Knitting Reimagined: An Innovative Approach to Structure and Shape with 25 Breathtaking Projects by well-known yarn crafter Nicky Epstein has a copyright date of 2014 and is published by Potter Craft. It’s a 176 page hard copy book that retails for $29.99 in the US and $35 in Canada (though, of course, it is deeply discounted on Amazon.com).

The author explains in the introduction of the book that her focus while creating the knitting designs was to come up with “chic, wearable, but uniquely atypical garments.” She wanted to show how you can use traditional stitches and techniques but play around with structure. If I’m understanding her goals as explained in the introduction, then I think she did this. However, I have to admit that when I first flipped through the book, I was not sure about the “wearable” part of this concept. I would not necessarily call the designs couture, but they are edgy.

I took a closer look at the designs, and my opinion changed a little. There were a few pieces that were not as wild as I had first thought. “Royal Lace Coat with Hood” is a beautiful coat type sweater with an arrow lace design positioned diagonally on the front, back, and sleeves. The hood is detachable. Another project that had a lot of versatility is “On the Block Topper.” It is a type of poncho that you can wear with the pointed parts in front or on the side, and there is a two page spread showing the same design just altered by using different yarn or different stitch patterns.

So, yes, there are a handful of projects that most anyone could wear, but then there are a number that I felt were over the top for the average taste (and figure too). The sweater on the cover is an example of this. Even some of the models, who I could tell were super tiny, didn’t look that great in some of the heavy sweaters in this book that are full of cables and similar details. That said, I think anyone with some knitting chops could probably take any of these projects and use them as a starting point but tone them down to make them more practical. For example, the “Buttons and Bows Manteau” is a sweater dress that has a lot of wavy texture going on from the waist down. However, from the waist up, it’s a nice and classic design, so you could stop before all the wavy part and create a cute cropped sweater.

Each project is given a skill level (beginner friendly; intermediate; advanced) and time rating (quick; weeks; months). There are also extensive graphs provided to show how to assemble each garment. The color photographs are a big bonus in this book because you get to see the entirety of each project with different views like straight on front views but also side views and detail shots

As a knitting beginner, even the beginning level patterns seem daunting to me, but I really feel like this is for more experienced knitters who have pretty much knitted everything twice and want a challenge and method for creating usual pieces that verge on couture.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.