July 2009

Reviewed by: Janette has been knitting and crocheting for over 60 years, she also spins and dyes her own wool.

Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn by Carol Sulcoski. Interweave Press (January 1, 2009)

I grew up with hand knitted socks and my husband was spoiled by my mother with hand knitted socks. There really is nothing like homemade, hand knitted, (my preference) woollen socks for comfort and warmth. My mother knitted our socks leg down to toe, so it never even occurred to me that there was another way. I have knitted a few socks over over the years, not many I admit, but this book has inspired me to give sock knitting another go.

Another thing I love to do is to play with dyeing yarn and experimenting with colour. So another reason to love this book – is that it delves into different methods that can be used to get different affects with colour.

Between, the different methods of colouring yarn, different stitches, plus the choice of knitting from leg down or toe up, I found that one is never too old to discover and learn something new and challenging about knitting. I am quite looking forward to using this book as soon as I have finished my present project (spinning an alpaca fleece then knitting up a sweater for my husband).

Back to the book – each pattern is well illustrated, instructions clear and a good glossary at the back of the book to demonstrate techniques, such as the Continental Cast on and the Eastern Cast on.

I would recommend this book to both inexperienced and expert knitters, I think they would get a lot of satisfaction out of trying the different patterns and possibly playing with the dying of the yarn.

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