Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs & Techniques

This is not an expensive coffee table production that will impress with it's arty photography. This paperback impresses with the excellent research of patterns and their cultural traditions. Colour photographs give a good idea of possible colour combinations. The designs are presented in form of graphs rather than written description, which makes the following of a pattern totally easy. It is a very good and comprehensive collection of the mittens of Latvia.

Page after page of ideas, and the cultural history of these wonderful designs. One negative: The charts are packed in pretty tightly, so they can be hard to read.

When I first received my copy of this book, I was amazed at the amount of mittens in it, and the fact that there are patterns for each and every one of them. Then I actually started to read it and got a bit confused because of the way the book is put together, but since I got used to it, I've only loved it. Amazing book, countless possibilities!

Not only is this an incredibly interesting history of Latvian mittens, it gives you all the information you need to make up your own or use one of the complete patterns. The differing color combos are inspiring--if you have any interest in these, this book is a great value!

This is an excellent book which I'd been coveting for some time. Its well written and the instructions are clear although I don't really see the point of the book being written half in english and half in Lativian. The charts are also excellent and let you make up your own combination of patterns. If you've got vision problems, or like to be able to knit without having the chart pressed to your nose then it would be better to enlarge the charts. Its a very inspiring book and everyone I know will be getting mittens for their Christmas this year.