Cables Untangled: An Exploration of Cable Knitting - Melissa Leapman

Great cables book Wednesday, March 18, 2009
This is the first book I purchased on cables and I attempted my first cables using this book. I have used the charts MANY times. I have not however attempted any of the projects. They look great and I would highly recommend this book to any cablers.

A good addition to pattern stitch libraries Monday, February 09, 2009
Leapman's book is very nice: photography, techniques clearly explained, ideas for further development including a stitch dictionary, and reasonable patterns. The really good thing is that she took the care to include with every pattern, and there are twenty of them, the chart and the symbols used, clearly explained alongside the pattern.

Beautiful Book - Patterns focus on Charts Rather Than K1, P2 Monday, September 01, 2008
This is a beautiful book. And, I finally understand how to do cables without cable needles from the two page description in the book. The patterns are lovely, but they may be initimidating to a beginner or someone who does not read charts (like me). It is a whole new language of symbols. I wish they would have put both charted instructions and regular K1, P2 instructions. It may be a little while before I get to learning this. Worth having in your library, if only to look at the beautiful photos.

Beautiful Projects, But Not A Great Book Sunday, March 23, 2008
I really wanted a cable knitting book, and this one seemed perfect. First off, the projects in this book are lovely, they will make your fingers itch with a desire to start knitting. There is the normal cable knit hat and scarf, a few allover cable pattern sweaters, a rug, an afghan or two (patchwork and panel), a few pillows, and a panel cable v neck sweater vest. All the designs in this book are wearable and usable. If you're looking for project inspiration, this book might work for you. HOWEVER. You might find, as I did, that the lovely projects are not worth the headache. I am not an expert knitter, and I do not bill myself out that way. I have experience with cable patterns (mostly scarves). I can read a cable pattern if it is written as such: "k4, C4B, k4". I have trouble with charts for cabling. This book ONLY has charts. It does NOT write out the pattern. And my god, there are a lot of different cable abbreviations. It looks like a slanted line and a series of dots and dashes on a knitting chart. Frankly, it was too much for me. It felt too much like Morse Code. So if you're like me in that regard, you might want to consider alternative books, such as The Knitter's Bible by Claire Crompton, and The Ultimate Sourcebook of Knitting and Crochet Stitches by Reader's Digest. I own both, and they are an invaluable resource. They also have lots and lots and lots of cable stitches, and amazing explanations. Why did I even want another cable book, you ask? The Reader's Digest book does not have projects, it is more inspiration to design your own. And the Knitter's Bible has lovely projects, very wearable and well explained and usable, but I wanted something new. Both these book have knitting charts, as well as the written out pattern (which is what I rely on). Other more minor things that annoyed me about Cables Untangled: the pages with the projects are beautiful, glossy, picturesque. The pages with the cable stitch pattern glossary are not glossy or attractive. It seems that the publisher cheaped out, which is too bad. Also, if you read through a pattern (for an afghan, for example), the pattern does not include the, well, the pattern. It basically tells you to cast on 50 stitches, then go to the stitch glossary, work in honeycomb stitch for 6 inches, and then come back to the pattern for further instructions. I did not like that at all. I prefer my patterns to be all inclusive, so I can look at it and tell top to bottom what I need to do, instead of flipping all over the book for different portions of a cable panel. And remember, this *is* cable* knitting. It is done in panels. You will be flipping between two more more cable stitches to work a pattern. Frankly, I hated that. Another thing that you might not notice if you weren't a cable newbie: The explanations and how to stuff in the beginning of the book is *okay*. I would *not* use this as my only resource for learning cable stitches. The pictures and explanations are only helpful some of the time (hit or miss, basically). This book is not in my opinion a comprehensive guide on cables and how to do them. The two books I mentioned above are a far superior resource on learning how to do cables. For project ideas, this book is nice. For that, I would consider it check-out-of-the-library worthy, not buy-worthy.

LOTS of better Cable books are out there... Sunday, December 02, 2007
This book attempts to be a stitch pattern book, project book, and a "how-to" book for cable patterns. The author would have been better off picking one or the other since this book only gives superficial attention to the patterns and techniques. If you want to learn how to do cables, then probably the best book (though harder to find) is Knitting in Plain English or (harder to find) Principles of Knitting). Both "demysitify" how to knit cable patterns -- they really aren't very difficult. If you would like a great book of cable stitches, there are several knitting stitch libraries that are dedicated to cable patterns -- The Harmony Guides, Vogues Stitch Guides and the Barbara Walker Stitch library are much more in depth and will provide you with more cable patterns than you could ever need. Finally, if you are looking for books that give you great cable projects, the best ones discuss the history and development of Aran knitting techniques. Check out "Traditional Aran Knitting" by Shelagh Hollingworth, "Fisherman's Sweaters" by Alice Starmore, "Patterns for Guernseys, Jerseys, and Arans" by Gladys Thompson and "Arans & Celtics: The Best of Knitter's Magazine" by Rick Moondragon (just to name a few). While these books are older and their "production values" may not be as "glamorous" as Leapman's books, they provide a wider range and better quality projects and will even help you learn how to create your own Aran designs.