ann budd

Review: Sock Knitting Master Class

by --Deb 06.23.2011
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Most sock books are either filled with patterns with not a whole lot of time spent on technique, or they’re full of guidance but with blah patterns. Of course, some do hit the balance between pattern and technique. Some are fairly exhaustive, in fact, and you may already have them on your shelves.

But … they’re not THIS book, by Ann Budd, a genius in our time.

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Review: Knitting Green

by --Deb 04.22.2010
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“To the casual observer, knitting looks to be an earth-friendly practice that hasn’t changed much over the centuries. But our ancestors raised their own sheep, and spun the fiber into yarn, and grew flax and spun it into linen, all without the use of antibiotics or pesticides. They gathered, processed, and spun the fiber by hand, dyed it with whatever was available, and hoped that there would be enough for a garment. … But progress comes at a cost–the carbon footprint grows with every aspect of large-scale production. So, how do we enjoy our yarn choices while being mindful of our delicate planet?”

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Review: Knitted Gifts

by --Deb 08.09.2009
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One of the things I’m enjoying most about this gig of writing book reviews is having a chance to look through books just like this. As I flipped through for the first time, I kept smiling and saying, “Ooh,” “Pretty,” “Nice!” from one pattern to the next.

There are a lot of them, too. I count 37 patterns, and that’s not separating out the ones that are listed as sets, like the hat/mitten set on the cover. Thirty-seven patterns. That’s huge!

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Review: Simple Style

by --Deb 03.02.2009
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These designs stick to the basics, usually only having one real “design” element to each, but even those are subtle. They’re not fancy, elaborate design elements that make your eyes pop and your jaw drop … and that’s exactly the point. They’re elements that you don’t even see unless you’re looking, because they’re seamlessly integrated into the designs.

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Review: Color Style

by --Deb 10.03.2008
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I’ll confess that I mostly bought this book solely because I liked the cover sweater so much, but that I fully expected not to be that impressed with the rest of the book. I’d been disappointed with Lace Style, you see, which wasn’t terrible, but didn’t include anything that I would have wanted to knit. So, I was prepared to feel lukewarm about this one, all for the sake of that cover sweater.

Well, what a pleasant surprise. Out of the seventeen projects, there are fully seven sweaters and three accessory patterns that I would consider making, and four or five of them I really want to make. (Ironically, the cover sweater isn’t one of them. Go figure.)

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Review: The Knitter’s Handy book of Sweater Patterns

by --Deb 09.22.2008
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Do you knit sweaters? Do you like different shapes? Do you hate having to do all the math for designing your own sweaters, but don’t want to be tied to pre-written sweater patterns?

This book is for you.

Taking the basic sweater shapes–Drop-Shoulder, Modified Drop-Shoulder, Set-In Sleeve, Saddle-Shoulder, Raglan, and Seamless Yoke–this book tells you EXACTLY what you need to do to make one.

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