Noah's Knits, by Fiona Goble - Book Review.

I've had the pleasure of reading this book over the Christmas holidays, Noah's Knits, written by Fiona Goble and published by the Ivy Press.

Noah's Knits

Fiona Goble

ISBN: 978-1-907332-87-6

RRP: £9.99

The Ivy Press

www.ivypress.co.uk

I really enjoyed making things from Noah's Knits. Knitting books usually have lots of patterns. Most of these patterns have pieces that are beautiful, but that I’d never make. There is usually one pattern in the book I really want to make, so I’ll get the book, using at most two or three patterns. Fiona Goble’s Noah’s Knits is a really good quality book, and is the exception to the rule. Every single little animal has lots of character and is calling out from the pages of the book to be transported from the photos, through your needles and into your home. Not only is it full of patterns that are too cute to resist, from turtles to giraffes, from crocodiles to penguins, from doves to lions, not to mention Noah and his wife, but alongside the patterns is a beautiful story of Noah’s Ark with a joyful mixture of photos and illustrations. Before each knitting pattern, is a short description of each animal/person. The patterns themselves are well written, and easy to follow, with fast and satisfying results. It’s written in a way to allow you to dip in and out and make an elephant here, a monkey there. The more you knit, the more you want to have the other animals to join your growing group! The animals are small enough to use oddments of yarn. And as if all of this weren’t enough, there is a pull-out ark at the back of the book to assemble and store your little knitted creatures!! It is hard to find fault with this book. Once everything is knitted up, and you have an ark full of different creatures, the book needn’t be put on a shelf to fester. The story throughout the book, and the addition of the cardboard ark ensures the book will be well thumbed and well read by most members of the family. Children who want to read the story, adults who will read the story with/to the children (who are playing with the ark) and of course, the knitter. The perfect gift! I highly recommend it. 

Below are some of the little creatures I've made so far. I haven't finished making these little animals yet - there are 14 creatures, not including the male and female versions (yes, they come in pairs!) and Noah and his wife. I have knitted up five creatures so far, and I know the others will be calling me to make them, and then of course they'll need Noah and Mrs. Noah, and then they'll all need their pairs... I'm glad they don;t take long to make up! 

 The crocodile had a lovely textured pattern on his back, so you can see his scaly skin. Instead of incorporaing a small piece of crocheting into this piece (I don't have a crochet needle!) I embroidered the mouth.

 The little dove is so sweet and delicate!

 His little tail is nice and fluffy and he just sits patiently.

 This is a group shot of all of the little friends from above. Their group will be growing!

 I particularly like the penguin's feet! He looks like he's waddling along!

 The detail in each of the creatures is just really lovely. The pig has a cute little snout, with a curly tail, and even little hairs on the end of the tail!!

 The turtle should have more detail on his shell, I decided not to add the extra detail, although it does look better in the book, with the detail.

 He's happy to slowly make his way along on his little legs!

A very lovely set, which will be a gorgeous present for somebody. I'm looking forward to finishing them!

Hat and Socks

Here are a blue hat and a pair of green and tan socks I made.

 This hat was made using Alpaca wool with bamboo and a percentage of cashmere. It's very soft, and very warm. This wool is such a pleasure to work with, it glides onto the needles and is absolutely beautiful to feel running through my fingers.

 I only got one ball of this wool, because it's quite expensive, so I made a hat from it. I would love to make a jumper or something larger, perhaps a coat, using this wool. It's so beautiful.

 Made from some more beautiful wool, this is sock yarn, mostly Alpaca, with bamboo. This is not quite as silky as the hat yarn, but just as luxurious. I bought this wool in Sew Much Yarn in Seattle, USA, specifically for the task of knitting a pair of socks.

 I used a small circular needle so there is absolutely no seam, and this is the second pair of socks I've ever knit. I've always been scared of double pointed needles, (I still am!) so when I saw the circular needle, I knew I had to give it a try. It knit up nice and tight, so they will be warm and cosy.

