Product Description

Catherine Tough has created a cool but cosy world of soft yarns and unusual colour harmonies for a collection of simple hand knit designs for little children. Her great, yet easy to knit designs create an entire environment for a small child at home, school or on holiday. The mother of a pre-school daughter herself, Catherine knows just what children love most. She has travelled widely with her family and has included projects designed to make travelling relaxing and fun for small children too. Her designs range from giant teddies to comfort pillows for travelling, from bedside rugs to little felted pots for small treasures, and from cosy cardigans to cute animal slippers. Soft cottons, gentle tweeds and warm wools from Rowan combine in great colour harmonies to create an inspiring range of designs, almost all of which are within the grasp of inexperienced knitters: great for mums to knit while waiting at playgroup!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #290923 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

Simply Knitting, August
'Beautiful design and gorgeous colours make the 25 pieces in this collection treasures that you'll be sorry to see your child grow out of'

About the Author
Catherine Tough is a graduate of London's prestigious Royal College of Art. She runs her own knitwear company, selling her designs in major fashion houses and stores worldwide. Catherine is the author of Cool Knits by Conran Octopus (published 2005). She lives in London.

Customer Reviews

Lovely Knits but not that easy for a novice
I saw this book and I immediately brought it because it had designs that I liked for my kids. Two things about the book:

(1) some of the patterns are not that easy (I am a complete beginner), so you will need other books to decipher what some of the abbreviations mean and how to apply them;
(2) I found it really difficult to get hold of the wool for the pinafore and the hats/scarf/wristwarmers- I ended up buying the wool for the dress off of ebay. I have given up trying to get the wool for the wristwarmer and the scarf.

If I can get the wool my next project will be the cable scarf and the cable jumper!

lovely images and ideas but did anyone check the patterns before printing??
I loved the images in this book and have knitted a couple of the scarves, the wrist-warmers and the pinafore dress already. I also couldn't get hold of the recommended wool but was able (with some calculations which I wouldn't expect anyone new to knitting to be able to do for themselves) to work with a substitute. Here are a couple of warnings for anyone wanting to use the book:
Pinafore dress: you're probably better off sewing the shoulder seams together and attaching buttons as decoration only. I started off with a button fastening but it pulled too much and looked ugly, especially once my daughter had pulled the dress on and off her self a couple of times. I've now sewn it up and have found my daughter can still get the dress on and off no problem.
Striped scarves: follow the pattern for rows 1-10 then switch colour and knit two rows. Switch back to main colour and continue. Goodness knows what the pattern is trying to get you to do - but this is the best way to achieve the same effect as in the picture.

Easy peasy designer kids wear
Really great quirky patterns, beautifully designed and perfect for newer knitters. The patterns are mostly cosy, comfy winter warmers and there are slippers, socks, cushions and a lovely roll mat for sleepovers. Funky patterns and colour combinations make all these garments look like designer kids wear - it's nice to have such gorgeous results from such easy patterns. There's not a single pattern here that I wouldn't use and the specifications given for the yarns used are really detailed so make substitution of yarns easy.