 | Summaries and Customer Reviews are supplied by Amazon.com | When Weekend Knitting was first published in hardcover in 2003, a modern generation of knitters was just starting to discover this "hot new hobby." Since then, knitting has grown wildly popular and Melanie Falick’s book has gone on to become a knitting classic and a huge bestseller.
Now available in paperback, Weekend Knitting brings together unique, innovative, and still-fresh projects for beginning and more-experienced knitters, many of which can be completed in a weekend or less. Every project is presented with clear instructions and in beautiful photographs that celebrate idyllic weekend settings.
Quotes from diverse sources about knitting, creativity, and balanced living—along with favorite recipes, lists of books and movies with knitting scenes, and other extras—complete the weekend knitting experience.
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Average Customer Rating:   Dud designs from big name designers Even big name designers, have dud designs. This book seems to be a collection of duds from many well known designers. Ann Budd, Jo Sharp, Debby Bliss etc. -- have published wonderful designs but you wouldn't know it from this collection.
There are online free versions for items similar to most of the patterns in this book. Besides, who needs to buy a book to get a 'pattern' for a 3 in by 96 in made by knitting a garter stitch piece 5 stitches wide on 19mm needles????
Most of the projects would require several weekends to knit so the title is somewhat misleading.
Spare the pages wasted on butter cookie and hot chocolate recipes - if I want this, I'll buy a cook book for heaven's sake! Other tree-wasters include how to make and drink tea, how to take a bath (I kid you not!!) - and 12 glossy pages of ugly finger puppet patterns!!!!!
Oh, and be sure to mark the occasional pattern that you DO like -- the projects are not listed in the table of contents!!
The trivia lists - movies with knitting scenes and knitting in literature do have some curiosity value.
There is little to inspire here -- I bought my copy less than $6 from a remainder book seller thinking that there must be something worthwhile because of the positive reviews here and the 'name' designers. I should have bought yarn instead.
Good variety of projects This book has a good variety of projects. Most seem easy to do from simple mittens to easy sweaters, even some fun knitting projects you can make for kids. I especially love the flower petal wash cloths. A Keeper for all Skill Levels This is a wonderful book that would make a great gift for any knitter, but especially for the serious beginner. It contains some projects that are dead-easy (such as the Uptown Scarf and the Fluffy Lapghan) some for people looking to move into the intermediate zone (such as the mitten patterns or Backgammon bag) and some more advanced (such as the felted/fulled market bag and cache-coeur top). It also contains patterns that would be great for someone looking to do lace for the first time.
Though there is no "learn to knit" section, the patterns are well-written for easy reading, and there are excellent notes to help knitters with the tricky bits (including instructions on how to felt/full wool, along with the basics of choosing yarn for felting/fulling projects). Basically anyone could do any of these, given enough time and patient reading, and for that it is an excellent book for the "intermediate beginner" looking to stretch her (or his) knitting ability.
On the subject of time, whether or not one could complete all of these projects in a weekend, as the title seems to suggest, is largely dependant on the individual's skill level and knitting speed. As an Intermediate knitter, I could probably knit about half of these in a weekend (and probably more if I actually had the weekend to do nothing BUT knit). A beginner could probably pick from ten of the fifty projects, including the flower washcloths, the Uptown Scarf, the Checkers Tote (this would make a great gift for a family of air travelers, by the way, along with the backgammon tote, given the new security regulations which leave one seriously limited as to the types of entertainment one can bring aboard), and others. An advanced knitter could probably do most if not all of the projects in a weekend. At any rate, the feel and theme of the book certainly gives it a weekend appeal, so the title is appropriate no matter what your skill level.
The book's weekend appeal is enhanced by beautiful full-colour photos throughout and interesting sidebars, including (but certainly not limited to) a section on the proper way to make tea, a selection of movies that reference knitting, and a delicious hot chocolate recipe. Peppered with knitting and lifestyle quotes from people like St. Francis of Assisi, Jean-Jaques Rousseau, and Virginia Woolf, this book is a pleasure to read, even when you're not looking for a project.
I suppose this book would not be for the person who is seriously pressed for time or who doesn't have the patience to read project notes, but if you're the kind of knitter who believes half the fun of knitting is in taking some time away to enjoy the simpler things in life, this may be exactly the book you need! Curse my library's renewal policy! If it weren't for my library's 3 week renewal policy, I would keep this book FOREVER!!!!! This is probably my favorite knitting book of all time! I think I would knit just about every single pattern in here, and make the hot coco recipe a thousand times. Great Book! This is an excellent book of standard projects with unique twists. The "extras," like cookie recipes and how to give a hand massage, definitely add to the book. The patterns, though short weekend projects, are NOT for beginners. |  |
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