Wednesday, April 10, 2013

A couple of reviews

I'm a little behind on reviews of the books and magazines that invariably come across my desk. Most of the time there is a project using Lorna's Laces and I get a copy of the book for free. Other times, it's a copy of a magazine that we advertise in. Still others times we get copies of books just because someone thinks we should. So, over the next week or so I'm going to try and work through some of the things that have been piling up.

The first magazine I'm going to talk about today is knit.wear. It is part of the Interweave stable of publications. It's billed as "simple hand knits for the thoughtful knitter".  I have to say, it's a beautiful magazine. But I've always been a sucker for simple, clean lines. 

All of the photos are taken with a plain backdrop. You can see from this collage that there are no props. Nothing to get in the way of the design. This format suits this magazine really well. I wouldn't like it as much in Vogue Knitting, but it works here. Probably because the designs feel clean and crisp. Even the lace.



In this issue, our Bullfrogs and Butterflies is part of a feature about single ply yarns. It wasn't so much an article where they talked about the pros and cons of single plies as much as it was a showcase of seven different single plies on the market. I would have liked it better if they're had been more of a discussion about the yarns but I'm probably splitting hairs. Ours is 85% wool and 15% mohair. It has a nice firm hand that really shows of stitch patterns nicely. It doesn't get as much love as it should really. It's a workhorse of a yarn.


This is a pretty new magazine. I think this is the third or fourth issue. Clearly, it hits a niche in the market that hasn't been addressed and they're doing a great job!


Next up is Spring/Summer Knit Simple. This is a super cute issue. The Lorna's Laces garment is called the Eyelet Lace Shawl. 


It's knit using just 2 hanks of Sportmate. Because of the Outlast fiber, Sportmate is going to be a great warm weather yarn. Especially for those of us who hate knitting with cotton. (Raises hand.)

The other item that caught my eye wasn't in our yarn, but I thought I point it out anyway. 


I think the reason I'm so attracted to it is that it reminds me of one my mom had when I was growing up. I think hers might have been sailing flags or something like that. Either way, it makes me happy. 

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