Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way
by Tricia Drake is a fun knitting book. A lot of the beauty of these patterns comes directly from the yarn choice. The patterns themselves are simple and easy to create. You just have to make the right choices with your supplies. In the past I have had complaints when the patterns are simple and the yarn does all the work, but I want to recognize those designers who take advantage of fantastic yarns and designs simple patterns to really show them off.
I like that you get to see what many of the skeins of yarn look like before knitting begins. It is great to get a sense of the yarn type, to make it much easier to substitute a yarn you find at your local yarn store.
by Tricia Drake is a fun knitting book. A lot of the beauty of these patterns comes directly from the yarn choice. The patterns themselves are simple and easy to create. You just have to make the right choices with your supplies. In the past I have had complaints when the patterns are simple and the yarn does all the work, but I want to recognize those designers who take advantage of fantastic yarns and designs simple patterns to really show them off. I like that you get to see what many of the skeins of yarn look like before knitting begins. It is great to get a sense of the yarn type, to make it much easier to substitute a yarn you find at your local yarn store.
"20 quick & creative knitted hats, wraps and cozy coccoons for your newborn." This darling book contains 7 hat patterns, 6 wraps and blankets, and 6 Cocoons and pods. Somehow this doesn't add up... I only count 19! One of these patterns must have a couple of versions. Checking on Ravelry also shows only 19 patterns.... Whoops!
I cannot emphesize enough how important the yarns are to these projects. These are fast, totally adorable knits. The sweet dreams hat is darling. But you need to have interesting bluky thick and thin yarns to create the effects. Holding some standartd worsted yarns doubled won't give it the same effervescent quality.
These projects would be perfect for some first handspun attempts. I need to get some ribbon yarns!
You can bet I'll knit some pods or coccoons when I am expecting a child. They are such a great way to show off a newborn baby! (It doesn't even matter to me if they are functional because they are such fast knits.)
I have to knit a pod too..I've never
ReplyDeleteHello Rebecca! Thanks so much for your glowing review of my book, "Welcoming Home Baby the Handcrafted Way". It recently won the 2012 Benjamin Franklin Award for the Best Craft/Hobby/How-to Book, and was a finalist for ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year.
ReplyDeleteI hope you'll enjoy knitting up these projects! If you or your readers are having trouble locating any of the supplies, I stock all of the currently available yarns (and subs for those that have since been discontinued), plus all of the needles, and custom kits for any project. I also offer the more expensive and hard-to-find accent yarns for sale by the yard, making them accessible and affordable for anyone wanting to give these projects a go without spending a lot of money on a huge skein. Just contact me at tric@trickyknits.com to get started on any project!
And there really are 20 patterns. Note that the Ho Ho Ho Cocoon and Hat in the Table of Contents is two-piece set.
Don't be a stranger and, of course, knit it chunky!
;)
Tric Drake
Nashville, TN
Tric,
DeleteThank you so much for leaving a comment. I am thrilled to hear that you offer some of the special yarns! I know that I am going to need to go back to this book again and again as more of my friends start expecting.
Thanks for the note on the pattern #, sometimes I miss the things that are sets when I'm flipping through.
-Rebecca