The Yarn Gallery

Archive for the ‘Books’ Category

An absolute must have lace pattern book

A really beautiful book, I want to knit everything in it. I have made a start….

The Spider’s Web Fichu in TYG ~ Breeze. I actually went as far as making the beads, yes all 79 of them. Made from polymer clay, marbled rusts, coppers and golds to match the hand paint colourway, each piece weighed to ensure the size of each bead, then hand rolled in to a tear drop shape. After firing, these fiddly little beads were all hand drilled with a 1mm drill bit then sanded with fine grit wet & dry paper then polished to a high sheen. I hate to think just how many hours went into the beads. Will leave you to judge if my time was well spent or I should just think about getting out more.

The Scarf worked in TYG – Inca pure alpaca lace weight I used a lot less than a full hank so could have made a much longer scarf.

There is a mistake in the chart for this one if you have the first edition of the book. Check the publishers website for the corrected chart and save your sanity. I know I’m not alone in never thinking the pattern maybe at fault and that I must be getting it wrong, but after half a day and around a dozen false starts I began to wonder if there might just be something wrong!!! Why didn’t I check sooner aarrgghhhh.

Available here

If you are looking for a book to inspire your machine knitting this is it. No patterns but lots of ideas for creating your own fabrics. The illustrations are quite stunning. A really beautiful book.

This book is now pretty much my knitting bible.

This book has been recommended to me twice now, firstly by a fellow knitter I got talking to at The Knitting & Stitching show at Alexandra Palace some years ago. I was looking for some good instructions on how to work a particular circular cast on and Tessa told me this would be the best book for the kind in depth information I was after, was she right!!!!!

This book is now the first one I reach for when I need to check up anything, it covers everything from the slip knot to start your work, through a least 2 dozen different cast ons and cast offs, every possible increase and decrease you could ever need to work and many different stitches. Also button holes and pockets worked horizontally, vertically and diagonally.

How to throw your yarn (technical term, not what to do when having tantrum, have seen this happen though usually accompanied with screams of "I thought knitting was meant to be relaxing") I could go on, but just trust me this book is 300 pages of useful information for everyone.

 Now this book has been mentioned to me again by Catie who says "When I find a problem with my knitting, or find that it isn’t quite as neat as I’d like, this book is the first place I turn. It’s not a pattern library: there are plenty of other books which fulfil that particular role. It does, however, cover nearly everything else, including a wide variety of cast-ons, cast-offs and everything in between. Skill level: All – beginners to expert" and she’s right. This book is really authoritative, a real antidote to some of the newer light weight knitting books.

Available here

I would recommend this for the experience knitter who wants a serious read about knitwear and who would be interested in the avant garde and experimental knitting, it has no patterns but a wealth of pictures from the fashion world. I’m particularly taken with the chair upholstered in knitted fabric with deep buttoning, I can feel a project coming on every time I look at it.

Available here