Knitting: Colour, Structure and Design

by Alison Ellen

Colour, Structure and Design takes a fresh approach to knitting, examining not just the look of a knitted pattern, but how the knitted fabric can be altered with different stitches to change its stretch, drape and thickness. Once understood, the design and application potential of this textile technique is thrilling and endless. Topics covered basic stitches, including many different ways of casting on and off, both decorative and functional; new approaches to construct fabric in any direction (not necessarily starting at the bottom and finishing at the top) in order to make any shape without sewn seams; an in-depth section on colour giving design ideas and techniques for knitting with colour and advice on dyeing your own yarns, including decorative effects such as dip-dyeing and tie-dyeing yarn. There are knitting patterns to suit a range of body shapes, with directions for personalizing these to your own requirements. Written by a revered craftsman, this beautifully illustrated book encourages and inspires both experienced knitters and those new to the technique to have the confidence to experiment and develop their own designs.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, Crafts

192 pages, Hardcover

First published May 1, 2012

Reviews

[Marie Segares · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Full disclosure: I received a review copy of this book from Trafalgar Square Publishing.)

This book is an exploration of knitting design, with an emphasis on construction, fabric structure, and colorwork.

Alison has been a teaching knitting design workshops for 30 years, and the book is written as though you had an inside tour into her classes. The book would be of interest to anyone working with freeform knitting.

The Introduction explores different ways of approaching knitting construction. Alison says, "Experimenting with knitting is not something many of us have time for; it is simpler to follow a knitting pattern. However, if you enjoy being creative, it is worth putting aside some time to play and see what happens." If you see some of yourself in that quote, this might be a great book for you.

Knitting from Pre-History to Present reviews the recorded history of knitting and discusses how it was primarily a functional craft up until the end of World War II.

Stitches and How They Work includes illustrations and written and charted instructions for several knit and purl combination stitches, cables, entrelac, lace, zig zags, increases and decreases, short rows, circles and squares, and bias and modular knitting swatches. Pictures of different samplers are shared and there is explanation of how the fabric texture and structure is impacted by the different techniques and stitch patterns. Some color play is introduced in this chapter.

Techniques is a brief chapter exploring different methods for holding the yarn and needles. Alison encourages flexibility here.

Colour features more samplers and explores stripes, slip stitches, Intarsia, and Fair Isle/jacquard knitting. Here is also where Alison talks about color theory. She has an interesting 4-step color exercise that is intended as an introduction to design. She also talks about dyeing basics, including how to wind the yarn into hanks, dye yarn using natural and chemical dyes, and dip and tie dye methods.

The Materials chapter reviews different yarn fibers with an emphasis on natural (animal and plant) fibers. There is also a brief introduction to spinning, and a discussion about the different ways yarn twists.

Joining, finishing, edges and extras, as the name suggests, talks about techniques for joining, seaming, casting on and bindig off while also providing instructions for button holes, tubular knitting, and preventing holes in your work. For most techniques in this section, there is an illustration, photo of the hand in action, a swatch, and a written description.

Knitting patterns explains tension (gauge) and the math behind sizing patterns. The patterns are all for tops and include 6 modular designs, 2 entrelac designs, 3 children’s garments, a shell jacket, and a zig zag waistcoast. The projects are shown in white space, without models. There are fairly detailed instructions for construction.

Knitting: Colour, structure, and design is not a book about how to design perfectly fitted sweaters, nor is it a book with stunning patterns that will go viral on the internet. It is a book written for your inner knit nerd – the one who asks why the yarn, colors, stitches, and textures come together in a certain way. I would recommend this book for someone who takes a contemplative approach to knitting – who likes to swatch and play around with yarn to see what happens. If you are interested in learning more about designing, this book will provide you will a lot of background on all of the elements of a knitted fabric.

This book provides a much deeper exploration into knit fabric. This is a book that you will need to sit down and read, but where you will learn a lot that can be useful for any project. As far as writing style, it makes you feel as though you won a free private lesson with an accomplished designer and teacher.

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars for a confident knitter who learns well from written descriptions and who likes to create small projects or swatches. I would give the book 3 out of 5 stars if you are looking for patterns or a “how to become an overnight sensation as a knitting designer” book.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3½ stars] This isn't a knitting how-to book, but an exploration of how elements such as the structure of stitches, the fiber, the twist of the yarn, color, and so on affect the finished knitted fabric. It's a good introduction to all of these topics, but to really get into them, you may want to look for other books out there that go into more depth on just one or two of them. The last half of the book is a collection of knitting patterns, most of them modular jackets for women, although there are a few patterns for baby and children's clothes.

[Lauragais · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alison Allen - truly an expert in textile crafts, particularly in knitting. This exceptionally interesting book dips deep into her knowledge and expertise, be it "colour, structure and design", i.e. yarns, patters, materials and their effective use. The book has 7 chapters: Knitting from pre-history to present; 2 Stitches and how they work; 3 Techniques; 4 Color; 5 Materials; 6 Joining, finishing, edges and extras; 7 Knitting patterns. There is a good Glossary, a Bibliography, Further information and an Index. The text is carefully written and the information easy to understand even for a beginning knitter. It is a methodological approach to knitting excellent knitwear. The difficulty range of the patterns go from easy to advanced.
The illustrations are exceptionally good, be it the drawings of patterns or the color pictures of materials, as well as finished projects.

This book is an excellent guide for knitters who would also like to expand their expertise and venture into their own designs, knitters who like to know more about yarns, their use, about dyeing and processing yarns and their most effective use.

I would like to recommend this book as a standard work for the serious knitter's library.

[Sirene Jolie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is amazing if you what to know why stitches work the way they do. It has clear explanations and images that help you to fully understand.

If you're looking for a book to help with making your own patterns or to understand why a chosen pattern is written the way it is, I highly recommend reading this book!

[Apryl Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have a love/hate relationship with this book because it merely scratches the surface into so many topics that I want to know more about: Knitting history (includes 8 enticing photos—please tell me the illegible book titles on the shelf!!!), stitch structure (I do like the hints into various directions to pursue in experimentation), techniques (moot. Find them in any knitting reference), colour (an appetiser plate of theory and dyeing), Materials (glimpses of assorted fibers and a tease about spun yarns), finishing (again, more thoroughly discussed in specific reference books), and 13 tempting projects (here's your money's worth if you prefer adapting your own fibers and colorways into someone else's design). The photos are thoroughly inspiring...why am I reviewing knitting books when I could be knitting?!!