The Jean Moss Book of World Knits (Threads)

Rating:
Summary: pretty nice attempt at unusual designs
Review: A disapointment after her previous "classics" book and her published patterns. Maybe Ms. Moss wanted a write-off for her trip through Africa and the Middle East, but I'm not inclined to help fund it. The designs in this book are (with the exception of one sweater vest) not the kind of thing you would actually WEAR anyplace (including Casual Fridays), regardless of how interesting they may be to craft as a technical exercise. Frankly, as a working mom I just don't have time for knitting "exercises," which may explain my frustration with the book. Most of the designs suffered from some very unfortunate choices with regard to the colorways. There are some interesting "bits" of designs and constructions that you might be able to use in another sweater project, but on the whole I found it to be very derivative of what Fassett was doing 10 years ago without adding much of additional value.

Rating:
Summary: Patterns with a 'new' look will keep me going for months.
Review: I bought this book after spending an hour 'skimming ' it and Starmore's Celtic Collection. For me, it was the unique touches...creative details and colors that made the difference and made me select the Moss book. I am in a stage of my knitting where I want it to be fun and interesting. I decided that the patterns Moss put together here were not only going to be superb when done, but would keep me interested while knitting. No boring knitting here...but repeats are easily learned...I have not found myself chained to the book while knitting. I find the color combinations refreshing and interesting...NOT AT ALL garish like some can be. For the combinations that I love but cannot give a lot of time to...there are small items (socks/pillows) that I can make to satisfy my craving. Moss offers a wide variety of skill levels so that there is something for almost everyone in this book. In short, I find this book delightful and full of projects that will keep me knitting happily for months. The recipients of my work (if I can bear to part with them when I am finished) will be thrilled. I am very happy with my book and have put three of the projects on my "must do as soon as possible" list. My teenage daughters, my sister and I have ALL found items in here we are obsessed with creating. I am working on my first project from this book now. The directions are clear and the charts are easy to follow...complete yarn information allowed easy yarn substitutions. This book won't be spending much time on the shelf. Knitting with Moss in this book is FUN. Happy knitting.

Rating:
Summary: Some good designs
Review: I found some good designs in this book. Since I like to see knits from around the world, I enjoyed her book. However I am sure there are other knits around the world that could have been shown here.

Rating:
Summary: What a dudd
Review: I was so in love with Moss's previous books that I scooped this book up without even looking at the contents, wanting a quite place to savor the work of a master. Silly me. These are not the timeless classics of her previous books. Instead of her trademark texture with subtle motif coupled with wonderfully detailed styling, we have ugly overbearing designs against mostly ho-hom sweaters. Did I mention the socks and afgans? Yuck. There are a couple of nice sweaters, but nothing to motivate me to pluck down $150 in yarn and spend months knitting. Ironically, Vogue featured an original pattern that was based on one of the sweaters in the book and it is far better then the one it is based on and much nicer then anything in this book. Save your money and hunt down one of her earlier books.

Rating:
Summary: pretty nice attempt at unusual designs
Review: Moss has some nice sweaters here, although I can't help thinking that the inspiration for the designs should have produced more thought over the designs themselves. Something about them shouted that they could have been improved. They don't look like "world" knits either but only a select portion of the world. The colors are often too bright for my taste, although two of the sweaters are fairly nice. Somehow it all seems awkward, but it is a nice attempt at doing something different. However, none of the sweaters is so appealing that I'm willing to put in the time to handle their intricacies. I'm looking forward to her new book, Sculptured Knits, which I've seen previewed -- and one of the sweaters in the collection can be found in the Fall 1999 Knitter's.