Review: Curls by Hunter Hammersen

It’s not often that an entire book gets me.  This one does.  Not a clunker in the bunch.

There’s so much to love about Curls: Versatile, Wearable Wraps to Knit at Any Gauge

Overview

• Auto-pilot with flair – once you get going you’re repeating the same basic set of charts but the end result is stunning
• Small cast ons – cast on counts range from 7 to 16 but most are in the 8-10 stitch range.  This does mean the stretchy bind off will be your friend – you’ll have a lot of stitches to bind off.  Hunter recommends Jeny’s Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off
• Yarn flexibility – The designs are worked in yarns from laceweight to worsted.  Or use any weight yarn you like.  If you substitute a different weight you’ll need to determine the quantity.  See my recommendation below about a scale.
• Stitch variety – simple textured stitches, eyelets, twisted stitches, lace and cables.  Lots of options depending on your mood.
• Great shape – I envision new curl patterns popping up all over Ravelry.
• Awesome value – 14 curls for $19.95 (eBook) or currently $16.67 for the print book from Amazon
• Tells you the important tidbits – no guessing here about which slipped stitch edge to work and since the shape is new to a lot of us, she shows you how each shawl grows so you know what to expect.  Lots of other info too.  Hunter has you covered.
• Nice options for hand dyeds – even though she hasn’t worked up the samples in multi-shaded yarns, some of the patterns will look good in them as well
• Lovely overview of the new shape – Hunter goes over what makes a Curl a Curl – explaining the main components and giving us enough info in case we want to adjust the size for our yarn.

Recommendations

• Yarn (Food) Scale – you need to get yourself a scale that weighs in grams.  This one from Amazon is a nice choice at under 15 bucks and Amazon Prime – Ozeri Pronto Digital Multifunction Kitchen and Food Scale, Elegant Black. You’ll thank me later.
• Gauge – If you’re unsure about changing gauges, do up a curl in the recommended weight and needle size first.  People will start posting projects to Ravelry with different weights so you can learn from them.
• Helpful pages– read the pages on Hints, Gauge, Needles, Sizing, Charts and Blocking.  I know the last thing you want to do is read when you buy a knitting book but she’s included some great info.
• Styling – Hunter has included several pics with different styling options.  Even if you’re not interested in all the Curls, take a look at the ways she’s styled them.  They’re surprisingly versatile and she shows them draped, tied, knotted and with a shawl pin.
• Stitch Maps – Hunter has included Stitch Maps for many of the projects and she has a chart for every project – making it a great opportunity to learn stitch maps with the accompanying chart.  If charts aren’t for you, give Stitch Maps a try.  And even if you’re a chart-lover like me, click on to the site – there are over 1,500 patterns there for you to get familiar with Stitch Maps.

Final Thoughts

I’m so jazzed about this book – the shape and the stitch patterns look like fun to knit and to wear.  Definitely give it a browse!

I’ll catch you on the purl side…