This is one of those charming little books full of charming little projects, meant to be given as gifts.
What? You want more of a review than that?
Not a brand new book, but not really old enough to count as a “classic,” this is nevertheless a new one for my collection. I’ve had my eye on it since it was published but kept putting it off and putting it off, always telling myself that there were other books I could or should buy first. …And yet, I kept coming back to this.
This book is a collection of over 50 patterns–a mix of crochet and knitting–for afghans. Some are made in one, big piece. Some are made up of squares or triangles or other geometric shapes. Some make great use of color work, some have cables or other texture. In other words, there’s lots of variety.
Come over to my knitting blog–there’s a contest for my 2010th post, and you could win a GREAT knitting book!
It’s no secret that I love New England. My grandmother was born in Maine and grew up on Martha’s Vineyard. My dog is named for Chappaquiddick, and whenever I think “vacation,” I immediately start thinking about travelling northeast along the coast. When I was in elementary school, I was actually disappointed to learn that New Jersey counted as a “Middle State” rather than a part of New England–the southern tip of Connecticut is barely 50 miles from here, it seemed almost criminal that we missed counting as New England by such a small amount.
So, it shouldn’t surprise you that I love this book.
This book is filled with some really lovely lace designs by some very talented designers like Annie Modesitt, Lisa Lloyd, Berta Karapetyan, Melissa Matthay, Phoenix Bess and more. The thing you need to know, though, is that they’re not all new designs.
I have to be honest. This book made me smile. Chuckle. Giggle, even.
It’s just fun.
To put it simply, this book is a masterpiece, and that’s not a word I bandy about loosely. Recently reprinted by Schoolhouse Press, this is the story of Susanna Lewis’ classic recreation of a 19th century lace sampler for the Brooklyn Museum.
There is a reason this woman has such a reputation for being an innovative thinker and knitter, and she proves it yet again with this remarkable book.
What happens when a well-known knitting magazine has a contest for creative sock patterns?
Well, in this case, you get 296 entries to be pared down by judges Cat Bordhi, Lucy Neatby, and Sandi Rosner. Then, after awarding prizes, you put the 61 best into a book and send it out into the world.
A few years ago, when novelty yarn was all the rage, it didn’t appeal to me. So, when I received this review copy, I wasn’t expecting to actually like the book. I figured it would be a good book, since Interweave’s usually are, but I didn’t expect it to be a book I would get much out of. Yes, well, where do we keep the crow? Because this book is full of lots of interesting detail, even for a plain-vanilla kind of spinner like me.
