Book Review: Knitting Ganseys, Revised and Updated Techniques and Patterns for Traditional Sweaters by Beth Brown-Reinsel

Knitting Ganseys, Revised and Updated Techniques and Patterns for Traditional Sweaters by Beth Brown-Reinsel
Wow what a treasure of information. I design my own Irish Fisherman type sweaters and afghans and really enjoyed reading this book.
Starts out with a table of contents where the chapters are broken up into what the ganseys are to all the construction phases and patterns.
Stunning high quality photos throughout this book, you can see detailed stitching. Loved learning of the history of the gansey and Arans and differences between them.
Loved the tools of the trade as I have some of the curved needles myself, charted variations of stitches and how they are worked.
Every picture tells a story and then some as we learn of the myth behind the fisherman sweater. Love that the ganseys used initials in the bottom section to identify who it was made for.
Also other aspects tell the difference-yarns used and colors of them along with patterns.
Loved seeing the different neck shapings and othervariaions throughtout the book. This is truly a designers resource book as it has it all and then some. Techniques are shown and explained how to do the stitching, or even casting on. That portion explains why you should one method over another and why.
There is a sample small gansey to make to give you an idea of the techniques that are being taught only using 4 oz. of yarn rather than making a full sweater-but that is also included here, the patterns, etc.
Lots of tips along the way.  Tools and step by step instructions how to prepare for your own design are also included.
There are also 9 full size patterns.
Each pattern comes with a title, color photo,  finished sizes, yarn suggested, needles, list of notions, guage, featured techniques and other notes.
Instructions for each of the sections along with charted gussetts.
I like that some are made for men and there is also a woman's section for the same gansey.
Measurements are also done in inches and metric. Resources and supplies list is also included. Abbreviations and also metric onverstions are included.
Dedication, acknowledgement and about the author are included at the end along with an index.
Other resource books from others are also highlighted if you wan to check further into the different techniques.
Loved reading parts and learning all new things along the way along with the designing aspect of this book. Ends with how the gansey tradition continues.
A KEEPER!
What I did not like was showing the patterns in very dark colors. I realize those are the true colors but for showing them in the book I felt they could've used lighter shades.
Received this review copy from the author via F+W Media and Interweave via Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.
#KnittingGanseys,RevisedAndUpdated #NetGalley