[.ca] Fashionable Projects for the New Knitter (ISBN 1402730705)

Great , Fun, Easy Projects.:
The reading was easy and fun. Great projects for the beginners. I would recommend it to anyone.Great pictures and instructions. Have fun!!

A nice book to get started with:
The instructions are very clear and there aren't any outlandish items that you wouldn't want to wear. The projects are small enough that you don't feel overwhelmed or die of boredom knitting the items. Granted there are more hats in here than I can imagine wearing in a winter, but they can always be donated to homeless shelters and such. You learn, feel a sense of accomplishment, and can donate the finished product to the needy. Not bad for a book.

I would give it 3 1/2 stars...:
Here's what I like about the book. The projects are nice--some different than what you see in the usual beginner books like the bias scarf and round dishcloth. I also think some skills are taught here that are not in other easy books. The pictures are nice, and these are things I would want to make. There is also a nice variety of projects. The chapters include: hats, scarves, bags, blankets, ponchos and shawls, sweaters, and great gifts. So, why the 3.5 stars? While this is for the "new knitter", I think this book would be hard to learn knitting from. I consider myself intermediate, and I still didn't understand some of her directions on how to do things that I already know how to do. To be fair, I think knitting is much easier learned from a person than a book. So, I think this book would be better for someone who can already cast on, knit, purl, and bind off. The other reason for the lower rating is for some mistakes I found in two patterns. In the knitted round dishcloth it doesn't tell you to turn for the short rows. Since I've done short rows, I knew that I needed to turn, but for a beginner this could really be confusing. Also, in the pattern for Alison's Felted Tote bag there is a whole step missing as far as I can figure. It tells you to cast on for the bag, and then the next step talks about picking up stitches around the edges of your knitting. But, you haven't been told to knit anything yet. I'm thinking I could knit the bag and then go back and do the bottom (the missing instructions) once I see how big the opening is. This would definitely trip a beginner up. There is a soft cover version of this book out in February. Maybe they will get these errors fixed up. All said, I do like the book, but not for the very beginner who knows nothing, and watch for mistakes.