Field Guide to Knitted Birds
Over 50 Handmade Projects to Liven Up Your Roost
Arne and Carlos are known for their whimsical knitting designs, and their Field Guide to Knitted Birds is a colorful, inspiring introduction to a habit-forming knit genre.
The book’s small bird projects are all worked in the same manner: from the tail up, in the round, and with short row shaping to form their bellies. The book starts with single color birds that can be embellished with duplicate stitches or by adding tiny knit hats and scarves; each has a name and, true to form, often silly characteristics are attributed to the creatures, too, such as that “They nest in dense spruce forests in eastern Norway, and their easily recognizable song can be confused with Abba’s ‘Chiquitita’ on the pan flute.”
Basic patterns are given in written and charted form, and are also shown in a foldout section, helping to view the patterns and corresponding charts at the same time. There are birds with embroidery inspired by Mexican textiles, birds that look like birds from nature, birds with traditional sweater patterns worked onto them, and even an Arne bird and a Carlos bird, both with glasses and hair. The book’s “designer” birds are embellished with sequins, feathers, and beads, with instructions for attaching embellishments and forming the birds’ legs and feet.
The photographs of the finished products are gorgeous and immersive, making readers feel as if they’ve stepped into Arne and Carlos’s workshop in Norway. The birds are shown hanging from branches, in old cages, in the hand of a weathered saint, and nestled in plants, giving knitters ideas for what to do with all the birds they’re likely to knit after reading this book.
The tiny, intricate projects in Field Guide to Knitted Birds are exciting and engaging—sure to spur knitters to make their own aviaries.
Reviewed by
Sarah White
Disclosure: This article is not an endorsement, but a review. The publisher of this book provided free copies of the book to have their book reviewed by a professional reviewer. No fee was paid by the publisher for this review. Foreword Reviews only recommends books that we love. Foreword Magazine, Inc. is disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255.
