Last-Minute Knitted Gifts [Hardcover]

I fell in love with this book at first sight: the photography and colours are irresistible! The projects are very varied: from adult accessories to baby clothes to decorative items, there is a great selection to choose from. And they look beautiful!

So far, I have made one of the Lovable Toys (the elephant), the baby booties, and have just begun the baby denim pants (baby items are kind of a priority right now). I am an intermediate-level knitter, and so far I have had no major problems with the patterns. Some parts can be a little tricky: setting up the elephant trunk required some concentration, and the baby booties are knitted in a very surprising way (although the author mentions it). But if you just follow instructions, you should be fine. Any potentially complicated stitches are explained in endnotes, and I am grateful to be learning new techniques.

Another thing I like about this book is that most projects seem to require very little sewing: whenever possible, the projects are knitted in one piece. This means there is very little assembly required, which saves time and keeps the finished project looking nice and neat.

There are a couple of flaws, but they are not that big a deal to me. The first has been mentioned by others: the author recommends using very expensive types of yarn. Also, the choice of yarn is not always very practical: making a baby toy out of non-machine-washable material does not seem like a very good idea, unless you're planning to leave the toy on a shelf as decoration. With that in mind, it would have been nice to include suggestions for yarn substitutions. But you can easily work it out for yourself. I asked for recommendations at my local yarn shop, and I've also improvised with whatever yarn I had on hand, testing the gauge and making the necessary adjustments. So far, it's worked out. And it makes the projects feel like your very own, not just a copy of the book's.

The second "flaw" is perhaps limited only to myself: I find that it takes me a lot longer than indicated to finish a project. Most likely this is because I am not an expert knitter, but I am not a raw beginner either. I don't really mind, but I would definitely not begin a so-called two-hour project with literally only two(or even three) hours to spare. But as long as you're aware of the possible discrepancy, it's really not a problem.