Reviewed by annieb123 on
Top-Down Colorwork Knit Sweaters and Accessories is a beautifully colorful collection of top down knitted items by Wenke Müller. Due out 1st Nov 2021 from Rowman & Littlefield on their Stackpole Books imprint, it's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover format.
The first thing that struck me about this book on a first read-through was the attention to detail. Everything from the photography, lighting, and models' positioning, down to the clear photography and varied patterns are top quality. The patterns are beautiful and cleverly made. The shaping details are incorporated into the patterns. The book includes basic knitting instructions in the introduction, but I would not recommend absolute beginners begin with this book for learning to knit, especially if they're knitting in a vacuum. I would recommend starting with some of the accessories first such as hats or shawls before tackling the more difficult projects, or at least have a local knitting guru on speed dial (I recommend having a local knitting guru on speed dial, anyhow)!
There are 14 sweaters by my count and 10 coordinating accessories. The instructions are clear and streamlined. The intro to each pattern gives info such as incorporated ease and yardage. Specific yarns are given with their yardages so readers can make substitutions if they wish. The yarns called for in the patterns are gloriously, decadently exclusive, mostly Isager and Lana Grossa. Each pattern is given in one complete consecutive piece (no flipping back and forth, yay!). Every pattern is accompanied by one or more clear color photos. The designs are classic and not trendy - they'll be heirlooms and on point in 20 years.
Five stars. A wonderful book!
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 18 September, 2021: Finished reading
- 18 September, 2021: Reviewed