Laura Zukaite's book, Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting, is a new work being released by Dover Publications. It contains shawls with names reflecting South American locales and culture, such as Cartegena, Nazca, Cuzco, Ipanema, Copacabana, Geo Aztec, and Inca. There are definitely creative designs in this book that feature elements that make many of the shawls quite unique. The photographs are attractive and the instructions appear to be nicely laid out. There is a list of general abbreviations located at the back of the book, along with a US/UK needle conversion chart. If there are more unusual/special abbreviations specific for a pattern (e.g. Tw3B, which means, "twist 3 stitches to the back"), they appear near the beginning of the pattern after the materials and gauge are mentioned. Besides written instructions, several patterns have charts, especially for designs that feature lace or colourwork.
The shawls vary in size; some are large shawls and some are shawlettes. The shapes also vary; I found one crescent, three rectangular, four semi-circular, six triangular shawls and a ruana. The crescent shaped shawl, the Copacabana design, features several tiers of ruffles. Other designs, such as the Cartegena, feature lace. Colourwork is featured in the Cuzco, Geo Aztec, Inca, and Mayan (the ruana) designs. The Mayan shawl seems to showcase a variety of techniques and stitches; it contains star stitches, bobbles, slip stitches, garter stitch and Fair-isle. The La Paz and Puno shawls (the latter is featured on the book's cover) have embroidery, and tassels can be found on the Amazonas, Ipanema, and Geo Aztec shawls. The Ipanema design also has cables and a drawcord, in addition to the tassels. The Salento shawl is mainly in garter stitch. There is quite a variety of techniques and embellishments utilized in many of the designs. I peeked on Ravelry earlier today to see if any of the patterns from this book has been uploaded into the database there, but I haven't seen any yet.
The patterns and samples in the book use luxury yarn labels such as Artyarns (Ensemble, Silk Mohair, Silk Rhapsody), Madelinetosh (Merino, Chunky, Prairie), Plucky Knitter (Spiffy, Crew), Malabrigo (Silky Merino), Sweet Georgia (Superwash Sport), Miss Babs (Big Silk), Shalimar Yarns (Aerie, Breathless), Ancient Arts Yarns, and Hedgehog Fibers. These represent varying yarn weights ranging from lace to aran weight; however, most of the patterns seem to use sport/DK weight. Also, most of the patterns call for several skeins of yarn. However, if you do your research, you could probably substitute many of the yarns with more economical ones to recreate these shawls.
Out of the 15 designs, I would probably knit about ten of them, which would make this book a big candidate for joining my knitting library. In my opinion, I think that the difficulty level of most of the patterns in this book would be suitable for intermediate and experienced knitters, although there appear to be a few patterns that advanced beginners can take on.
Also, I would probably opt to buy a hard copy of this book rather than an e-book (unless it was a Kindle version). I had problems viewing the photographs of the book using the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions, and had to download an older version of ADE (4.0) in order to see them.
Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Laura Zukaite's, "Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting," from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in the review are mine.
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Showing posts with label craft. Show all posts
Tuesday, 20 February 2018
Sunday, 11 May 2014
Vogue Knitting Crochet 2014 Issue
I didn't mean for this blog to become focused on crafting, but I just received a copy of the latest Vogue Knitting Crochet (2014). I'm absolute newbie when it comes to crochet. As I mentioned in a previous post, when it comes to crocheting, my tension is rather limp and loose, so I don't think that I have much hope of actually being able to crochet some of the samples that are included in this magazine.
The crochet issue follows a similar format to Vogue Knitting's knitting issues: there are a "hot picks" page filled with trendy knit/crochet accessories, a featured yarn page, news from the crochet world, a special section titled, "World," in which the crochet arts from various parts of the world are featured, a featured local yarn store (LYS), and a book review section. There are also a couple articles, including one on scallops and swags (edgings), another on shaping, and one on Ashley Blalock's Keeping Up Appearances art installation.
Next is the photograph section which features the designs. The pattern instructions follow after. This magazine includes about 29 patterns. I want to make the Mock Hairpin Wrap, the Tank Dress that is also featured on the cover, a Missoni-Inspired Shift Dress, and a Double Ladder Wrap. There is, of course, a granny square throw design by Kaffe Fassett, but it really looks good.
On the last page are charts for conversion between US/UK/Aus terminology, standard yarn weights, and crochet hook sizes. Also included are a short glossary and an abbreviations table. On another page is a key for the crochet symbols used for all the charts included in the magazine.
