A Giveaway!

** THE WINNER IS KNITTINGDANCER!  CONGRATULATIONS! **

Giveaway

I’m giving away the Under100 Knit Collection – 30 patterns that use 100g of yarn or less. Perfect when you want some instant gratification, or a quick gift, or you have odd balls of yarn to use up!

These are projects that delight, entertain, challenge and ultimately reveal their form in just a single weekend (or afternoon, if you're really on top of your game!).

© Knit Picks

Whether featuring the simple ordered beauty of garter stitch, or the rich complexity of entwining cables, the 30 patterns of Under 100 represent a modern aesthetic that's informed by tradition - yielding results that are timeless, useful and infinitely giftable.
See all the wonderful projects here.

Just sign up for my Newsletter (top right corner of the page), if you're not already on the list, and leave a comment here on the blog by Aug 10, telling me why you’d like this book. Please include either an email address or a Rav ID so I can reach you if you’ve won!

That's it! 

I'll announce the winner here. (If I don't have your email or other contact info, you'll have one week to contact me, then I'll pull another name.)

Share on Twitter  Tweet

Book Review - New Vintage Lace

I love knitting lace, so I was excited to see this book -- New Vintage Lace - By Andrea Jurgrau, Interweave/F+W; $24.99 bit.ly/1uq6EyE 

 

Do you admire doilies and antique lace tablecloths for the exquisite workmanship, but can’t find a place for them in your contemporary life? Yeah, me too.

Well maybe you don’t want lace doilies all over the house, but you can wear lace wraps, shawls and hats.

That’s where Andrea’s book comes in: she has carefully adapted vintage lace patterns to modern, wearable pieces.

The book begins with a useful discussion of the different weights and fibers of yarns and how to use them; types of beads; and blocking tips. There’s also a great discussion of swatching; in addition to checking gauge, swatches are indispensable for seeing how well the yarn works with the lace pattern. Watch the lace pattern practically disappear when a variegated yarn is knitted up! This is a lesson that I had to learn the hard way.

The 22 projects are arranged in categories of one-skein projects, small shawls, triangles and squares, and larger projects. Here are some highlights:

There are some doilies that are turned into Beanies like the Clematis Doily and Beanie. 

The Cherry Blossom Stole is very pretty, with allover mesh and lacy borders : 

Copyright Joe Hancock and F+W Publishing

Kodama Shawlette is a lovely semi circle lacy gem. 

I really appreciated having schematics so that you don’t have to guess at the finished shape of the shawl.

Coeur d’Amour is another pretty one.

Blue Dahlia has a sort of V shape, almost like 3/4 of a circle. 

Copyright Joe Hancock and F+W Publishing

 

Ghost Orchid is another stunning piece. I think it would be perfect as a wedding  shawl.  

The book concludes with a Design your Own Shawl section, with lots of useful info, and Sources for the various tools and yarns used in the book.

  

I really enjoyed the book and Andrea’s careful, methodical approach. I have no doubt that I’ll be knitting from this book soon.

Note: Charts only are provided for the lace.

Disclaimer: I received a review copy of this book.

New Vintage Lace

By Andrea Jurgrau

Interweave/F+W; $24.99

bit.ly/1uq6EyE