Stitch 'n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics
It’s a definitive publishing brand now, growing from workshops and knitting groups to a great (and funky) series called Stitch ’n Bitch. Once again, author-editor Stoller and her contributing designers hit the knitting needles with élan and nerve, basing the 41 patterns on the assumption that readers have mastered knitting and purling, and increasing and decreasing. This newest volume is definitely geared to the experienced stitcher, although brave knitters will be able to follow the up-front directions and illustrations for cables, bobbles, laces, intarsia, steeks, and, yes, even how to design it yourself. Instructions are detailed, with much colloquial language; the latter actual begins with chapter titles (for instance, Lace: The Final Frontier) and continues throughout. The designs, unfortunately, are not labeled in terms of ease/difficulty; plus many only capture one or two sizes. Yet the how-to’s are rich, featuring each contributor’s story as well as prefatory prose about the item’s creation. With abundant photographs, illustrations, and charts, knitters can choose among a sea-and-surf sweater, a fertility blanket, and a Coco Chanel–like cardigan with sequins. --Barbara Jacobs