Hats On!: Amazon.ca: Charleen Schurch: Books

Product Description

From Library Journal

Schurch, master knitter and author of Mostly Mittens: Traditional Knitting Patterns from Russia's Komi People (LJ 11/15/98), now turns her attention to caps. Knitters often use caps as "proving grounds" for patterns and styles they plan to use later in garments. The knitter who completes these 31 caps will be well versed in a variety of ethnic knitting styles and color pattern techniques. Instructions are clearly written and include excellent graphs as well as a color photo of each hat. As no novelty or unusual yarns are required, this book is a good choice for even small public libraries located in areas where local yarn stores do not abound.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Book Description

Charlene Schurch has written numerous articles about knitting for Piecework.

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Customer Reviews

14 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

Average Customer Review

4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars A great hat book with some flaws, Feb 10 2004

By

Quickbeam (Oconomowoc, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hats On! (Paperback)

I am an accomplished knitter and find this book is one of the most often used in my library. It has basic tam and watchcap patterns as well as some very complex ethnic hats. I'd encourage those using the book to make the colors their own....I've had great success with these patterns in my own color combinations.

The 2 flaws I find in the book are inadequate information about blocking and some gauge issues. Most wool hats need some blocking to look professionally finished, especially tams. You'll get no help from this book. The gauge problems are more troubling. On the Komi cap, for example, it calls for fingering weight yarn at 10 stitches to the inch (didn't specify which needles). Well, I'm a tight knitter and I could only get 8 to the inch on size "0" needles. I ended up having to reconfigure the child's sized hat (stitch count) for an adult head taking into account my altered gauge. That worked and the hat is gorgeous. But do be warned that gauge is everything in hats...if you can't get the right stitch count per inch (and that's not easy with this book) the finished product might not fit anyone's head.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A hat for every head!, Jan 17 2004

By

saintjay (Williston, VT) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hats On! (Paperback)

As Charlene Schurch mentions in her introduction, hat projects are extrememly portable and they make great gifts. With so many hat patterns to choose from, it's easy to find a hat for anybody in your family or gift list. I've already made 3 hats from this book - all three recieve copious compliments often accompanied by requests for either the pattern [from knitters] or a hat [from non-knitters].

Probably the best feature of this book is that most of the patterns include directions for many sizes, from toddler to x-large adult.

There's also a full range of difficulty from multiple color and intricate colorwork to 2 color stockinette or simple cables. Although all of the patterns involve either colorwork or cables, the projects are small and the charts are easy to read, making this a good book for the knitter ready to move beyond scarves and other simple knits.

I found my knitting gauge to be up to 2 needle sizes off from the directions so I would strongly suggest not skipping your swatch!

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1.0 out of 5 stars Frustrating., Aug 7 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: Hats On! (Paperback)

Okay, I'm not a beginning knitter, and it's a good thing. Because if I had been trying to use this book as a beginner, I probably would have quit knitting! In the first place, the guage is ridiculous -- 6-7 stitches to the inch in worsted weight on size 6 needles!The resulting fabric would be stiff as a board!! Secondly, the charts are unnecessarily cryptic (there are different starting and stopping places for various sizes, and there are no row numbers). There are a lot of colorwork patterns (I hate colorwork), and the few nice textural patterns would probably work better in other applications. The Gansey Watch Cap, for example, has a lovely pattern for the cuff, but the resulting fabric is not elastic - would have worked better on the body of the hat. I found this book frustrating and unworkable, and wouldn't recommend it even to experienced knitters, who could probably invent better hats themselves. Buy Ann Budd's The Knitter's Handy Book of Patterns and create your own unique designs instead!

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Most recent customer reviews

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing
I received this book as a gift, and it was very disappointing. Living in Northern Minnesota, we wear hats constantly, but so many of the hats in this book were so old fashioned... Read more

Published on Jan 8 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, inspiring, well-written
If you are looking for a learn-to-knit-hats book, this isn't going to be the one. However, for the advanced knitter, this book is a gem. Read more

Published on Dec 29 2002 by Lanja Samsdottir