 I wanted them to be as even and nicely made as I possibly could. I wanted to do the yarn justice and I wanted to make them just right. The heels are ribbed as are the cuffs. I really loved knitting these up. :)

Sugar Glider

This is a sugar glider I made using a furry yarn! my first time to use this yarn, and it's so much fun!

 Sugar gliders are able to glide through the air, so I made my pattern with this in mind. With a white underbelly and a brown coat with little pink paws, this sugar glider is taking flight.

 His eyes are two buttons, and he has a pink nose, which is embroidered on.

 I really enjoyed making this, and designing the pattern to make it. His little pink feet are splayed, ready to catch on to his landing spot!

 He's stuffed with soft toy stuffing, and the use of the furry yarn makes for a more realistic sugar glider. I'm really pleased with the results.

Baby Jumper

This is a little jumper I made for my nephew this Christmas. He loves Elmo and I wanted to make something really special for him.

 I haven't knit with this many colours in this kind of pattern before, so the little figure is a little bunched, but I'm hoping this will improve over time.

 The blue of the jumper is lovely and bright, just like my nephew! :)

 The buttons allow for an easy dressing/undressing over his head.

The red yarn sparkles!

Orange Poncho

Another one of my favourite knits. I've always wanted a poncho, so I decided to make one! This was quite a large project to undertake, I used a thin-ish wool, and the arms and body of this poncho go quite wide, so it tok a long time to knit up. However, it was well worth the effort!

 It's the kind of top you can wear with a dressed up outfit, or just to wear with jeans, casually. The colour is a rich rusty orage, perfect for Autumn.

 I chose to add some flat duffel buttons, because they add a little something extra to the overall garment.

 Because it's loose fitting, it feels good to wear. I decided to make a poncho that was actuallt a cardigan, so that I don't need to pull it over my head every time I want to take it off! I'm glad I did!

It's fun and funky to wear. I'll get most use out of it in the Spring/Autumn, due to the shorter sleeves, but because it is loose fitting, I can always wear a jumper or a long sleeved t-shirt underneath if I need to. I just love it!

Christmas Jumper!

I made this with the intention of it being my "Christmas Jumper"! I'm really pleased with it.

 The colour is wonderfully festive, and the wool is a thick weight aran, so it is incredibly cosy and warm! I've worn this most days since Christmas now, I love wearing it.

 It's slim fitting, which I like, sometimes Aran wool can make for a bulky jumper.

 The patterning on the back and front shoulders adds a bit of interest to the whole thing.

Overall, this is one of my favourite knits to wear!

Christmas Knits

I knit quite a few things recently, so here are pictures of some things I made! I enjoyed knitting them up, I hope you enjoy looking through them! I won't add too many photos, so I'll have a few posts with a mixture of woollies!

 I made this scarf for myself for the colder weather but it hasn;t been cold enough to get proper use of it! Which is a good complaint to have, I suppose! I used really thick wool, and made it wide so it's extra warm and fluffy.

 I love the colours and will be wearing this as much as possible once the weather gets cold.

 I had a lot of fun knitting these characters up and making stockings to put them in. The characters are from Jean Greenhowe's pattern book.

 The stockings are my own pattern, and I added a white ribbon loop so it can be hung on the tree, or just as a decoration.

This is a green beret I made. I loved the colour; I used a simple DK yarn, so it will hold it's shape nicely. It's knit tightly so it will be warm, and add a nice splash of colour to any outfit. I really like how it turned out.

Dr. Who Scarf

So for the next few blog posts, I'm going to do some catch up of some things I've made recently. Most of these are on my Facebook page, so please check out my work there too!

First of all, here is a Dr. Who scarf I made for my brother for Christmas last year.

 The scarf is about 12 feet long. My brother is quite tall, so I wanted to make it long enough to be a very long scarf, but not too long that it would drag on the ground if he wore it open, on either side of his neck. Most of the Dr. Who scarves from the series are 20ft or longer, so it's not that long!

 I used colours I thought he'd like, muted tones, using some nice thick wool. It's knit completely in stockinette stitch, like the scarves in the series, which means it doesn't curl.

My brother seems happy enough with it, and it's very warm. I like how it turned out, even if I don't know anything about Dr. Who!