Swing, Swagger, Drape: Knit the Colors of Australia

This original 2009 soft-cover book, Swing, Swagger and Drape: Knit the Colors of Australia, is now in its 3rd printing, with 208 pages. It has a plethora of graphic-/ photo-intensive inserts on almost every page. XRX is the publisher.The author, Jane Slicer-Smith, used shape and silhouette fused with ‘Swing’ and ‘Color’. In fact the subtitle is: ‘Knit the Colors of Australia’.This book contains 4 chapters: Chapter 1. ‘Simple Intarsia ; Chapter 2. ‘Mitres’; Chapter 3. ‘Texture/ Textured Patterns’; and Chapter 4. ‘Process and Practice’. The first 3 chapters are important because they delineate and describe the backbone of how the patterns in this book are to be constructed.Note that this book is heavily pattern-intensive, and the following concepts and skillsets are needed to be able to knit the patterns in the book: a. ‘knitting cable and other charts with repeated sequences’; b. ‘casts-ons’; c. ‘increases-decreases’; d. ‘use of markers’; e. ‘knit stitch’; f. ‘purl stitch’; g. ‘using multiple colors of yarns to create certain patterning’; h. ‘reverse stockinette’; i. ‘basket stitch’; j. ‘ribbing’; k. ‘making buttonholes’; l. ‘binding-off’; m. ‘placing stitches on hold’; n. ‘doing multiple stitches together (i.e. K2tog and P2tog0’; o. ‘shaping shoulders’; p.’ working on the RS and WS’; q. ‘the ability to knit color blocks (or parts of them)’; r. ‘using a cable needle and following a cable chart’; s. ‘short rows’; t. ‘intarsia’; u. ‘mitres’; and v. ‘joining the same color yarns and joining different color yarns’, among other skills.From the concepts and skillsets required above, in order for the knitter to be able to make the most complex knitwear, he or she needs to be experienced at least at an Intermediate/ High Intermediate to Advanced levels.However, if the buyer’s knitting skills aren’t competent enough to make many of these patterns now, the book will still be an inspiration to nudge the knitter up to these levels someday by constant practice with mentors or by watching internet videos.In sum, this beautiful book, offers patterns constructed of 3 main-types: intarsia, mitres, or textured patterns and should be a staple on all knitters’ bookshelves because the drape of the knitwear ‘swishes’ when it is worn and looks the like the wearer has effortlessly tossed the item on!

This is a beautifully illustrated book, with great photography and very useful schematics. It contains a lot of guidance on variations of the designs, but it also has good instruction for following the design as originally conceived. I have not knitted anything from it as yet, but it has given me a lot of ideas. Some of the designs would be more easily executed by a somewhat experienced knitter, but none would be impossible for a motivated novice and several would not present a serious challenge to anyone. I, personally, am trying to reduce the number of knitting books in my library, but would consider this one a definite "keeper"

Several garments from this book were presented at my knitting guild. Random people from the audience (none were huge, but none were mini-model types either) tried them on, and they all fit and looked really great! The presenter explained that increases were placed throughout the body of the garment as part of the design motif, rather than at the seam edge. For a number of the jackets, they would fit nicely over the shoulders, and then have a very nice flare that would begin part way down that that looked flattering on numbers of different ladies that tried them on. And there were several very interesting garment constructions. One very interesting coat with nice looking collar draping turns out to be mostly a large rectangle which was described as having a few increases and decreases in just the right places.From the photos it is clear that the designs are very interesting and the colors are wonderful. But what really impressed me from seeing the actual garments on real people is how well the shape and fit were designed as well, qualities that are not as obvious in the flat model photos in the book.

This book is loaded with inspiration. Whenever Alexis is set loose on location, you know you're in for a treat. There are patterns made and shown in multiple colorways and variations in length. The intarsia patterns alone are worth the very reasonable price of the book. But my favorites by far are the mitered vests, capes, shawls, vests and jackets. Jane's sense of rich, saturated, unexpected color combinations is exciting and inspiring. There are lessons in the back of the book, complete with small projects to get you familiar with the specific techniques that the large projects use. Jane is an excellent teacher, and if I had the opportunity to attend a workshop I would jump at the chance! She elevates the use of the mitered square and triangle to high art. ("Domino Knitting" and "Knit to be Square" by Vivian Hoxbro are excellent primers on the subject, but the projects in those books are more utilitarian than they are objects of wearable art.) I have way too many knitting books, but this one is a must-have.

I bought this book solely on the cover picture! It looks amazing. After arm'ing and argh'ing about the colours I was going to use, I got started and it is surprisingly not as difficult as it seems.The instrucions are a bit convoluted but once you get the hang of how it is organised it's ok. I think the designer tried to make the pattern writing easy for herself at the expense of ease of understanding for the knitter. As a result it does take some amount of dedication to knit through these patterns. It could have been made easier to follow. So this is definitely not a weekend project. However, do not let this deter you as it is well worth the effort.This pattern is absolutely and positively improving my knitting skills with it's unusual (to me anyway) concepts and construction.And there is a nice write up about Australia and it's colours. The photography is really nice too.

Le modèle en couverture de ce livre me plaît c'est pourquoi je l'ai commandé et je ne le regrette pas. Il y a plein d'autres modèles qui sortent de l'ordinaire et faciles à faire.

An amazing book full of inspiration for new knits. New ideas, using colours that become the centre of the pieces supported by the design which can be reused to produce new pieces of clothing by adding geometry to the design. Not easy pieces but worth the time. The book itself is in good condition.

