I loved Knitting in America (<> Knitting America, BTW) when it came out in 1996. Consider Knit Knit the updated version, with an entirely different point of view?
Whosit–Maggie Righetti? who talks about valuing a knitting book by the # of useful patterns divided by the price of the book? In this case, for me, forget the patterns just count the ideas, the inspiration, the reinforcement of knowing other people are working on the same frontier. Definitely, those knitted boots have possibilities. Need to find a source for abandoned birk footbeds… Electrical cord? Wow… I may have to knit something out of my garden hose stash yet.
If Debbie New used the picture of her stash in Unexpected Knitting, I missed it. For me, that picture alone is worth the price of this book. THAT’S how she does it! (A number of other studio shots give a realistic view of what a particular creator’s world looks like; some are so cleaned up or staged as to not be particularly useful. IMO. YMMV. and all that.)
YMMV. Maybe that’s the real value of Knit Knit. Here is a window into the variation in knitting in the world today. I love it that Ms. Pearl-McPhee can spend her life knitting socks and sweaters in wool. She lives in a cold place. I live in USDA Zone 7A, where we can wear wool three months out of the year. I need to find something else to knit the rest of the year, and sculpture is right up my alley.
In my version of a perfect world, publishers would save the pages given over to patterns and put that content on the web to download if you want it. I’d rather see another dozen profiles. Until the publishers of knitting books start calling me to ask for layout advice, I’ll have to accept what they release. I’m happy to own this book.
