Hosiery Books

The writers really shine in the tight, entertaining vignettes that make up this collection. It took me a week to get through it because I wanted to take a little time and savor each story after I read it. And, as a special bonus -- some of the cleverest packaging I've ever seen for a fiction collection!

I bought copies of this anthology for friends--who instantly loved it as much as I did. B.C. Brown has created something that goes much deeper than "pop art" as the review claims. The packaging is so spot-on that it induces double-takes...and it is, of course, a sly nod to the fact that women have been judged by their "packaging" for a long time. The stories are gems. Indulge yourself and your good friends, by rolling on this anthology...toes first.

From the packaging (read the front and back cover thoroughly!) through every single short story, this collection is sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, biting and always unique. A brilliant new perspective of our panty hose society.

Being "just curious" about the origins of my wife and daughter's stockings under their dresses, I picked up this book. I was surprised by what I found (literally). The historical context from whence stocking came about was surprisingly interesting. Aside from the fetish aspects, this book gives a wonderful narrative to something women either love or hate.

Definitely worth a look!

I enjoyed so much reading this book. A complete analysis of a not so well known industry not only in England.

Don't be fooled: this is the first edition of Zilboorg's terrific book of patterns derived from toe-up Turkish socks. Zilboorg is a master of colorwork, not a surprise as she works as a hand dyer of wools.

The book features the cast-on method for Eastern (Turkish) socks and it is a bit wierd; even after a lesson I had difficulty to do it. But this book explains it very well.

I personally don't knit Turkish socks if I want a pair of utilitarian socks in a hurry. But I do use this book if I want a special pair for clogs or sandals, or a pair of slippers in bright colors. You can use the charts for other things, like vests. There is a companion book of mittens using similar techniques. If you love colorwork, this book is inspiring.

I can only conclude that the author has no interest in instructing her readers to actually knit the lovely Turkish socks she presents in this book, or to accurately duplicate the patterns from her diagrams. She confesses that the knitting instructions are sketchy, but they would have been much improved with the addition of just two more simple diagrams illustrating the unusual toe and heel forming methods.

Likewise, I have found her charted renditions of Turkish patterns to often be incomplete and/or inaccurate. There is nothing quite so disappointing and aggravating to discover several rows later that the diagram one has been following faithfully has been carelessly rendered, necessitating tedious (and sometimes impossible) corrections.

The photographs are very nice, but the flat front view of the socks do not present them in their entire complexity.

All in all, while this is an inspiring book in ways, I would not recommend it to anyone except the most die-hard ethnological knitters.

First of all, the sample socks and patterns from Turkey are fabulous. The designs are very striking, especially in the bright colors the Turkish people love.

My only complaint is with the layout of the book itself. The title font is difficult to read and the graphs are ... weird. They are very large, say 5 stitches per inch as opposed to 10 per inch you usually see. So it's hard to see the whole pattern in a single glance. Second, the symbol used in the graph to indicate the patter is weird, a tilde ~ and it again makes the pattern hard to see at a glance. I found it most useful to copy and reduce the pages and then color the pattern squares in with more readable symbols.

This is not a book for beginner knitters. If you don't already know hot to knit socks you'll have a difficult time. If you already know how to knit, you'll love the patterns and find many uses for them beyond socks.

I like the book for the pictures, but her instructions leave me in the dark. I may use some of the designs for hat or headband patterns, but that's about it. Worth picking up used, not new.

First of all, the sample socks and patterns from Turkey are fabulous. The designs are very striking, especially in the bright colors the Turkish people love.

My only complaint is with the layout of the book itself. The title font is difficult to read and the graphs are ... weird. They are very large, say 5 stitches per inch as opposed to 10 per inch you usually see. So it's hard to see the whole pattern in a single glance. Second, the symbol used in the graph to indicate the patter is weird, a tilde ~ and it again makes the pattern hard to see at a glance. I found it most useful to copy and reduce the pages and then color the pattern squares in with more readable symbols.

This is not a book for beginner knitters. If you don't already know hot to knit socks you'll have a difficult time. If you already know how to knit, you'll love the patterns and find many uses for them beyond socks.

Philip M. Parker has done it again - seamlessly! The action takes place in the world's most exotic capitals. Benefiting from Parker's tightly woven plot and well-suited characters, it is a book that can't be button holed. It's one part export manual, one part comedy. While the comedy bits left me in stitches, I have one caveat, however: if you did not get through reading the entire title, let me forewarn you. . .He leaves Hosiery out to dry.

It's not the price that I object to. $795.00? Believe you me, over the years the promise of thigh highs hosiery has led me to spend far more than that! But Icon Group International is going to have to do better if it expects to succeed in the adult literature market. 185 pages and I only got off twice.