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Review: Sock Knitter’s Workshop

SockWorkshop_001

First, the facts:

Title: The Sock Knitter’s Workshop: Everything Knitters Need to Knit Socks Beautifully

Author: Ewa Jostes and Stephanie van der Linden

Published by: Watson-Guptill, 2010

Pages: 126

Type: Socks.

Chapters:

1. Text

Sock Knitters Workshop

Pattern Size Range: N/A

The In-Depth Look:

I know what you’re thinking–does the world really need another book on sock knitting?

Turns out, I think it does.

This book says that it is “everything knitters need to knit socks beautifully,” and I must admit, it’s pretty thorough.

There is a chapter for cuffs, a chapter for heels, for toes. Each gets covered in great detail, with plenty of variations to play with. The book works almost like a mix-and-match guide. You can choose the cast-on you like best, pair it with your preferred heel, and close with the toe you like best. Each variation comes with guidance like, “Good for medium heel with medium instep,” which is useful to know, and something you don’t usually see in sock books. Usually, you just take your chances, without knowing ahead of time what features will make yoru socks fit best.

There is a distinct bias toward traditional socks–knit cuff-down, on DPNs. All of the detail for toe-up socks or for using other knitting needles is all in the “Other Sock Knitting Techniques” chapter. (The pages in that chapter, oddly enough, have page headers that say “Socks Knit from the Toe-Up,” which could make it harder to find the instructions for, say, the Magic Loop technique if you weren’t sure where it was.)

The book sums up with a collection of patterns and then some extra tips, like how to convert a flat sock pattern into a circular one. Not to mention sizing charts for different size feet and different weight yarns.

It’s a magazine-sized book, with lots and lots of illustrations–crisp photos of all the techniques described in the book. It has a complete Table of Contents and a full Index (with the major headings in bold-face, making it particularly easy to scan).

This handy book can be found at Amazon.com.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Watson-Guptill. Thank you!

My Gush: Helpful with great illustrations, just biased toward cuff-down socks.

Comments on this entry are closed.

  • Anne Campbell April 21, 2010, 7:26 am

    Very useful review! I’m particularly interested to know what you think of the coverage of toes. I looked through all my books and basically all I could find is the standard “decrease till you get to a few stitches then graft” and “decrease in a pattern till you get to the center and then run yarn through the remaining stitches”. I’m looking for some more choices.

    I like the look of the new heading, by the way. Very distinguished looking.
    .-= Anne Campbell´s last blog ..First Lost Post =-.

  • Melissa April 21, 2010, 1:59 pm

    How does this book compare to other sock books that are out there? Would this be your first choice for an only sock book? What about if you already have three (or five, or ten) sock books?

  • --Deb April 21, 2010, 10:21 pm

    @Anne–There are a few toe options. It covers the basic decrease/graft and decrease/pull yarn through toes, but offers a few “patterned” toes also, like a Propeller decrease, and a few others.

    @Melissa–I had kind of been thinking the same thing. How many sock books does one person need? But it’s got some good information in it. I wouldn’t buy it just for the sock patterns (which are certainly okay), but the discussions on all the pieces that go into a sock, and how you can mix-and-match them to get a pair just for you is really helpful.

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