| Who
does Snowflake the rabbit turn to when she has trouble leaving
the magician’s hat, or Dotty the ladybird with no spots?
Dr Knit of course, who will sort out their problems with some
therapy or maybe the sort of operation only knitting needles
can manage. Then there are the Ring brothers who need separating,
the narwhal who has encountered rather too much rubbish and…
…fifteen creatures in all, each with their own story
and of course their own pattern. The collection started life
as an art exhibition and has to be the most refreshingly different
book of knitting patterns I have ever seen! You don’t
need a doctor to tell you that knitting is a therapy in itself,
and having fun making such a collection of imaginative toys
is good for you. I can imagine children being enthralled by
the stories and this will generate all sorts of imaginative
play. The front of the book features the stories, illustrated
with whole page photos of the finished pieces. The Knitting
Laboratory mentions basic techniques such as casting on, plain
and purl etc as well as basic crochet but unfortunately the
illustrations run out here and everything is reduced to words.
I don’t think this is a suitable book for total beginners
and it does not profess to be so; the patterns are simple
and only use basic stitches so I would class it an improver’s
book. Maybe the written instructions might be of help to jog
memories of people who have forgotten the basics but it is
the least impressive part of the book. The final section consists
of the patterns themselves, these also come in written form
but should not pose too much of a problem to anybody who can
do the basics. A few staged photos would be useful, but these
are small projects that are quick to make up and there is
more than one photo of each finished piece for comparison.
A fun book that is bursting with imagination.
If you cannot find a good range of knitting materials locally
try www.searchpress.com
for a list of suppliers.
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