Not that long ago I received an advance copy of The Very Easy Guide to Fair Isle Knitting by Lynn Watterson from the fantastic folks at St. Martin's Griffin.  As soon as I started flipping through the pages I knew that I had to learn to make these brilliant designs. I have always loved the look of Fair Isle and knitting colorwork in general.  The book seemed to be telling me that my time had come.   Like all of their craft books this one is beautifully photographed and laid out in a logical manner that progressively teaches the Fair Isle technique. From the basics of corrugated ribbing, to simple seeding patterns, Fair Isle bands and borders and reading a Fair Isle chart it is "an easy-to-follow knitting guide that transforms the complete beginner into an accomplished expert." 

In fact, over the past few months I have followed several of the patterns is each of the books I mentioned above with fantastic results.  I made snowflakes for the members of my book club and used several of Lesley's flowers to make bookmarks.
So while I can't say that I have actually followed any of these knitting patterns, I can earnestly say as long as they are of the same caliber as the others (which I feel confident they are) you will not be disappointed.

Can you tell that I am a fan of these books?
Here's why:
1.    Excellent Photography.  Each block, flower or snowflake is pictured individually in their actual size.  The pictures used here are my pictures of their pictures!
2.     Visually Appealing.  The overall layouts are done in such a way that they create backgrounds that compliment rather than compete with the objects.  It takes a keen sense of style to make page after page interesting - no matter how nice the knitting (or crochet) is.
3.    Simplicity of Content.  What I mean is the books are set up in a few sections that follow a logical plan.  They are not overly wordy relying on the photography and excellent line drawings to show you the way.
4.    The Patterns.  They are easy to follow with a nice sized font and plenty of white space between the lines.  The crochet patterns are also accompanied by charts that I find very helpful. Oh, and they are pretty too, with lots of unique and interesting designs that I actually want to make!

Now that I've given you an overview, let me tell you about this book.  The first thing that I thought when I opened it is that I really need to learn how to do knitting colorwork.  As a beginner I'm still working on the basics - like holding a needle in each hand and not letting the stitches slide off either one.  But it's books like this one that have inspired me to keep practicing.

There are three main sections;  Useful Techniques,  Instructions and Projects.  Useful Techniques provides a brief and clear look at what you need to know to make these squares.  It is meant to offer reminders of how-to instead of teaching (a beginner) how-to.  The Instructions are the patterns.  They are broken down into Traditional, Textured and Pictorial Designs.  "The traditional section draws inspiration from old, lacy, floral knitting patterns, the textured section includes bobbles, loops, picots and other textured stitches, and the pictorial section features some beautiful intarsia designs."

I debated what kind of border/edging to use.  I started off by doing a single crochet in each hole, with 3 in each corner all the way around.  This is pretty much the standard base that most edgings are worked from.  In the end,  I decided to keep it simple and just did a (sc, ch 2) in each sc around. 

I used plain white #10 cotton thread and my trusty #4/ 2.75 mm steel hook.  I think the effect is lovely.  It's simple enough that it doesn't overwhelm the design, yet it takes an ordinary paper bookmark and makes it something special.

I was happy to pass this one on to one of our regular library patrons who happened to mention how much she loved snowmen.