Booklist
Ever since Taylor Swift wore a crochet dress for a night out on the town, crochet clothing has been trending. Here, crochet designer and teacher Sabido debuts with 15 patterns for crochet clothing and accessories. Utilizing the perennially popular granny square, Sabidos designs progress from simple projects like a scarf and a bag to more complex sweaters and a dress. The author suggests that those new to clothes creation treat the book as a learning process and work through the projects in order. Some of the designs achieve a retro look: the Woodstock dungarees, a colorful poncho, and a pair of shorts would not be out of place in a pattern book from the 1970s. For the clothing that is fitted, options are given for sizes S to 5X. Sabido also pays attention to size inclusivity by featuring models of various body shapes. Tips are given to help the crocheter take body measurements for the perfect fit. Crochet clothes are having a moment, and this easy-to-follow book full of colorful patterns is recommended for all craft collections.
Inside Crochet
Riding on a wave of love for the fabulously retro granny square comes designer Sam Sabido's new book. This colourful collection of garments and accessories incorporates granny motifs and stitches in different ways, with each pattern featuring clear written instructions, step-by-step photos and charts.
Designed as the perfect introduction to creating a granny square-inspired wardrobe, this book can be used in two ways. Either dip in, or use it as a workbook and start at the beginning, moving from the simplest designs to the more advanced, with each pattern introducing a new technique to gradually build your skills.
Newbies will love the vibrant Winter's Day Scarf, where 12 squares hooked in a chunky yarn are simply joined and tassels added to create an easy accessory. The beginner-friendly Cocoon Cardigan and Memory Lane Jacket are both simple and snuggly, revealing two different ways to use motifs, while the intermediate-level Colour Fade Jumper shows how granny motifs can be used to achieve different and more contemporary effects by using one colour in several shades.
Elsewhere, find festival-ready fashion in the form of Woodstock Dungarees or Fresh as a Daisy vest and shorts combo, while more advanced crocheters can get stuck into the beautiful Carefree Coatigan featuring pretty circle-motif granny squares.
A gorgeous book filled with stylish size-inclusive pieces that will appeal to all ages and all skill levels of granny-square enthusiasts - and it would make a great gift too.
Simply Crochet
The 15 wearable designs here aren't just cardigans and jumpers, but range from accessories to dungarees, a dress, and shorts. Sizing ranges are inclusive, to fit actual chest sizes 28-63in (71-160cm). The patterns are organised in a progression; each introduces a new skill so it can be treated as a learning process, or you can dip in and out. Tips, charts and photos help with every design.
Slipknot
If you're a crocheter, it will have been nearly impossible to miss the recent resurgence of granny squares as a trend - but they have now firmly made the leap from cushion covers and blankets to clothing. My Granny Square Wardrobe contains 15 patterns that span the range from traditional to more modern takes on the granny square. The patterns are ordered in such a way to build on techniques, and it is suggested that beginners to granny square garments could work through the whole book, while more experienced makers will dip in and out.
The first six projects use a more traditional granny square as the foundation and include a scarf and a hat set, market bag and a truly 70s throwback - the Woodstock Dungarees. The remaining patterns start to play with construction, combining granny squares with other techniques, with colour for visual effects, and include more ambitious projects such as the Fresh as a Daisy Shorts. Whether you lean more retro or more modern, the patterns, colour palettes and styling in this book will provide inspiration.
For garment beginners, the introduction includes a brief but useful 'How to', with advice on taking measurements and understanding fit, measuring gauge and blocking. The later patterns include charts but, unfortunately, there is no information for beginners to understand how to read them, and the only key for some of the symbols is located at the front of the book rather than next to the charts. For left-handers, there is a small note in the introduction explaining that you would work the squares clockwise rather than anti-clockwise, and could hold a mirror to chart images and follow the reflection (if you have a spare pair of hands I suppose). The patterns in this book are written with US terminology, but one useful feature is a fold-out flap with a conversion table on the front cover (the back cover has abbreviations), providing an easy reference point alongside the pattern pages.
When it comes to sizing, the patterns appear to be reasonably size inclusive, spanning a chest circumference from 28 inches to 63 inches (71-160cm). There is guidance on deciding length, for example for the leg length of the Woodstock Dungarees. Pattern fit is described as, for example, 'Loose' or 'Oversized' and, although the introduction indicates the actual intended ease for these terms, it would be most useful to have that information on the pattern page. There are no schematics and, in an ideal scenario, more measurements would be provided to aid the maker in achieving the fit they desire. More attention has been paid to the written pattern, assembly instructions and layout diagrams, with clear photos used to show details or illustrate the instructions when needed.
Overall, this is a good book if you already have some experience of making garments and want to take your granny square exploration a bit further. I wouldn't recommend it for beginner garment makers without the support of other resources to help with fit and adjusting patterns to measurements. It is also a useful reference book for the basics of granny squares and techniques like join-as-you-go.
