The Best of Lopi

Rating:
Summary: a great book for warm ski sweaters,,,,
Review: I really enjoy this book. As soon as I recived the book I began to knit one of the patterns, as I had 9 balls of pale blue lopi , but I needed to make a trip to my LYS to get 2 additional colors to work up the sweater. Though as another reviewer summed it up , there are some pretty nice patterns ( VOL 22!!) that are great also, and if you can get your hands on it , and love the Lopi look as much as I do , by all means do it!
That said ,this is a great book for all levels of knitters and I believed was designed to be so,( nothing wrong with that, everything right about it!)
a lot information about the actual design/background and makeup of the typical in the round stranded yoke sweater is included.

Having worked with lopi before in other projects, I know the yarn is a great buy for your dollar, is incredibly warm , lightweight,, and knits up fast at a guage of approx 3.5 stitches per inch w/o looking like the bulky size 15 needle knits, (I havent a clue why it knits up like that , but it really does,,)

The patterns in the book range from beginner level to more intricate,, not all sweaters are "ski" type sweaters.

Included are several coats, and a great shawl- hood (that looks really warm! ) to attach to a coat in the book, but one could make it and use it on its own. Its a good size,,, taking about 9 or so skeins of lopi lite. Simple,,but a great pattern non the less.

There is an entire section devoted to lovely textural looks ( lots of cables)
Sweaters are almost all unisex or could be, based on color choice. The back of the book has the complete color index for lopi and lopi lite.

I am a circular knitter so this book offers me sweaters done up quickly,,once you get started you dont want to put it down, the patterns forming are simply too much fun,, and always seem to be a suprise, you WANT to continue working til you can put it on!
For an experienced knitter I would think some sweaters could be one week projects.

I look forward to creating my own color combinations, and possibly adding more color/shading to patterns as I go along.
I suspect this will be one of my second most used knitting books,,,
This type of sweater is a great way to get your feet wet in circular knitting as well as beginning fair isle knitting.
Knitting the circular yoke is the easiest way to knit a sweater in the round, ( I think) as the sweater is generally worn slightly or a good deal oversized. Fitting should not be an issue at all.

The childrens section ranges from cute( a sweater with little ducks on is darling as well as the sweater with hearts on the yoke!) to classic,,,
With little ones to knit for,,its nice to have a range of sizes as well as boy/girl combos for those brother-sister looks.

The fact that these sweaters wear very well is an added plus for children! ( if lopi is too itchy for your little ones,, Debbie Bliss makes a line of yarn that works up the same guage ,,) My 2 yr old grandaughter is learning to ice skate,, she will need one fairly soon to wear to the rink, with a hat to match,,in "her" colors,,pink, pink and more pink.( thank goodness they do have a wide range of pinks!!)

Another important aspect of knitting with lopi,,you need not pay a kings randsom to knit a sweater.
Are any knitters beside me REALLY tired of over priced yarns yet? If you want to knit sweaters as gifts this will not be overly expensive,,,,,( I will not go into acrylics, I want REAL wool!)

Ski sytle sweaters NEVER go out of style , most of these have been re- sized for today's look,,,yet the patterns remain the same. What you knit this year can be worn 10 years from now ( and STILL look good,,,)
Cant say that about too many patterns , that's why there are classics!


If you want knitting that is very simple, straightforward, works up quickly, and gives you a great look at a good price, this is the book will be well worth the investment.

Nothing better than coming home from a hectic day , putting on your favorite jeans , a comfy sweater, and cuddling up with a good book.
(and,,,you're dressed to take the dog for his walk outside once you get the idea its time to get up off the couch OR,, he comes in the living room with his leash!)

Rating:
Summary: A knitting pattern book that may never go out of style
Review: This book celebrates 35 years of Lopi knitting patterns by presenting classics in this Scandinavian wool and adding updated styles and colors. Lopi is a long-staple wool from Icelandic sheep. It's lightly spun, incredibly warm and produces those popular bulky ski sweaters with colorful yokes knitting in the round.

