Knits to Give: 30 Knitted Gift Ideas [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Knits to Give is full of fabulous ideas for handmade presents. Thirty project presents, all of which (so the author says) can be knitted in a week and many require only a small amount of yarn.

Thankfully there is only one cushion. Once that would have been a serious omission in any book of small craft projects but honestly, enough already! Leave us room to sit on our chairs and lie on our beds! Instead the home section includes a squiggly cabled tea cosy, a pretty pot of pansies and smart table mats. The other sections are For Him, Her, Baby and Kids

Its a scrumptious book, elegantly presented printed on thick high quality paper and skilfully photographed. And if my only criticism, apart from my knitting speed not being up to knitting the baby blanket (or the stole) in just a week, is that one or two projects use a prodigious amount of yarn (7 balls of aran for a pair of socks) I still recommend it.

You will pour over it, if you tend to dream over beautiful photographs and of being the goddess of hand made

You will use it a lot, if making your own presents is your thing

And you will love it, if you simply seek the joy of making beautiful things in delicious yarns.

If, this year, you are committed to a handmade Christmas, this book could be a just the inspiration you need to get started. Knits to Give is a collection of 30 gift ideas from top knitwear designer Debbie Bliss.

If, like me, you only give presents that you actually want yourself, then this book should provide you with a few solutions to what to give close family as well as friends. I particularly like the covered bangles, because they look quick and stylish. The striped pencil pot covers are fun, and there are some great projects 'For Him' - I love the skinny Moss Stitch Tie, the Rice Stitch Scarf is a refreshing change from all those stripy scarves men have had for Christmas in the last couple of years, the Fingerless Gloves are a must for our touch screen generation, and the Walking Socks are fab - I might try these just as Wellie tops rather than knitting the whole sock.

I like the fact there is a preface to each project which shows how you can flex the projects with use of different colours and yarn. This element is an important part of today's crafting movement. Projects need to morph with what you have to hand and what you need the end result to be.

As for the instructions themselves, very clear, well laid out and easy to follow. There has been no pressure to squeeze a pattern onto one page - there are a good number of photographs per project that give a very clear idea of what the end result should be.

Any niggles? I would have liked some of the 'For Her' projects to be more fun - for example, the charmingly mismatched Kids Stripey Long Socks would be fantastic as an adult pattern - I would think Johnnie Boden would be proud to have those in his range. I think the front cover photograph is a bit to very dull, and there are much better images within the book. And lastly, I must have looked at the Home Is Where The Heart Is Cushion photograph 5 or so times puzzling why it was called that, because all I could see was the shape of an arrow rather than a house shape. Possibly just me, I never could do those Magic Eye tests in the '90's.

That aside, I want to make at least half the projects in this book, and I want to start right now. I can't see anything overly technical in the book, I am confident that what I need to know is explained clearly because I trust Debbie Bliss to deliver good design and thorough instructions. As a committed stitcher, who is no knitting expert, I know I am going to use this book and that I am going to enjoy giving the things I have made from it.

The full review of this book can be found on the CoolCrafting Website.

I was bought this book as a present and I have really enjoyed it. It's beautiful to look at and has some great ideas. I have made quite a lot of the projects as gifts, mainly the party shrug, the knitted hat and the bunny rabbit bootees for children and babies, but the cable belt inspired me to attempt cable knitting for the first time (successfully!). It made a great present for my sister in law. The one criticism I have is that I'm not all that confident that the sizes are quite right: I know I've not used Debbie Bliss yarns to knit up the items I've made, but I've used comparable materials and sometimes the size of the end result has been way off.