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Stephanie van der Linden
Interweave
Press (distributed in UK by Search Press)
November 2010 / ISBN 1596682302
How-To Books/Knitting
Amazon US
|| UK
Reviewed
by Rachel A Hyde
There are
twenty-six different pairs of socks in here, all inspired by different
cultures from around the world. The socks features motifs and patterns
inspired by folk traditions and make great gifts for anybody who
wears socks – if you can bear to part with them.
Intermediate and experienced knitters will enjoy having so many
interesting to work projects that make up quickly and use up all
their odd yarns. You will need to be able to read charts to work
most of these patterns, some of which feature quite a number of
codes for different techniques. At the back of the book are instructions
on how to do some of these, including the mysteries of kitchener
stitch, two-color stranded knitting, twisted travelling stitches
and more. There is also a handy list of abbreviations, and a short
index of techniques. I was impressed by the beauty of these socks,
which go way beyond the often overly whimsical to produce classic
one-color designs as well as brightly patterned ones; something
for most occasions in fact. There are the usual countries and their
classic patterns such as argyle socks from Scotland, Aran Isle from
Ireland and red and white stranded knitting patterns from Sweden,
but other less often featured countries appear too. Check out Baltic
mitten design socks from Latvia, braided cuff and tile motifs from
Estonia and fancy crosses from Armenia, to name a few. Other crafts
get drafted in and converted into knitting patterns too, such as
quilt block socks from America or temari socks from Japan. I’ve
seen lots of sock pattern books and too often think that the finished
items look merely “hearty”; these go way beyond that
and yes, this reviewer would gladly wear them too!
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