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French Girl Knits Accessories: Modern Designs For A Beautiful Life (2012)

by Kristeen Griffin-Grimes(Favorite Author)

3.75 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

1596684909 (ISBN13: 9781596684904)

languge

English

genre

Nonfiction

publisher

Interweave Press

review 1: This book really hocked me off. Kristeen Griffin-Grimes gives the most maddeningly confusing instructions for these dubious (useless?) accessory pieces, and they don't have to be this hard!I've been knitting for over 4 decades (and crocheting - which makes me what the nauseatingly pretentious author calls "bi-stitchual" - and doing every other kind of needlework except needlepoint which, for some reason, I haven't tried). I don't need to use clumsy provisional cast-ons (sometimes invisible, and with two needles!) to get a beautifully-finished piece.I read the book before I attempted any of the patterns. I didn't like any of them, with the exception of the boheme (ugh! pretentious!) beret. I was put off in my gut (a particularly telling warning sign) by all the patterns, wh... moreich I also read before I picked up needles and yarn.One story that went along with a hat (tulipe cap) tells of Kristeen Griffin-Grimes's struggle to knit it, confessing that it took her TWO YEARS to finish because she had a nasty accident with a fancy blender that she forgot to unplug before she cleaned it (she haughtily claims that only other true "cuisinieres" would understand; that's FOODIES to us mere mortals who have the common sense to UNPLUG small appliances before immersing them in water and shoving our HANDS into the BLADES). The kicker is that she insists that we, too, be subjected to the knitting of this unlucky reminder of her pain and suffering. Because, darn it, if SHE had to bleed, sweat, and cry for two years to make it, we should, too. (I just shook my fist... again.)The stories about her childhood ("Back in the day when I adored the Beatles..." Did she STOP liking the Beatles? How can I trust someone who stopped liking the Beatles?), intertwined with cliche-filled anecdotes about her visits to (natch) France, are contrived and feel like filler to me. I knitted the first pattern, the jasmin headscarf. I frogged it (tore it out, more like) more than 5 times. But I was determined I would finish it, and I did (in three weeks).I don't really like it (as I mentioned, the accessories in this book aren't particularly likable), and I probably won't wear it (strangely, when I put it on, I can only speak French [although I look distinctly Russian; it's a glorified babushka] as I knit useless things in ridiculously convoluted ways with at least 2 extra needles at the same time, and I can't get my nose out of the air), and I'll most likely give it to Goodwill. But I attempted it and the sapphire toque (which I dutifully cast on using two circular needles at the same time, before I ripped it the heck out, pretending it was a certain quasi-French Girl's deshabille-in-a-studied-way coiffure [oh lord I'm writing French and I'm not even wearing my babushka]).Now I'm going to use the shredded pages of this book to line la cage d'oiseaux. Heaven help me.
review 2: So I fell in love with the patterns when I picked up the book. They are beautiful, unique, and most importantly wearable. I'd caution buyers that you should be an experienced knitter to start some of these projects. I've knitted for about 15 years, and while I have experience with many stitches and techniques,I prefer simple directions. I believe that the directions in these patterns are not precise enough for my tastes;I would like to see more illustrations when particular techniques are used (and this book is chock-full)to ensure that I am on track. I hate it when I have to pull out work because instructions are confusing. That's where I am now, pulling out work again because the directions are confusing. less

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