On glancing through the magazine's rating system for difficulty, I would say that most of the patterns are at an intermediate and experienced/advanced level and recommend lace or superfine yarn for materials. There are a few that use heavier weights, such as the Kaffe Fassett throw. One pattern has a series of photographs provided showing various stages of progress in the construction of the item and close-ups to see the detail. Unfortunately, it is only for one item.
Vogue Knitting usually has a 360 degree gallery on their website (www.vogueknitting.com) in which you can see the designs on a model who turns around in a circle. This feature is supposedly provided for this Crochet issue too, but I haven't previewed it for myself yet.
Unlike some other crochet magazines, there are no diagrams provided demonstrating how to crochet and make various crochet stitches. I don't believe that this is a magazine for beginners, but it is certainly filled with a lot of eye candy demonstrating what could be possibly done with crochet.
As for the patterns themselves, they appear to be detailed enough, and there are diagrams, specs, and charts provided. Vogue Knitting also provides errata for their patterns on their website if there are errors.
I like this magazine. It may actually inspire me to crochet something.
The crochet issue follows a similar format to Vogue Knitting's knitting issues: there are a "hot picks" page filled with trendy knit/crochet accessories, a featured yarn page, news from the crochet world, a special section titled, "World," in which the crochet arts from various parts of the world are featured, a featured local yarn store (LYS), and a book review section. There are also a couple articles, including one on scallops and swags (edgings), another on shaping, and one on Ashley Blalock's Keeping Up Appearances art installation.
Next is the photograph section which features the designs. The pattern instructions follow after. This magazine includes about 29 patterns. I want to make the Mock Hairpin Wrap, the Tank Dress that is also featured on the cover, a Missoni-Inspired Shift Dress, and a Double Ladder Wrap. There is, of course, a granny square throw design by Kaffe Fassett, but it really looks good.
On the last page are charts for conversion between US/UK/Aus terminology, standard yarn weights, and crochet hook sizes. Also included are a short glossary and an abbreviations table. On another page is a key for the crochet symbols used for all the charts included in the magazine.
On glancing through the magazine's rating system for difficulty, I would say that most of the patterns are at an intermediate and experienced/advanced level and recommend lace or superfine yarn for materials. There are a few that use heavier weights, such as the Kaffe Fassett throw. One pattern has a series of photographs provided showing various stages of progress in the construction of the item and close-ups to see the detail. Unfortunately, it is only for one item.
Vogue Knitting usually has a 360 degree gallery on their website (www.vogueknitting.com) in which you can see the designs on a model who turns around in a circle. This feature is supposedly provided for this Crochet issue too, but I haven't previewed it for myself yet.
Unlike some other crochet magazines, there are no diagrams provided demonstrating how to crochet and make various crochet stitches. I don't believe that this is a magazine for beginners, but it is certainly filled with a lot of eye candy demonstrating what could be possibly done with crochet.
As for the patterns themselves, they appear to be detailed enough, and there are diagrams, specs, and charts provided. Vogue Knitting also provides errata for their patterns on their website if there are errors.
I like this magazine. It may actually inspire me to crochet something.
Sunday, 20 April 2014
Review: The Crochet Workbook by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters
I've not been posting on the blog for a few weeks, but I have been reading a couple of Love Inspired Historicals (regencies...I love them). I'm also working on the third installment of Lisa Tawn Bergren's Grand Tour series, "Glittering Promises." For some reason, it is taking me a while to get through this, but it is pretty good so far.
Anyways, besides reading hystericals (whoops...I mean historicals!), I enjoy knitting. Even though I'm not really into crocheting, "The Crochet Workbook" was posted on the "Read Now" list at NetGalley, and I couldn't resist taking a look at this. The book was written by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters, and was originally published in 1989 by Dover Publications.
Now, as I mentioned before, I'm not a crocheter. In fact, my tension while attempting to crochet is best described as...limp and loose. But the introduction says that the book is, "intended for...existing crocheters who are looking for a new dimension to their work, and also for people who may never have picked up a crochet hook before." This is because this book is about freeform crochet, which is essentially spontaneous crocheting without a pattern. Unfortunately, I am both unexperienced in blogging and crocheting, so even though I've seen samples of freeform crochet, I don't have a sample photo to upload into this blog entry. I also don't mean to burn the crocheting community, but I had always thought about crochet as boring granny square blankets and some really horrid looking vests that I had the misfortune to lay eyes upon. However, there have been some freeform crochet creations that can only be described as works of art.
