I pre-ordered this book months ago, and it just arrived today. When I opened this book up, I kept saying Wow! There are so many lovely patterns, and so beautifully displayed and photographed. What to knit first?
The many patterns feature a wide variety of Sanquhar (pronounced `sankhar') and Fair Isle patterns, including birds and animals, and the patterns are coordinated to match. The patterns are: Hats - 17 (Ski hats and Chullos - 13; Tams - 4); Mittens - 9; and Gloves, Fingerless Gloves, and Flip Top Convertibles - 10 (one is a variation of another). Each of the sections for the Hat, Mittens or Gloves begins with a basic pattern for that item, with options and tips for customizing. Lots of tips are provided throughout this book! The patterns include: Butterfly, Cardinal, Chickadee, Cinnamon Teal, Griffin, Grosbeak, Nuthatch, Reindeer, Wood Duck, Flower and Butterfly, Duke, Star and Tree, Star and Snowflake, Sun and Walnut, and Peruvian Cross.
Charts abound in this book! Every piece of every pattern has a chart. I was particularly pleased to discover that the charts for the larger colorwork patterns have been very thoughtfully worked out, noting the number of stitches of each color in the chart when the number of stitches for a given color is 5 or more. And while there are yarn suggestions, none are difficult to obtain. Yarns include Jamieson and Smith, Cascade, and KnitPicks, and the author notes that most fingering weight yarns work well.
The Gloves and Mittens are of Fingers-to-cuff construction...and I am delighted that this is the case. I enjoy knitting gloves, and top down, although not the norm in glove knitting patterns, is a nice way to knit, producing gloves that fit very well. However, if one prefers to knit cuff-to-finger, I'm sure these patterns would be quite easy to adapt. Even if one has never knit a glove before, it will be easy to accomplish with the easy writing style and frequent suggestions.
If you enjoy colorwork in general, and knitting hats, mittens and gloves in particular, I simply cannot recommend this book more highly!