Baby Knits for Beginners

Bliss, a knitwear designer and prolific knitting-book author, here combines clear lessons in learning how to knit with appealing projects for baby sweaters and accessories. Bliss's aesthetic--a hybrid of English simplicity and the casual BabyGap style she helped to create--will be well known to experienced knitters, as well as to fashion-conscious folks itching to knit something sweet and simple for their favorite baby. Bliss carefully lays out instructions for knitting, and includes sketches illustrating needle positions and techniques for each step. She also provides handy information for beginners on choosing yarn and tools and reading patterns. The 15 adorable projects include two scarves, a blanket, seed-stitch shoes, a simple hat and several sweaters of varying degrees of difficulty, culminating in a classic V-neck sweater with pockets. Most designs are sized for newborns to 12 months, though some begin at 3-6 months or end at 36 months. This inconsistency and Bliss's near-insistence that readers buy her (expensive) line of yarns, used exclusively in this book, chafe slightly. Overlooking these snags, though, beginning knitters will be pleased with a finely photographed, straightforward instruction book. 90 color photos and illustrations.