Die vorgestellten Modelle sind einerseits Mäntel, Jacken, Umhänge/Pullunder, andererseits passende Mützen.Dabei werden jeweils Grundmodelle in verschiedenen Ausführungen gezeigt, also in verschiedenen Längen, mit anderen Kragen usw. Es gibt auch Pullover, soweit ich gesehen habe auch einen Herrenpullover, diese sind aber in der Unterzahl.Es gibt Modelle, die auch für ehrgeizige Anfänger machbar sind, das Schwergewicht liegt aber auf leicht schwierigeren Stücken: Man sollte schon einmal mit mehreren Farben oder Garnen gearbeitet haben, um zu begreifen, welche Kombinationen "gehen" und welche nicht. Das Niveau ist etwa empfehlenswert ab dem 3. größeren Projekt!Da die Anleitungen aber sehr gut sind, kann man sich anhand des Buches auch neue Bereiche erschließen, dazu sollte man aber auch Englisch-Grundlagen haben.Die Modelle bieten den Vorteil, daß sie meist ohne Probleme von Größe XS bis Größe XXXL (usw) angepaßt werden können. Sie beruhen auf Modulen, deren Umrechnung ganz einfach ist, allerdings sind alle Größenangaben in Zoll, man muß also zu Beginn in cm umrechnen. Es handelt sich auch im wesentlichen um Jacken oder jackenartige Kleidungsstücke (Umhänge..), die in jeder Größe jeder Frau auch mit fülligerem Körperbau oder Problemzonen gut stehen. Denn entscheidend ist hier die Länge eines Kleidungsstücks, und die Autorin zeigt, wann man vielleicht besser die A-Linie trägt und bei welcher Frau längere oder kürzere Stücke sinnvoll sind (zumindest kann man sich das leicht erschließen). Das geschieht, indem ein Modell meist in drei Längen und verschiedenen Farbvarianten "an der Frau" fotografiert ist. Ich war eigentlich erst etwas enttäuscht, weil ich fand, daß die Autorin so aus einem Stück gleich mehrere gemacht hätte, aber der Reiz liegt gerade darin, daß weniger ein Modell dargestellt wird als vielmehr eine "Machart".Auf diese Weise erhält man einerseits klare Anweisungen, wenn man ein Stück nachstricken will, andererseits aber sehr gute Anregungen für eigene Entwürfe. Mich hat aber vor allem die Farbigkeit der Modelle überzeugt. Ich liebe das Arbeiten mit verschiedenen Farben, werfe aber das Handtuch bei Jacquard-Techniken, weil ich bei Dämmerlicht vor dem Fernseher nicht auch noch mit zwei Farben Muster stricken kann und mir die Technik ehrlich gesagt zu lange dauert. Die hier gezeigten Stücke bestechen dadurch, daß sie ausgesprochen farbig und abwechslungsreich sind, daß aber die einzelnen Module immer in einer Farbe gestrickt werden können - oder aber man arbeitet "Intarsien", was aber auch wesentlich einfacher ist als "Streuselmuster".Es gibt ein Modell für einen Mantel mit Farbverlaufsgarn (nicht "Bobbel", sondern kürzere Farbverläufe wie z.B. im "Zauberball" u.ä)., einfarbige Modelle mit Strukturmustern und sehr ansprechende einfarbige Modelle mit Fallmaschen. Außerdem werden verkürzte Reihen in mehreren Farben verwendet, schließlich noch sehr aufwendige Intarsienmuster.Alle Modelle sehen sehr "schwierig" aus, bestehen aber aus leicht verständlichen Grundstichen oder -techniken.Das Besondere ist, daß einfache Techniken gekonnt zusammengefügt werden, so daß selbst die erfahrene Strickerin noch neue Ideen mitnommt.Wer Modelle von Marianne Isager oder Annette Danielsen mag, ist mit diesem Buch gut bedient, wenn er/sie ausreichend Englisch kann und keine Angst davor hat, auch mal was umzurechnen. Und - wie gesagt - wer nach Anregungen für schicke Modelle in "Plus Size" sucht, sollte das Werk unbedingt anschaffen.

modelli particolari con la tecnica mitered o domino, il rombo, bicolore o tinta unita, in varie misure e combinazioni. Creazioni originali della design australiana. Utile da consultare.

This book contains excellent patterns that fit a good range of sizes. Not every pattern covers the very largest sizes but generally there is enough in here for most people. I am an experienced knitter & I am used to following patterns that are written in formats other than the normal blind list of instructions that make up most English patterns. I found this book easy to follow, the description of how to do domino knitting was the best I have ever read. There are one or 2 places where you have to jump to another section to get an explanation of a stitch or technique but I didn't find that too annoying. I would suggest if you want to follow one of the more tricky patterns in here that you spend an hour or so reading the book & all will become clear. i enjoyed the narrative parts & although the photo's by her brother were attractive & showed exactly where her inspiration for the designs came from I did rather wish that the ones of finished garments had been slightly more in focus. It would have helped when following the patterns. The yarns used are a mixture of double knitting & some which are similar to US worstead requiring a guage of 20 st to 4 in. Much of the shaping relies on changing needle sizes to make larger or smaller areas of the garment so I would recommend that you shop around if you want to make something that needs that tension as standard dk would not work too well for those garments but a quick look at a quality on line retailer or visit to a modern wool shop would soon solve those problems. I had no difficulty matching up suitable yarns. Overall I think if you are a beginner some of these designs might be a bit daunting unless you have support available, but an intermediate knitter who has patience & determination could complete anything from this & would learn a lot while an experienced knitter who is not too tied to the standard English knitting pattern could have a pattern library that would stand them in good stead for some time.