Today, while walking around a local mall which was having a sidewalk sale, I found a discount bookstore. I did the usual, which was to peruse the crafting section for cheap knitting books, and to my surprise, I found Nicky Epstein's Knitting Beyond the Edge for about 2/3's of its usual price. I've probably already blown the budget for yarn and other related knitting paraphernalia for the month, but I really couldn't pass up on purchasing this book, so I need to make a mental note to go on a yarn diet for the next little while. Anyways, this book is third in the series about knitted decorative finishes that also includes Knitting Over the Edge which I reviewed in January earlier this year, and Knitting On the Edge. However, I think that the copy that I found is actually the first edition of Knitting Beyond the Edge; there are two different covers for the title when I searched for information about this book on Amazon. My copy features a brown jacket with a gorgeous intarsia design (the Belle Epoque Jacket mentioned below) on its cover and the copyright date in this book indicates that this edition was published in 2006.
The book is essentially a stitch dictionary with instructions and photographs to show knitters how to create finishes for their work. Ms. Epstein focusses on four areas: Cuffs and Collars, Necklines, Corners and Edges, and Closures. Each section starts off with a photograph of a completed sample garment incorporating a design that focusses on that area. The instructions for creating these particular garments are provided towards the back of the book. These include the following items: the Belle Epoque Jacket, which incorporates a beautiful intarsia design of leaves and flowers on the lapels, cuffs and hem, the Cardigan with Cabled Points, which has a peplum with an additional tier at the back, the Hooded Shawl which has cables and bobbles, and the Faux Fair Isle Jacket, which features knitted tabs along its hem and twisted loop edging in addition to the closure that is showcased in item. There is a fifth pattern included, the Deep V-Neck Sleeveless Sweater, which is actually affiliated with the section on Cuffs and Collars. There are pages that define terms and abbreviations that appear in the book, stitches that are used, and instructions on some of the techniques used in the book, such as making basic buttonholes, cords, knots and a rounded edge.
There are slight differences in Knitting Beyond the Edge when it is compared to Knitting Over the Edge. Although the samples shown in the Corners and Edges section appear as swatches, the collar and neckline samples that appear in a couple of the other sections are photographed to show how they would appear on a knitted garment. There are notes on how to use the book, on neckline variations, and on how to construct different necklines. The book also addresses the issues of how to alter the neckline, how to fit a neckline into a given neck edge, and how to figure the number of stitches to pick up. There is a page with information on how to adjust the edge, and walks a knitter through the process of making that adjustment using the example of adding a button band to a pattern that is written out as a pullover. Much of this information was not provided in Knitting Over the Edge, so I feel that this is an advantage that Knitting Beyond the Edge has over the other book. Knitting Over the Edge had swatch samples that showed how the patterns would appear, but didn't provide much help in adjusting to the weight or gauge of the yarn used for a project.
In my opinion, this book would probably be more easily used by intermediate and advanced knitters rather than by a novice. However, beginners may still be up to the challenge of adapting these patterns to work for their projects. For myself, I find this collection to be rather innovative and creative. I'm thrilled to have this book in my reference library.
