Knits for Nerds by John of Dark a.k.a Toni Carr

Release date: February 21, 2012
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Format: ebook (by Netgalley)
Age Group: It’s rated adult, but I think it’s ok for anybody who loves to knit or just wants to read a book about knitting.
Pages: 145, counting the title page, copyright page, etc
Source for Synopsis: goodreads
Challenge: (personal) 2012 Reading Challenge, 50 Book Pledge

The best of science fiction, manga, and animaguiri meets knit one, purl two as knit siren and part-time roller derby girl Joan of Dark offers up an out-of-this-world assortment of knitting nerdiness inside Knits for Nerds. The patterns for 30 iconic clothing and accessory items inspired by popular TV shows, books, films, comics, and more–including Star Trek, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, and Firefly–are presented alongside full-color photographs showcasing completed projects, such as:

* Lieutenant Uhura’s sexy Star Trek minidress

* Hobbit feet slippers

* Firefly-inspired scarf, socks, hat, and jacket

* Tank Girl socks

* Hermione Granger’s secret beaded bag

* Manga-inspired leg warmers

* The Big Bang Theory-inspired his and hers sweater-vests

* Lord of the Rings-inspired shrug

In addition to a wardrobe of costume finery, hobbyists will also find instructions for practical projects such as an e-reader cover or a laptop bag crafted of checkered fabric that serves double-duty as a chessboard and carryall, as well as patterns for plush toys inspired by Star Trek, robots, and the comic book Squee! Wear (and knit!) your nerdiness on your sleeve with Knits for Nerds.

Review

This is my first time reviewing a non-fiction book, I’ve read them before, but I’ve never reviewed them before. I’m not going to be reviewing non-fiction books much, but I might once in a while. This review is going to be different than my other reviews.

This book has many different patterns, from lovely patterns to some ridiculous/silly ones; and from costumes to everyday wear. There is something for everyone in this book.
Plus, the author mentions that she (I think it’s a she) likes the Vampire Academy series by Richelle Mead, which, as I’m sure you all know, is one of my most favourite novel series ever! That’s where she got the inspiration for the first thing (Alchemy Scarf) that she teaches us how to make.
It has a few different sections: Section 1= Fantasy, Section 2= Sci-fi, Section 3= Comics and Manga (yay, I love manga!), and Section 4= Other Stuff for Nerds.

There are patterns for all knitting levels, from beginners to advanced (which I’m -sadly- obviously not). Patterns are either charted or written out, not both. There is a glossary of terms and a how-to section at the end of the book which covers all techniques necessary to complete the patterns.

To be honest, I can’t knit very well. I want to but I just can’t, maybe I will in a few years, but right now, not so much, (which means that I haven’t tried knitting any of these yet). Yet I still look at knitting books and imagine myself knitting them and then wearing them in public. This one caught my eye because it looked like it would be so much fun to knit (plus it had the word nerd in it, which means that it would most likely be awesome). I’ll have to get my mom or someone else to knit some of the stuff in the book for me. Plus, there are many pictures to show you what the item that is being made should look like.

Toni Carr is very entertaining and makes me want to practice knitting again (when I was 12 years old, I wanted to learn to knit and I got good at it too, but after I got older, I stopped practicing and now I’m worse than I used to be six years ago.

A few other things that I liked about this book are the colours of the layout of the pages, like: the title of the item that is being made is purple with a blue outline, and the column where the materials listed has a blue background in the first section, which is the fantasy related items. I’m obsessed with the colours blue and purple.

Overall, I enjoyed and loved this book. The only problem I had with this book was that when I was reading on Aldiko on my phone, it was hard to read most of the words, I think the words would have been easier to read if I downloaded the book to my computer instead.

I recommend this book to anyone that wants to learn to knit some nerdy things, people who love reading and looking at knitting books, people who are looking for ideas of what to wear (costume) to any comic con they’re going to, etc.

If you want to read more reviews about this book, go to Goodreads and read the reviews in the comment section or go to other websites.

I rated this book: 5 stars.

If you read this book, then tell me what you thought about it and or the series. Tell me in the comments section.

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