First, the facts:

Title: Classic Knits

Author: Marianne Isager

Published by: Interweave Knits, 2009

Pages: 183

Type: Patterns.

Chapters:

1. One “chapter” per pattern

Pattern Size Range: Varies widely–men, women, children

The In-Depth Look:

Ooh, I liked this book. Marianne Isager has a reputation for doing ethnic-inspired knitwear (like her recent Japanese book, or her Africa book of a few years ago), but they don’t always appeal to me personally.

This one, though? Classy and classic. The sweaters in this book look like they’re easily wearable, without being too “ethnic,” or too “creative” and yet they are creative.

Creative shapes. Creative stitches. Creative color combinations. The patterns in this book are fun. Cossack is a nice cardigan with a peplum–and an optional “fur” collar. Fisherman takes a standard gansey shape but uses a clever, slip-stitch instead of ribbing at the edges. Monk is as cozy a hooded pullover as you could want, but has a tassel on the hood and some intarsia triangles at the vented bottom. I love the way the honeycomb pattern on Honey works its way down the sleeves. None of these patterns are boring, and yet I’d give almost every one of them space in my closet.

A couple details I particularly like: The specifications for each sweater don’t name a specific yarn–instead, it gives estimated weights (i.e., 200 grams of laceweight yarn). No worries about discontinued yarn. Granted, all the yarns used are from Marianne Isager’s personal collection of yarn (and those specifications are given also), but I like that she’s not trying to tell you that you should use HER yarn. She’s telling you what you need (general) and then what she herself used (specific), and leaving the rest up to you.

I like that not only are there detailed schematics for each pattern (which is more or less a must these days), but in addition to the modelled shots, every sweater is photographed lying flat, so that you can get a good look at its shape. AND, not only that, there are detailed swatches photographed for each pattern, so you can see the stitch patterns clearly. When have you ever seen a book give that much detail?

It’s particularly appreciated here because, stylish as the modelled photos are, they don’t exactly do much for showing you the finished product. It’s a rare photo that doesn’t have the model leaning, or folding his or her arms. These things worry me a bit, but all that other detail in the swatches and schematics are very reassuring.

In other words, finally, a Marianne Isager book that I can not only admire for its creative vision, but that I an actually like.

This book is available at amazon.com.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!

Other reviews for this authors:

• Japanese Knits

First, the facts:

Title: Japanese Inspired Knits

Author: Marianne Isager

Published by: Interweave Press, 2009

Pages: 143

Type: Sweater Patterns.

Chapters:

1. January: Stone Garden Jacket
2. February: Winter in Tokyo
3. March: The Fan
4. April: Flower Buds
5. May: The Carp
6. June: The Umbrella
7. July: The Sun
8. August: Summer in Tokyo
9. September: Rice Fields
10. October: Indigo
11. November: Maple Leaves
12. December: Sake and Soba

Pattern Size Range: 36″ – 54″

The In-Depth Look:

This is a beautifully photographed book, filled with twelve sweater designs–one for each month. Each chapter begins with photos and a paragraph or two about what makes that month special in Japan, or some traditional event that takes place … something that can be tied into the pattern that follows.

As a rule, the patterns are primarily geometric, with regular color patterns, parallel lines, boxy shapes. They use double knitting, shadow knitting, entrelac, intarsia, and stranded color work, with excellent instructions on each technique.

The only real problem I have with this book? I didn’t love any of the patterns. I’m not saying I hated them, either, but nice as they are, there wasn’t any pattern that made me stop and say, “Oooh, I want to make that.”

This isn’t to say that the patterns aren’t well-constructed, clever, and attractive. They are these things, but … personally, they’re not my cup of oolong.

As I say, there are a few sweaters in here I like more than others. The Summer in Tokyo fair isle is interesting, and I like the details in the Flower Buds jacket, as well as the geometric checkerboard of Winter in Tokyo. But most of the others just leave me cold. I can’t exactly say why. Too edgy? Not traditional enough? Too “foreign?” I’m too easily distracted by the model’s assymmetric hair? I don’t really know. But don’t let that stop you from looking for yourself–there’s absolutely no question that Marianne Isager is a talented, inspired designer.

The book itself is beautiful. The sweaters are all photographed against plain, non-distracting backgrounds, so you can focus on them, rather than their settings. The only problem is that it doesn’t give the model much to do to help make them interesting, so in the photos where she’s got her arms wrapped around her waist, it’s hard to tell whether she’s doing so because she was trying for variety, or because the sweater didn’t hang well. (Since each pattern comes with a schematic, my guess is it was the variety.) There are also close-up pictures, too, showing stitch patterns and shaping details–always a good thing in a knitting book.

There is an index, a complete glossary, and a Table of Contents which spells out the theme for each chapter. Very important.

This book is available from Amazon.com for $15.

Want to see bigger pictures? Cllick here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!