I've always wanted to knit socks but dislike knitting with four (or five) needles. This book seemed to be an ideal solution - I was so delighted with its discovery that I gave it to myself for Christmas. It's beautifully laid out with very clear pictures and some interesting socks to knit. The seam is also very cleverly incorporated into the design. However, there are far too many print errors for this book to have much value. The first pattern I attempted was the basic sock and the errors in the pattern are glaring. I'm beginning to lose confidence with the rest of the book - so far I've managed to work out (through trial and error) what I'm supposed to do, but what if I come across a pattern that isn't so easy to work out, one that is too difficult for me to decipher? Pattern books need to be thoroughly edited and checked, by the author as well as the editors and publishers. Every pattern needs to be tested to ensure that there are no errors. I will certainly not be buying anything by Alice Curtis again.
Here's the link for the review:
You should know that I was REALLY excited when I found this book. It seemed to have been written just for me - I hate knitting with DPNs but I really wanted to have a go at knitting socks. They seemed such a popular thing to knit: every knitting magazine has a pattern, no matter the time of year. Having spent most of this year so far doggedly knitting my way through several jumpers for my daughter (and a few hats), I thought I should try my hand at something else - and remembered my Christmas present to myself. It's really very clever the way the seam is incorporated into the pattern and it seemed quite manageable. I began with the basic sock, as I mentioned in my review, and right away there were several problems. For a start, the book is written for American knitters, which is fine, but a page of conversions would have been nice (it means I have to have my Knitting Bible with me at all times to translate.) This is a minor point. Slightly more annoying was that the first instruction was to knit the rib. The first two rows of the rib, however, are not the same, and instructions are NOT given for the second row. One is apparently supposed to work this out by inference. Well, fine. I'm a good enough knitter to work out that my second attempt at really bad moss stitch meant there was something wrong and I could work out why.
However, the first really bad mistake is gross negligence: one is told to knit 13 rows, from row 16 - 18. HUH? So which is correct? Three rows or thirteen? Well, fine - once again, this can be worked out. It's obviously a typo. One can see from the photo that it's meant to be 13 rows, so it should read row 16 - 28.
The next error (all discovered in the first evening, by the way) was an instruction to knit the heel flap in stocking stitch when the photo CLEARLY showed it knit in rib.
These are simple errors that can be worked out - but what if there are bigger errors? I'm not the world's best knitter. I need a pattern to tell me what to do. If it's something really complex, how will I know how to work it out? How will I know if it's MY mistake or the stupid book? Other reviews also mention errors in the book. I wonder if it's worth writing to Alice Curtis. I'd love to know what other knitters think about this.....
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