g
Printer Friendly Version

editor  
BellaOnline's Beadwork Editor
 

Book Review - Bead Knitting by Julia Pretl

Bead Knitting : A Complete Illustrated Guide and Video by Julia Pretl is exactly what it says it is. Complete and exhaustive information about how to knit with beads. Not the little garter stitch swag bags, but pictorial images in knitting.
I admit, I'm not the world's greatest knitter, I learned to do the little knitted swag bags because I thought they were so pretty, but there is a big difference between doing just panels of knit stitch only with beads creating the swags between stitches, and actually knowing anything about how to purl and knit and increase and decrease.
So I was a little worried that it would be entirely too complex and confusing for me since I'm not a knitter. I shouldn't have been, I should have trusted Julia knowing how fine her work and instruction is.
The book explains it all in wonderful detail with great patterns, graph paper, and tips and references for creating your own patterns. The illustrations of how to do stitches are very clear, I almost understood them. Where I got confused, there was the video, which shows it step by step and slowly enough and close enough to really see what she's doing and explaining.
The technique she uses is different then I've seen before, it's one she worked out for what she wants to do, you can look at her page and see examples of the type of work she does.
Usually I'm one of those people that learns better from books then classes, this video made me rethink that. It was like having a teacher, and I could go back again to look again, she takes you through every stitch and every variation she uses in her patterns.
If you consider the cost of a class with this level of instruction, it's worth it, if you've wanted to learn knitting basics or knitting with beads, this is simply amazing. I learned so much.
The included patterns are amazing, but I'm looking at it thinking I need to make myself a knitted wrist cuff with a skull on it because that's just the way I think. I have absolute confidence I can do it now.

I really recommend it. I'm completely floored and impressed. You can buy it at Amazon by clicking the link below.

Beadwork Site @ BellaOnline
View This Article in Regular Layout

Content copyright © 2013 by Shala Kerrigan. All rights reserved.
This content was written by Shala Kerrigan. If you wish to use this content in any manner, you need written permission. Contact Shala Kerrigan for details.



| About BellaOnline | Privacy Policy | Advertising | Become an Editor |
Website copyright © 2023 Minerva WebWorks LLC. All rights reserved.


BellaOnline Editor