The Sweetest Thing (Book review and giveaway)

A few months ago, Jean Moss contacted me to ask if I’d like to be part of the *international* blog tour for her upcoming book release.  Well, sure!  I’m honoured!

In the best Saturday Giveaway tradition, I have one copy of ‘Sweet Shawlettes’ to give away – full details are at the end of this post.

Jean’s opening comment in the introduction to this elegant book of accessories is, “I’ve always been a doer.  I need to make things with my hands,” – a comment that resonates so strongly with me, and I know with a lot of other people who read this blog.  I’m convinced that the world is enriched by making, not just in a material way, but by awakening people to the joys of creativity, by keeping traditional skills alive, by reminding us (in this age of rapidly accessibly and easily disposable consumer goods) that really great things often take time, energy and thought to achieve, and are worth holding on to.

Despite the title of the book (‘Sweet Shawlettes’), it contains far, far more than just shawlettes.  All the projects are neckwear – sure – but they range from full-size shawls to cowls; capelets to innovative scarves; natty little neckwarmers to knitted necklaces.  Some of the projects are small, and could be whipped up in an evening or two.  Others are larger, and would provide a nice challenge over a longer time period.  As Jean herself points out, the neck is a very sensual part of the body, so neckwear is a perfect opportunity to grab a special skein or two – hand dyed, hand spun, or a precious souvenir, perhaps – to fashion yourself a little bit of luxury that can be kept – quite literally – close to your heart.

In addition, a lot of the projects in this book would be a great way to learn a new skill.  In this treasure-trove of a book you can find patterns featuring lace, intarsia, entrelac, Fair Isle, cables, short row shaping and knitting in the round!

The book is divided into four sections: Country, Couture, Folk and Vintage.  I admit that I expected to find my favourite pieces in the ‘Country’ and ‘Folk’ sections – couture and high fashion don’t have much place in the life of a dyer living in the country, who shares her life with two hairy, enthusiastic dogs!  And ‘vintage’ too often conjures up kitschy, 50s inspired pieces in today’s lexicon: great for those that can wear them, but not my thing.  However, I was delighted to find favourites in all four sections!  My very-most favourite is ‘Arabesque’ – pictured above – which is indeed from the Folk section.  What can I say: it caught me the very first time I opened the book, and has yet to be surpassed.  But I also love the clean simplicity and graphic appeal of Penumbra, from the Couture section.  Penumbra looks like a simple black-and-white stripe – but there’s a secret.  Look along, rather than directly at, the fabric, and you get dynamic zig-zags, thanks to the magic of shadow-knitting!

Moving away from the stark black-and-white, I think that Madame Alfred, who joins us from the Country section, has to have the next mention!  The first pattern in the book, this is also one of the larger projects, and combines lace techniques and intarsia – and a frill! – in rich, saturated, full-colour design that I would love to have on hand for cooler moments in the summer.  (My summer fantasies often include drinking tea in an immaculate garden.  The reality tends to include mud, weeds and dogs, not necessarily in that order.  But I can still have a bit of handknit elegance around, right?)

I found this to be a very well-designed and structured book, with impeccable attention to detail.  The photography is beautiful, and there is lots of additional information in the appendices, which include a pictorial index of projects (yes!  One of my favourite features in a book or magazine!), a list of the yarns used, their fibre content and CYCA size rating (plus a handy copy of the CYCA information itself, right there in the book).  Other sections introduce techniques used in the book, discuss trimmings and buttons, and there is a lovely section on colour choice, hidden away next to the ‘Vamp’ pattern (a sweet and versatile boa-style scarf from the ‘Vintage section – you didn’t think I was going to leave a section out, did you?)

So, you’d like to enter the giveaway?

Hurray!!  Come and join the fun!

All you have to do is leave a comment on this blog post before noon (UK time) next Saturday (the 17th).  Let me know what your favourite project in the book is (you can see them all here, on Jean’s site) – or, if you can’t pick, what your favourite section is!  I’ll select the winner by random draw, and post the results on Saturday evening.

Follow the rest of the tour!

Be a groupie!  There is lots more of the tour still to go; here’s the schedule!

83) Saturday Giveaway: Weaving for Knitters

Welcome to what I hope will be the first in a series of Saturday Giveaway posts!

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED – Please come back next Saturday for round 2!

In a recent round of redecoration, I realised that I have more books than I can store.  Also, I have some books that I am no longer going to use, or (in one or two cases) are duplicates.  I'm planning to do a quick, honest review of each in turn, and pass them on to new homes.  [Note: These are not paid reviews. No-one has asked me to do this, or sent me free copies for review.  I just thought it would be a fun way to redistribute some of my excess acquisitions!]

To enter, leave a comment on THIS post.  (If you're not interested in winning the book but still wish to comment, feel free to say so!)  I will select a winner by means of a super-sekrit process, and announce the result by Tuesday night at the latest.  This draw is open to readers from all over the world, so please, join in!

What is today's giveaway?
Today, I'm giving away a single copy of The Ashford Book of Weaving for Knitters:

Weavingknitters

My copy of this book was bought several years ago, but it is in as-new, unmarked condition, and would be perfect as a gift.

What is it?
This softback book contains 25 scarf projects, suitable for a beginning weaver using a rigid heddle loom, such as the Ashford Knitter's Loom.  It was written as a companion to the knitter's loom, and is designed to inspire knitters to use the yarns they already know (and possibly own!) in weaving.

The book is squarely aimed at knitters who want to have a go with a loom: the projects use knitting yarns, and are presented in a 'recipe' style format that will be familiar to people who are used to following a knitting pattern.  All the patterns use plain (tabby) weave, which is exactly what a rigid heddle produces (unless you use two heddles, of course!).

The patterns range from the slightly crazy to the rather elegant.  Because the weave structure is the same for all the scarves, the yarns themselves are the focus of each design.

What do I like best?
This book does a great job of showing how some very different knitting yarns can be used in weaving, and would definitely be inspiring to a new weaver!  From full-on colour to texture-only (I think the white-on-white scarf, demonstrating a subtle use of eyelash yarn in the warp is my favourite in the book), there is probably a style to suit everyone here.

Various different ways to design around a yarn are introduced, including warp stripes, weft stripes, some colour-and-weave effects and using self-patterning sock yarn to create it's own 'faux ikat' effect.

Finishing and fringing techniques are also covered in the beginning of the book, as well as useful information on topics like warping with two colours, how to fix a broken warp thread, and weaving with a sticky warp.  I'm particularly delighted these last two are included, as these are both things that could have a new weaver with no teacher or mentor crying tears of frustration and cutting a perfectly good project off the loom.

What do I like least?
I always feel slightly awkward when a book promotes a brand heavily, and that's definitely the case here.  The book doesn't make it clear enough, in my mind, that any rigid heddle loom could be used to weave these designs, and it also promotes Ashford's own Tekapo yarn (which I've never seen in a shop outside New Zealand) very strongly.

It's also a shame that no warping instructions are given with this book.  However, the loom does come with its own how-to instructions, and other looms are subtly different, so maybe that's not a big flaw. 

It would have been nice to have one or two scarves which used a technique other than plain weave throughout.  Pickup would have been an ideal choice to include, with its potential for placing a pattern or a name on the end of a scarf.

Finally, a lot of the designs in the book have a 'young and funky' feel.  That's a great audience to be aiming at for new knitters, but a bit more elegance and restraint would be welcome too, I feel.

Why am I giving this book away?
I am confident enough in my weaving design skills not to need this book any more.  It teaches more about combining yarns than about weaving itself, and I love the thought of it going to a new home where it can make a novice knitter's eyes light up at all that lovely potential.

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