The Celtic Collection: Twenty-Five Knitwear Designs for Men and Women

Although this book comes from a decade of oversized sweaters, I can certainly use these lovely designs with a little adjustment of sizing. Beautifully illustrated and charted.

I actually have two copies of this book. The first was purchased more than 15 years ago, and is a much loved / slightly tattered hardcover. I recently received the paperback version as a gift to replace my much-used original. I love patterns that have either lots of colorwork, or lots of texture. This is why I learned to knit in the first place. This book is heavily skewed towards color work. I have been making the sweaters from this book for various relatives for many years, and am currently working on a sweater full of celtic creatures for my daughter. You can also transpose some of the designs, such as the entwined dragons from the back of a child's sweater onto other projects as long as you keep the stitches even on either side. If you look at the guages, you can substitute available yarns for the yarns listed in the book. Consider the colors and yarn selections in the photographs as "suggestions" and you will free yourself to make some personalized choices. Warning: In the years since this book was published, some of the patterns have become dated. This is mostly due to the shape of the sweaters and ever changing fashion trends. Have I mentioned that I love this book? I can't imagine not having it to reach for when the urge to knit something glorious strikes.

Alice Starmore is justly famed for her beautiful colorwork and cable designs. These sweaters -- for men, women, and children -- are all about the fabric. The shaping is always very simple, with drop sleeves and boxy shapes. The directions are very clear and finishing is easy. If you can work from charts, you should not have any difficulty making the colorwork sweaters; in traditional Fair Isle style, there are only 2 colors to a row. As is true of the most useful knitting books, this one has many color charts and cables which will look good on other items. As a source for patterns for your socks or motifs for your pillows, this is a book you will pull off your shelf repeatedly through the years. I have combined the colorwork with more fitted sweater patterns from other designers with great success, so a dislike of drop sleeves shouldn't deter you from adding this book to your collection. I've made several things using quite ordinary sport weight and worsted weight yarns, so the difficulty of finding the recommended yarns does not seem to me to be an issue, unless you are determined to match the designer's colors exactly. The book itself is beautiful, though the moody photos of disgruntled beauties in Goth makeup are sometimes too arty to allow the reader to get a clear idea of the construction of the sweater. The landscapes are enough to make you want to go for a visit.

Although Starmore yarns are no longer available in this country, Jamieson can fill the bill for you. The call numbers are the same, but the color names are different. Starmore books are just too precious to give up, simply because the yarns are no longer available. This book is a work of art, but definitely not for the novice knitter, unless (s)he has unlimited patience and an urge to stretch the wings.