No. 116, June 2007
Instructions for knitting an entire farm: its farming family, livestock, crops, land and buildings are crammed into the 32 pages of this 204mm square hardback book. First published by Search Press in 1985, this is a reissue in its 'Classics' series. The scale is approximately 1:12 and there are plenty of colour illustrations of the slightly Bavarian, knitted agricultural environment. The base is embroidered rug canvas 130cm x 90cm. The people and some of the animals use pipe cleaners for rigidity, so they are not suitable for young children. The instructions for the buildings are brief, 'each knitter should consult the chart and make the building pieces to those measurements'. Flowers and plants have to be copied from the photographs since 'They are extremely simple and can be made without a pattern'. The needle sizes and thickness of yarn are suggested for the animals and people but interpretation is still needed since some making-up instructions are omitted - although it is obvious that animals need to have their limbs and ears attached! Some of the finishing requires basic crochet. The overall effect is charming.
Lesley Fidler
* SlipKnot *
Feb 07
This is another in the occasional series of Search Press Classics, books that have been so well loved that they have been reprinted many times, and can now be introduced to a whole new generation of crafters. Originally published in German back in the 1980s, this lovely little book shows you how to make a charming farmyard about the size of a small rug for a child to play with (or for an unusual ornament). You can use up odd scraps of yarn for all the different components, and this is just the sort of long term project to keep you happy for hours during the long winter evenings, or on vacation, or anywhere!
It sounds rather advanced, but this is actually suitable for anybody who can knit plain and purl. Even a fairly new knitter might be tempted to have a go, as many of the items make up very fast and are tiny - chickens, a dog, even a pompom bunny. The figures are made up with pipe cleaner skeletons, padded and bound with yarn and with knitted skin. Dress them up, then add the animals, buildings, vegetation and even part of a village (eg a church) to create a wonderfully detailed farm that won't get broken, and is washable if you are careful what you make it from. There are some useful diagrams to help you along, plus enough instructions for most projects to suit all but the novice knitter. It is easy to see why this book has become a classic.
* Myshelf.com *
