Knitter's Yarn Palette: The Ultimate Visual Guide for Choosing the Right Color, Texture, and Style for Every Pattern

by Claire Montgomerie

A visual celebration and source of inspiration for knitters eager to experiment with the newest colors and textures Today's diverse knitters'some 50 million strong in North America'crave skeins of... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0762109092
• ISBN13: 9780762109098
• Release Date: October 2008
• Publisher: Reader's Digest Association
• Length: 175 Pages
• Weight: 2.24 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 8.8" x 8.8"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Add another level of creativity to your knitting

Knitter's Yarn Palette by Claire Montgomerie was a life changing book for me. I'm not changing my career or religion but I'm certainly changing the way I approach knitting projects. She writes that the objective of the book is to be an "inspirational guide to knitting innovatively . . . [without] an art-school education." She achieves her goal through teaching how to create "Mood Boards" for knitting projects - gathering leaves, shells, photos, scraps of yarns, buttons, etc to suggest colors, textures and shapes for projects. She also introduces principles of color, types of fibers, and dyes. Then she demonstrates her approach by presenting six of her own Mood Boards, each featuring three or four knitting projects. I like the diversity of the twenty projects she offers which range from wraps and blankets to muffs and socks. There are four sweaters. Other than the two projects for children --one child's scarf, hat and mittens set, the second, building blocks -- everything is designed for women. Every design is practical and wearable but each also features a detail, a stitch pattern, or a yarn choice that makes them a small but interesting challenge for the intermediate knitter or adventuresome beginner. The Astrid Sweater varies the traditional Norwegian color palette and employs steeking for the neck and sleeves. The ankle-length Dust Socks uses occasional rows of purl to create the effect of windblown sand. The Loom Patchwork Blanket embellishes hexagons with intarsia and embroidery. There is equal diversity in the author's yarn choices which include hemp, hand spun, mohair, and novelty as well as traditional wools. A Yarn Directory in the back describes yarn structures, types and illustrates differing weight yarns with photographs of a wide range of yarns. The author's designs are divided into six sections that she calls Color Palettes but what I think of more as themes or inspirations. These are drawn from environmental regions of the earth like the ocean (Into the Blue), or the tropical rain forest (Tropical Storm). Claire begins with describing highlights of the region: for instance, contrasting textures and dappled lighting in Enchanted Woodland. She shares how these characteristics suggest colors, yarn, and stitches. Next she presents her Mood Board for that section and finally illustrates how her process translates into specific projects. The photography is lush and includes elements of nature, yarn and swatch samples. Each photo is identified so that you can follow Claire's thinking. An added bonus for most of the designs is Claire's suggestions for altering the pattern or yarn choice. I have some quibbles. I would have liked schematics or better photographs of some of the garments. Marine Waves Wrap, a beautiful fabric made of Sea Wool and featuring the feather and fan stitch to suggest ocean waves has arms built in, but I have no clear picture of what it looks like overall despite the four photographs