... This book takes advantage of the new colors and updates the classic round yoke styles with new raglan style cardigans, pullovers, textured knitting (possible with light Lopi) and accessories like hats and mittens.

In particular, I admired the Luter pullover, done in a deep blue with a bronzy mix of colors in the yoke. It reminded me of a Bohus design. I also loved the Annika cardigan, classic styling but in shades of lovely cobalt blues. The Gudjon cardigan, done in Lopi Lite shades of green is a great style for a man and light enough to wear inside as well as outside. (Lopi is SO warm, it can be too heavy as indoor wear. I knitted one such pullover from yarn bought in Iceland, and it was warm enough to wear as a winter coat while shoveling snow in near-zero temperatures kn New England. ... The designs in this book should also last and last--they are classics and I think you could be knitting from this book decades from now with no worry about looking dated. The photography is rich and professional. If you love ski sweaters and Lopi, you will probably love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Solid, but hardly the "best" of Lopi.
Review: This book is wonderful, but it hardly deserves the appellation "best". The editors, in my opinion, made some very odd choices about what to include (and, conversely, to exclude.) I understand that they were aiming for variety: a mix of cardigans and pullovers, traditional and modern styles, classic neutrals and cheerful, bright colors. There are a few challenging patterns in the collection (Sigridur, with its many three-color rows, comes to mind) but generally the editors have made an obvious effort to keep the book beginning-knitter-friendly.

There are quite a few beautiful, distinctive Lopi patterns which would have satisfied all of the above criteria, but for some reason these were left out of the book in favor of a bunch of clunky, uninspired designs. Perhaps the prettier sweaters were perceived as more difficult to knit, and omitted for fear of alienating the novice knitter. If you can get your hands on a copy of Lopi Vol. 22, you'll see what I mean. Vol. 22, packed with gorgeous designs, comes much closer to representing "the best of Lopi" than this book does.

One further criticism: this book is a compilation of previously published patterns, some of which were published quite a few years ago. XRX should really have re-photographed ALL the sweaters in the book, not just a select few. Many of the pictures in this book are really very silly, with their early-1960's hair and makeup, massive shirt collars, and bizarre color sense.

These quibbles aside, there are several real gems in the book. The Annika cardigan is just beautiful, as are the Laela rose-patterned pullover, the Klara fairisle sweater, and the Sonja and Snorri arans (which look just wonderful in a tweedy shade of Lopi.) Many of the children's patterns, however, are nicer than the adult sweaters! Fortunately, they are not difficult to resize.

Rating:
Summary: Very satisfied with this book
Review: Though I have yet to knit a sweater from this book (just received it last week, and have nearly completed a pair of socks from it,) I suspect that it will be one of my most-used knitting books. It contains many sweater patterns, most of which are sized from extra small to extra large, and a number of patterns for socks, mittens and hats as well. I feel that the selection of sweater patterns is well-balanced; there are of course the traditional Icelandic round-yoked sweaters, but there are also patterns for cabled sweaters and a cabled jacket, fairisle, and many other pullovers and cardigans inspired by the traditions of other countries. There are some very nice patterns for men as well as for women and children, which is nice because attractive men's sweater patterns can be difficult to come across. The book also contains information on what exactly Lopi yarn is, plus color charts of both Lopi and Lopi Lite. Then next sweater I start will be the Norwegian-inspired men's cardigan, and I also plan to knit the little girls' poncho and the fantastic Snorri aran before next Christmas. For myself I want to knit the cabled jacket; for my mom the very unique textured, multicolored jacket; for my sister the hooded, zippered jacket with colorwork edging . . . I guess you can say that this book inspires me!

Rating:
Summary: lovely, easy to follow instructions
Review: XRX will need to compile more books. With these beautiful designs and combination of colors complimented by their easy to follow directions they are sure to be a hit in the knitting world. Good Luck...design again soon...Lourdes