A History of Hand Knitting

Rating:
Summary: new edition is missing the color plates
Review: Although this book is dated, its republication has been eagerly anticipated. I am sad to report that the new edition does not contain the color plates that appeared in the original. This makes the text at times somewhat difficult to understand.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, but not without the illustrations
Review: I enjoyed this book but the new edition does not contain the color plates from the first edition. Why? The illustrations are wonderful and add so much to the text. Without them the book's value to a reader is seriously diminished.

Rating:
Summary: Informative, but lack of original colour plates is irksome.
Review: Informative and interesting. Some early "knitting recipes" are reproduced.
My main complaints:
1) The dust jacket states that colour plates are included, but there are no colour plates in this book. I suspect that the plates were reprinted as black and white photos that are scattered throughout the text.
2) The text was not edited to accomodate the lack of colour plates. An example is when the author refers to "figure 7" for Charles I's light blue shirt. The figure number does not correspond to the image! The image *is* there however, but you have to look it up in the index to find it, and it is reproduced in black and white only.

Rating:
Summary: Informative, but lack of original colour plates is irksome.
Review: There have been a number of knitting history books but Bishop Rutt's History of Hand Knitting is perhaps the most readable. This new edition by Interweave Press has a lot to offer anyone interested in textiles and knitting. From nalbinding (a Scandinavian netting technique) to to the flourishing of knitting as a guild in the Middle Ages, and later the development of silk handknit stocking that replaced cloth leggings in Elizabethan times, the history of knitting is a fascinating story of craft combined with economics. This is one of my favorite knitting history books and I am pleased it is back in print.