Mastering Color Knitting: Simple Instructions for Stranded, Intarsia, and Double Knitting by Melissa Leapman (available 11/09, Potter Craft)
Previously I've purchased all the books I've reviewed on my blog but I specifically asked for a review copy of this one. I'm thrilled there are more books available to help knitters learn the joy of knitting with more than one color.
One thing I keep learning from Ravelry's Stranded forum is that color knitters have about a million different ways to arrive at the same end result. I've linked before to Ixtab's unique method of knitting 2 or 3 strands inside out with the yarns tensioned around her neck. One of the Stranded forum's moderators, an advanced traditional Fair Isle knitter, prefers to (gasp!) knot her yarn ends. And I've heard from dozens of knitters who insist the traditional yarn dominance rules do not apply to them. (I talked about this previously HERE.)
If you are new to color knitting learning all the different methods can be overwhelming and most knitters will prefer to just learn one way to do things at first to get their feet wet. The section on stranding in Mastering Color Knitting is geared for beginners with simple instructions and includes many graphs and diagrams that are clear and easy to read.
The methods Melissa Leapman teaches in the book and in her knitting workshops involve weaving all floats over 1" long, securing her yarn ends as she knits, and avoiding using three colors per row. Personally I try to avoid weaving floats, I secure my yarn ends during finishing using reverse duplicate stitch, and I occasionally use 3 and 4 color rows (they're usually in Dale of Norway designs) but her advice is very helpful for beginners. The book has a nice reassuring tone for those who find color knitting daunting. She shows several different ways to hold the yarns and talks a lot about reading charts. She even includes a two-page section on designing stranded patterns.
Hat Pattern from the Stranded Section
My personal favorite parts of the book are her discussions on intarsia in the round (she offers three methods) and the section on various types of steeks. Mastering Color Knitting includes 12 projects along with the technique info.
Beautiful Intarsia Coat
I think this book shines in the third section on reversible two-color double knitting as frankly I haven't seen that many other books in print that discuss this fun technique other than the M'Lou Baber book which focuses on jackets and coats.
Double Knit Two-Color Hat
I especially recommend this book for beginners in any of the techniques as she does manage to keep the instructions simple as stated in the title. I was originally going to give the book away to a knitting student but I am keeping it so I can try some more two-color double knitting.
While I'm at it, I thought I'd list some other color knitting books I recommend.
Color by Kristin by Kristin Nicholas - I never reviewed this one but it is one of my faves. I think of her designs as exuberant and her passion for the subject is incredible. Plus she shows a new-to-me way of dealing with floats!
Elizabeth Lovick's Fair Isle Workbook - I love how she frequently emphasizes that there are no right or wrong ways to do Fair Isle knitting. Plus it is the only technique book I've ever seen that shows how to fix mistakes in stranding!. My review of this excellent ebook is HERE.
Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Knitting - I don't even do traditional Fair Isle knitting but I think this book is spectacular, especially the section where she takes nature photos and interprets them with her knitting. It has recently been reprinted so you have no excuse not to buy it.
Intarsia: A Workshop for Hand and Machine Knitting by Sherry and Keely Stuever - Rich in technique (and diagrams and photos), this self-published book (available at Elann I think) is a must-have if you're doing intarsia. Their method of dealing with the yarn ends to achieve beautiful stitches on the end of each block of color is pure genius. (I showed this method in the intarsia sock photo on my blog post HERE.)
Sheila McGregor's Traditional Fair Isle Knitting and Traditional Scandinavian Knitting. These two Dover reprints have hands-down my favorite color design charts, all helpfully divided by stitch count/multiples.