Fabulous Felted Hand-Knits: Wonderful Wearables & Home Accents

I recieved this book as a christmas gift. I do not think that I would have bought it for myself, but it made a good gift. I have not tried any of the projects yet, but that is mainly because they do not appeal to me or, for the ones that do appeal to me, I have to go out and find the supplies for them. The yarn bowl looks very nice. The pictures of the projects are great and in good color, but the techniques glossary is lacking these pictures or even diagrams and could leave you in the dark, especially if you do not sew or embroider. It was nice to learn that felted knitting could be sewn and cut, but I want to knit and felt a finished product, not knit fabric, felt it, cut it out, and sew it together. Most of the projects retain their stitch definition, which is not a look that I expected. The machine felting instructions leave me uneasy, but the hand felting instructions were wonderful and easy to follow. The drying and finishing instructions are also clear.

I bought this book for the vest pattern, but I've ended up knitting a bag instead. The instructions are clear for the knitting, and there are several different methods of felting detailed in the introductory chapter. A previous review dissed this book because it has embroidery and sewing in some of the patterns. That person labeled it not "easy." I don't know what information that person had, but the title says nothing about "easy," and in fact, I like the challenge associated with the designs. There are a range of patterns, from simple to challenging. Not everything has to be "easy" to be fun or worthwhile to do. And, you can modify patterns to suit yourself. This book gives a lot of information about felting so you know why and how it works and can then use the technique in whatever way you want (including combining it with embroidery and sewing). I highly recommend it.