Book Review - Pop Knitting

Pop Knitting – Bold Motifs using Color and Stitch

Britt-Marie Christoffersson

ISBN 978-1-59668-782-0

RRP £17.99

 Published May 2012

Publisher: Interweave Press

Britt-Marie Christoffersson is a Swedish designer of 25+ years experience, and in this book she looks at how to create great texture and pattern with knitting stitches.   There are no patterns for garments in the book, just simply techniques and swatches.  There are pictures of finished garments to illustrate some of the techniques given, but these have a very basic description of how they were put together.

We launch pretty much straight into the patterns and there is a huge wealth of variety here.  For each type of stitch, ie The Colour Garter Stitch, there are 3-4 examples of how to vary, and then perhaps 6-8 more swatches of how colour variations and combinations with other stitches can create a new look.  There are 23 chapters on different stitches altogether, and considering that a lot of these will have between 4-12 variations means that no stone is unturned. 

Two colour garter stitch

Stitches are produced in all colourways (mostly vibrant colours, but there is some white and neutral colours added to the mix.  Interesting additions (such as those created by casting on and binding off to create loops) means that 3-dimensional effects can be created, and there is some combination of knitting and crochet stitches for even more variety.

Casting on and binding off within a row

Slipped stitches and Stockinette

Overall, there are over 200 photographs, with a couple of diagrams to illustrate some of the stitches.  Each pattern is laid out with easy to follow instructions and a full colour photograph.  The instructions are mostly short as once the stitch is mastered, you repeat to create your pattern. Only a few stitches require longer instruction.

Horizontal buttonhole

The seasoned knitter will gain much from this, and will be more likely to adopt the patterns within other garments, but for those less confident, the nature of the book as a tutorial for creating new stitches will be incredibly useful for picking and choosing new stitches to perfect.

I also have an addition to make to this review.  I showed it to my sister who is a big knitter and she commented that she found it very imaginative and absorbing.  She said that it isn't often that you hae a pattern book that makes you stop and ponder about a design, but this book does it frequently throughout the book.    She subsequently did swatches of several of the designs, and was particularly enamoured of the braiding patterns.  It was a big thumbs up from her.