oct 24, 2007 Matthew Gatheringwater rated it it was ok

Shelves: knitting

This big, pretty coffee table kind of knitting book really is pretty. The lovely models frolic at a fun fair at the seaside in beautiful cabled sweaters (and one dog of an electric blue poncho). What makes for a good coffee table book, however, isn't so practical when one is trying to actually knit. Those big, glossy pages, for example, make the patterns hard to read. A big book doesn't travel well and it is hard to prop open while one is knitting. (That is why I typically photocopy the pattern This big, pretty coffee table kind of knitting book really is pretty. The lovely models frolic at a fun fair at the seaside in beautiful cabled sweaters (and one dog of an electric blue poncho). What makes for a good coffee table book, however, isn't so practical when one is trying to actually knit. Those big, glossy pages, for example, make the patterns hard to read. A big book doesn't travel well and it is hard to prop open while one is knitting. (That is why I typically photocopy the pattern I'm working on instead of trying to work from the book.)

I am also skeptical about some of the photographs. The sleeves of the Women's Simple Pullover, for example, appear to be artfully bunched under the model's right arm. Her left arm isn't even visible. I'm guessing those big, bell-shaped sleeves wouldn't look so graceful in real life and would probably be pretty uncomfortable to wear. (I hate having a lot of fabric under my armpit.) A real pattern shows the entire garment, front and back. Fantasy knitting porn uses a clothespin at the small of the back.

And speaking of the realms of fantasy, it takes an extremely willful suspension of disbelief to think high-wear items like the rug, purse, or pillow patterns in this book will be very durable in real life. An experienced person can explain that the rug will wear out first on the raised cables, the purse will fray at the bottom, and the pillows would be very difficult to clean and likely to pill. I know how frustrating it is to spend many hours on a project that is either short-lived or too precious to be used; hard experience has taught me to avoid those kinds of patterns.

Still, I thought the instructions and illustrations in the book were lucid and I will recommend the Simple Hat and Scarf Set and the Reversible Scarf to friends and students.

What I particularly like about this book is the "dictionary" of cable stitches. These are very useful and they are printed on easy-to-read non-glossy paper.

I'd be interested in reading other books by this author. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Feb 27, 2009 Jen rated it really liked it

Shelves: knitting

Love this book - it has a huge cable dictionary in the back and some beautiful patterns to go with it. I like three of the sweater patterns and will be trying the Cotton Raglan pattern this spring.

Like · see review