Aran Knitting

This is a beautiful book. It's "COFFEE TABLE" beautiful. The history of Aran knitting, and the photographt are gorgeous. The sweaters that Alice Starmore designed are wonderful. The mens sweaters are timeless, but the women's sweaters are a bit dated. This could be easily remidied by adjusting the fit of the sweater while using the stitches that are part of the original design. Alice Starmore has a number of nice stitch patterns in the book that are also listed in numerous other knitting stitch books (The Big Book of Knitting, The Harmony Guide to Knitting Stitches Vol. 1 and 2, Donna Kooler's Encyclopedia of Knitting, Charted Knitting Designs by Barbara G. Walker, The Complete Book of Knitting by Barbara Abbey, to name a few). There are a couple of Celtic cable patterns that are more intriguing, but is it worth buying the book for $100+ just to have access to those few stitches? So, to sum it up. I would definitely give this book 5 stars on overall first impression, even on the sweater patterns and charts, but as far as the stitches within the book - about 4 stars, there are many other books out there with more comprehensive patterns. Buy the book if you want the history, the sweater patterns, but if you're looking for a good book on Aran Knit Stitches, try a stitch encyclopedia book and come up with your own designs.

I've been knitting since I was 8 years old and I've never seen anything like this. It's almost 3 books in one - an overview of the mythology and reality of Aran knitwear, plus a detailed description of Aran sweaters in the National Museum in Ireland; a gallery of stitch patterns with instructions; and a collection of Starmore's own designs, also with instructions. Her designs are beautiful - her starting point was when she recognized that traditional Aran knits use braids and twists but ancient Celtic art uses continuous lines - so she made up knitting designs using the continuous lines of Celtic knotwork. Her charting method is wonderfully easy to read. I love this and I want to make everything in it.

If you have to get one book on aran knitting this is the one. The first time I picked up this book I felt like a complete idiot for all the times I ever bought a pricey knitting magazine just to get the cool aran pattern inside; this book has them all beat. There are great designs for women, men and children. The instructions are great, the photographs are beautiful. Alice Starmore rules!!

Includes a library of aran cables with instruction on how to make them as well as patterns that take my breath away. I found her instructions easy to follow and the pictures inspirational. A look through it sends me straigt to the yarn store, excited to start one of her masterpieces.