on Romantic Hand Knits

While I was away on vacation I received a copy of Annie Modesitt's Romantic Hand Knits.  Unfortunately I also received a lot of other mail and the knitting, sewing, and fashion-related items had to be shoved to the back corner of my sewing/knitting room waiting until I caught up with all the boring, but oh-so-necessary work related mail.
So it wasn't really until this past weekend that I really had enough time to give this book the attention it deserves.

Now, I admit that I had been looking forward to this book. I really like Annie Modesitt's designs and even the designs that I would never make, or that I think are a little too far out there for me are really very interesting.  She seems to be a very creative and thoughtful knitter, one really thinks about the problems of designing knitwear and often comes up with new ways of solving knitting problems. 

This is a book for someone who is adventurous and doesn't want just the same old knitting book.  It is filled with wonderful ideas and wonderful ways of doing things.  Even if I never knit a single pattern from this book, and that is not going to happen because there are several things I want to knit from this book, it is filled with creative clever ideas that I would want to incorporate into my knitting.

A lot of these patterns have interesting details.  A lot of them have clever shaping.  This is not the book for you if you want sweaters designed with simple box-shaped block that seems to be so ubiquitous in the hand-knitting world.    Take the skirt shown on the cover, for example.  There is another picture here:

Now a skirt is really just a tube right?  And this one is really no exception but it is so well designed.  First of all it isn't a straight tube because it has those lace godets.   Now look at the details and the patterning.  This skirt is designed to accent those curves that we all have. Rather than just stretching out a simple swath of stockinette, the skirt draws attention to the ins and outs of the form underneath.  I am really intrigued by this pattern and I don't necessarily always find knit skirts the easiest thing to wear.  But mostly that is because I find too snug, stretchy, negative ease skirts difficult to wear.  Looking at this skirt I can't help but wonder if it is really more forgiving than it looks.

But I can't buy a book just for its cover sweater.  And there are a lot of other ideas in here that intrigue.

This sweater is called Ninotchka and it is really a lovely design even though it is not particularly for me.  What is really special about it is that it is designed with a shelf bra knitted in with a stretchier yarn and it has short-row shaping to help provide  extra shaping and coverage in area that seems to me to often be just a little too exposed in your standard knit tank.

And while I am on the subject of little tops and bust shaping what about Jezebel?

My initial reaction to this dress is that it is just too much.  But the more I look at it the more I keep coming back to this design even though it is, as shown here a little too exposed for me.  Still the ideas that are involved in this dress are wonderful.  Take a look at the short-row shaping at the bust.  Shaping is included for C and D cups as well.  These techniques can be used a starting point in other sweaters even if I never make this sweater.  The ribbed waist with its short row shaping is also amazing.  This dress is laden with ideas and although I am no Jezebel  and am not inclined to make a halter dress, I might be convinced to make some variation on a halter or to use some of the ideas from this dress in other sweaters.

Dark Victory is a sweater that at first glance looks like a pretty standard sweater but ends up being something far more special.

For one thing, the shaping is fabulous.  This is no rectangular block sweater.  There is a good bit of shaping hidden in the design.  The double contrast bands at the neckline really emphasizes the face and shoulder line giving a hint of sexiness while still being fully covered.  The color work also emphasizes the color in the variegated yarn and the slip stitch pattern used throughout helps control the color, avoid pooling, and add interest. I am always intrigued by hand-dyed yarns until I start knitting with them.  Sometimes they work out, other times I wonder what I was thinking.  But this one has me itching to give it a try.

I also love the way Charade makes use of the great drape of of a ribbon yarn:

I love ribbon yarns in open and lacy patterns that accent their texture.  But they are long on flow and short on structure, and the weight of the ribbon often causes the sweater to seem to drag, especially if knitted at a gauge loose enough to allow the ribbon to show in all its slippery glory.  Using the weight and drape of the ribbon to make a surplice top is a fabulous idea, and one I am looking forward to trying.

I also love the shaping possibilities in the bands at the top of Saratoga:

and the lovely lace patterning in Casablanca

Note the nice bit of shaping that is incorporated in the after-thought sleeves.

And although I have no place to wear it, and probably can't pull it off, I love Cleopatra.  This one really is just a tube, although granted a tube with ribbing at the waist which will add shaping, I can't help myself.  This design is just so filled with dreams and desire, the idea of clothing as costume or fantasy and the idea that if you can just knit it your fantasy life will come.

Comments

[Patty]

I just received my copy, and couldn't agree with you more. When I first saw it at the store I wasn't taken, but the more I looked at the patterns the more I liked the designs, so into my online basket it went.

[Monique]

Great blog! Thanks for all great photos throughout your blog. Very inspirational!
Also, this book is on my wish list. :)

[Susan]

The designs are just plain PRETTY. I've enjoyed looking at the photos in many reviews of this I've seen in knitting blogs, but yours are more fascinating than most. Yours are bigger. I'm not sure why, perhaps it is Typepad, but when I look at this entry in Bloglines, as opposed to Typepad, I can see each individual stitch. I have to scroll, of course, to see the whole pic, but these larger photos really show off the design. Thanks!

[Gina]

I concur, and Dark Victory will be mine!