Knitting Beaded Purses: A Complete Guide to Creating Your Own (Schiffer Books)
The beginning of the book includes some brief history about beaded knit purses and basically what it requires. This includes a discussion of materials, and this moves into a fairly good size techniques section. In the techniques chapter of the book, basic knitting stitches as well as casting on and off are covered, and this is where the full-color photographs are included. This is followed by more discussion of how to actually include the beads with the stitches and how to assemble the knitted purse once its parts are constructed.
The projects section starts with a basic explanation of how a beaded purse is made, and then each pattern that follows is really the same as far as how to make all the sections and put them together with the difference being the pattern such as a rose, beach scene, or graphic design. So once you get the concept of the basic bag, you then need to follow the graph pattern to form the different types of purse patterns. Sprinkled throughout color photographs of similar purses already finished.
The last part of the book show how to finish the bags. This includes lining if you want to do that, and then there is a gallery section showing of more beautiful knitted beaded purses.
The projects are obviously beautiful but also not for the immediate gratification type of crafter. While the instructors are thorough and there are plenty of illustrations to help guide you through the projects, just be prepared that each of the projects is fairly involved. While there are basics about knitting included, I would be surprised if a total beginner could take on any of these. However, for more experienced knitters who love the look of these cute purses, this looks like a good go-to book to get started.
To get a chance to win a copy of this book, head over to my Ravelry discussion group, and look for the June FOs thread.
(A review copy was furnished by the publisher.)
