Thursday, September 15, 2011

Book Report: Knitted Lace

Here's the second installment of my posts about Interweave's new series of "best of" books. This one is Knitted Lace. Anne Merrow is the editor.



I really like this book. Alot. There's a little something here for everyone. As expected, there are lots of shawls and scarves. I always think of them as being the foundation of the lace knitting world. But you'll also find socks and sweaters, tanks and skirts.

One of the things I found interesting was the simplicity of patterns. What I mean is that they were short, many only two pages. One page was for written instructions and the other for charts. Clean, simple and neat. But the results are ooh la la!

Interspersed between the designs are sections called Lace Lessons. One is a primer, another talks about bind offs and the last is about shaping garments. While I wouldn't classify this book as an exhaustive discussion, it has great technical content.

There is one Lorna's Laces project in the book, Susan Pierce Lawrence's Fountain Pen Shawl.




It's knitted from Helen's Lace and shown here in 9ns Pewter.




This might be my next project but I need to get Medusa off the needles first. I had such a nice time with Rock Island that I'm itching to get another full blown Helen's Lace project going. This one has the luxury of having the WS rows being all purl. It's nice to get a little rest between the lace rows.

Are you knitting lace right now? Tell me about it.

3 comments:

MaryB said...

I'm dying to start another lace project. I think the Rock Island was one of my favorites, from the edging technique, to finally being able to do the garter stitch at the end. Any suggestions?

NiseyKnits said...

I actually cast on for the Fountain Pen Shawl....2 years ago! :( I was knitting it for a friend of mine in 2009 but never finished it as I got pregnant and just couldn't focus on lace patterns. It's still languishing in my WIP basket. I think I just might have to pull it out.

I saw a preview of this Knitted Lace book a few months ago and it looks really good. I would love to get a copy and thumb through to see all the beautiful things in there.

As for Rock Island, I think I'll just have to give in and knit it too. It's so beautiful!

Sara Nutter said...

Love it...looks like a book that needs to be added to my collection in the near future.

Right now have two Kitman Figueroa shawls on the needles, a Lead or Follow Lace scarf, and thought it's not lacy but made with lace weight...I have 2 Citrons going (one is my "purse project.") I'm just a tiny bit obsessed at the moment.