The Crochet Workbook is truly just only a workbook. It does describe various crocheting techniques with accompanying diagrams and photos of sample items but does not include individual patterns that one could duplicate. This is not too much of a surprise when one considers that the book is trying to encourage spontanaeity in the practice of freeforming. It does describe in general how to generate various shapes, but again, there is no set recipe/plan/pattern for reproducing any pictures of crocheted items in the book. There is more detail provided for a few projects including a cape and coat, but in general, the book is more about guidelines to use when doing freeform crochet. There is a chapter about drawing creative inspiration for freeform crochet. The teacher in me was tickled pink to see the mindmap/concept map included in the book.
If someone is interested in freeform crochet but would like to be handheld more through the process with suggested projects that do follow conventional structured patterns, then one might consider looking at Jonelle Raffino's and Prudence Mapstone's, Freeform Style: Blend Knit and Crochet to Craft Fiber Art, by North Light Books. However, The Crochet Workbook has its appeal, especially since it does try to encourage its readers to strike out on their own with freeform crochet. I would definitely consider adding this publication to my library as a technique book.
Other comments regarding this particular galley: I previewed an e-book, and it became apparent that this book was scanned as it was riddled with spelling errors likely due to optical character recognition not picking up the correct letters. I also read this e-galley on my computer's Sony reader library program, so my magnification options were rather limited. After a certain magnification (medium), the photos disappeared. I could see the text and photos in their entirety only under the small magnification setting, but I couldn't read the text because it was so small. I needed to switch between settings to be able to see the diagrams and photos and read the accompanying text. I prefer hard copy books for my crafting library, though, especially for a technique/methods book, so I'd probably opt to buy a hard copy of this as opposed to an e-copy.
Disclaimer: An e-copy of "The Crochet Workbook" was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this blog entry are mine.
Anyways, besides reading hystericals (whoops...I mean historicals!), I enjoy knitting. Even though I'm not really into crocheting, "The Crochet Workbook" was posted on the "Read Now" list at NetGalley, and I couldn't resist taking a look at this. The book was written by Sylvia Cosh and James Walters, and was originally published in 1989 by Dover Publications.
Now, as I mentioned before, I'm not a crocheter. In fact, my tension while attempting to crochet is best described as...limp and loose. But the introduction says that the book is, "intended for...existing crocheters who are looking for a new dimension to their work, and also for people who may never have picked up a crochet hook before." This is because this book is about freeform crochet, which is essentially spontaneous crocheting without a pattern. Unfortunately, I am both unexperienced in blogging and crocheting, so even though I've seen samples of freeform crochet, I don't have a sample photo to upload into this blog entry. I also don't mean to burn the crocheting community, but I had always thought about crochet as boring granny square blankets and some really horrid looking vests that I had the misfortune to lay eyes upon. However, there have been some freeform crochet creations that can only be described as works of art.
The Crochet Workbook is truly just only a workbook. It does describe various crocheting techniques with accompanying diagrams and photos of sample items but does not include individual patterns that one could duplicate. This is not too much of a surprise when one considers that the book is trying to encourage spontanaeity in the practice of freeforming. It does describe in general how to generate various shapes, but again, there is no set recipe/plan/pattern for reproducing any pictures of crocheted items in the book. There is more detail provided for a few projects including a cape and coat, but in general, the book is more about guidelines to use when doing freeform crochet. There is a chapter about drawing creative inspiration for freeform crochet. The teacher in me was tickled pink to see the mindmap/concept map included in the book.
If someone is interested in freeform crochet but would like to be handheld more through the process with suggested projects that do follow conventional structured patterns, then one might consider looking at Jonelle Raffino's and Prudence Mapstone's, Freeform Style: Blend Knit and Crochet to Craft Fiber Art, by North Light Books. However, The Crochet Workbook has its appeal, especially since it does try to encourage its readers to strike out on their own with freeform crochet. I would definitely consider adding this publication to my library as a technique book.
Other comments regarding this particular galley: I previewed an e-book, and it became apparent that this book was scanned as it was riddled with spelling errors likely due to optical character recognition not picking up the correct letters. I also read this e-galley on my computer's Sony reader library program, so my magnification options were rather limited. After a certain magnification (medium), the photos disappeared. I could see the text and photos in their entirety only under the small magnification setting, but I couldn't read the text because it was so small. I needed to switch between settings to be able to see the diagrams and photos and read the accompanying text. I prefer hard copy books for my crafting library, though, especially for a technique/methods book, so I'd probably opt to buy a hard copy of this as opposed to an e-copy.
Disclaimer: An e-copy of "The Crochet Workbook" was provided by NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in this blog entry are mine.
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