Book Review: 'Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves"

Last June, Nicky Epstein did a riverboat cruise out of Brielle with the owner and customers of the Farmington yarn shop, A Stitch in Time. I was invited to come along and write about it, which was a real thrill for me. (http://blogs.mycentraljersey.com/institches/?p=10451)

At the end of the cruise, Nicky gave me a copy of "Signature Scarves, Dazzling Designs to Knit" to review, but I have held onto it for all these months because I thought more people would pay attention to the review if I did it when the weather started getting colder.

Nicky said this was a reprint of a book that was originally published in hardcover six years ago. The copy I got, the first edition of the paperback version, was published this year by Nicky Epstein Books, which is an imprint of Sixth & Spring Books, a division of Soho Publishing, the parent company of Vogue Knitting. (Wow, that's a mouthful, isn't it?)

Remember a few weeks ago, when I was writing about a book of accessories, I said the best reason to get a book like this is to try out new skills? Well this book has new techniques in spades. Nicky is known for her innovations. In this book, you have not only traditions such as Fair Isle stranded knitting, Aran cables and Mosaic knitting (which Barbara Walker made popular), but there are techniques in here that I'm thinking Nicky invented, if not championed. The Hot Wheels scarf on page 118/9, for example, has raised loops of reverse stockinette that I have never seen anywhere else. And there is a scarf of chained links which is very cool, and probably pretty warm.

Nicky is known for flowers, and this book includes the silver anniversary scarf of 25 flowers that she designed for the cover of Vogue Knitting's 25th anniversary edition. Another flower scarf is a black-and-white houndstooth with red roses appliqued on it. The Carriage Cowl has frogs that have leaves on the ends. They fasten in the middle with a loop around a bauble that when closed looks like a rose bud. If intarsia is your thing, the Holiday Doves scarf has beautiful pointsettias and other flowers.

I also am very drawn to the Oak Leaves scarf, made of many knitted oak leaves that are sewn together after they are felted.

And, in this book, you can see the roots of some of Nicky's more recent books. The Celtic Glory scarf grew into "Knitting in Circles."

I was reading a blog the other day (probably the Red Heart blog) about how popular cowls are. The writer said a friend brought her a knitted scarf and asked her to sew the two ends together to make it a cowl. And indeed, I've noticed more cowls than ever before in the stores this year. People wear them all year long now. Remember that guy who wore one at Apple's intro of the iPhone 6? In knitting circles, that cowl got more buzz than the new iPhones.

As I went through the pages of "Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves" today, I was thinking how easy it would be to turn just about any of these scarves into long or short cowls, and how stylish and on-trend it would be to do that. Not that you have to. I'm just saying that if you're looking for cowl patterns, not scarves, give this book a look anyway. You might find something perfect.

"Nicky Epstein's Signature Scarves" is available in the usual places for $19.95 -- probably discounted in some places online. I expect these scarves to remain at the forefront of fashion for a long time to come.