Jen Arnall-Culliford Knitwear

Review: A Legacy of Shetland Lace

While we were up in Shetland in October, we had the great pleasure of attending the launch of the Shetland Guild of Spinners, Knitters, Weavers and Dyers's new book: A Legacy of Shetland Lace.

What a wonderful book!

There are 19 designs for neckwear (scarves, stoles & shawls) as well as two garment patterns, and if you love lace knitting, then you really, really need to get your hands on a copy of this book. The designs are by members of the Guild, and I was already familiar with some of the names, from my work with Jamieson & Smith: Mary Kay, Ina Irvine, Kathleen Anderson and Hazel Tindall all have designs in the book.

I really enjoyed reading the short biographies of the designers, which accompany each pattern - it was wonderful to gain an insight into how these inspirational women have developed their knitting skills. The tales of skills passed from generation to generation are fascinating.

Each pattern has a clear layout, with plenty of space around the instructions and a good font size too. The charts are clear and generally of a good size to work from. For a couple of the larger charts you might find it helpful to photocopy them at a larger size for your personal use (that's not a criticism - it's just sometimes necessary).

It's fantastic to have a whole book dedicated to Shetland Lace that has been written by Shetlanders themselves. I'm not sure that this has happened before (how is that even possible?!). The motifs and designs are traditional, but absolutely beautiful. I would so enjoy working any of the patterns in the book. The only reason that I'm not casting anything on today, is that I really must complete the Shetland shawl and my Golden Wheat Shawl that are already on my needles! The Shetland sampler has been on my needles for so long that I cast it on before I started at The Knitter (in May 2008!) - it's on my old Ravelry account!!

I purchased the book for £23.99 at the book launch during Wool Week. You can get hold of a copy by purchasing direct from Shetland Times, who are the book's publishers.

A Legacy of Shetland Lace by the Shetland Guild of Spinners Knitters, Weavers and Dyers. 100 pages. Softcover. ISBN: 978-1-904746-76-8

Books: Bowling Avenue and Red Bones

I thought I would share some of my holiday reading with you... First up is Red Bones by Ann Cleeves.

What could be more perfect for a knitter on holiday in Shetland, than a murder mystery set in Whalsay (one of the Shetland Islands)? This is the book that this autumn's BBC drama Shetland is based on. Knitters of the world - this 2-part series is one not to miss!

The book was perfect holiday reading. It's not high literature, and I was surprised at the lack of even common Shetland words until quite late in the book. I didn't find the dialogue to be that believable in places - mostly as a result of the use of "little" rather than "peerie" etc... But having said that, I enjoyed it, and have added Cleeves' other Shetland novels to my reservation list at the library.

The other book I read was Bowling Avenue by Ann Shayne.

What a pleasure this was! I have long been a fan of the Mason-Dixon Knitting blog. Kay and Ann's repartee has made me coffee-snort into my keyboard more times that I care to mention. So when Ann first mentioned that she was finishing writing a novel, my ears pricked up.

The story is set against the backdrop of Nashville, Tennessee during the floods of 2010, and centres around the house belonging to Delia's (the central character) sister Ginna (who is dead). I was really charmed by the personalities in the book, and willed them to find ways to reconnect with each other. I hope it's not taken the wrong way if I say that I bought the book out of solidarity and wanting to support someone whose work I admire. However, I'm reviewing the book here and encouraging you to buy it because I fell a bit in love with it. There is knitting content, but it forms part of the backdrop to the story rather than the contrived basis that is sometimes the case in knitting novels. Fans of the M-D blog will recognise the knitting scenario. The memory made me giggle at first, but this was soon forgotten as I got more engrossed. I was sad to reach the last page and I do hope that Ann will write another book soon. It was a pleasure to read.

That's all for now. There may be another FO (finished object) at some point this week, as I'm speeding through my Oh Deer mittens. Progress is a little slower now that I don't have the encouragement of the Olympics, but I should make it. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Red Bones by Ann Cleeves; published by Pan books; ISBN 978-0-330-44826-0; £7.99; purchased from Hunting Raven books in Frome

Bowling Avenue by Ann Shayne; published by Chenille Press; ISBN 9780985210007; I paid £10.48 at Amazon.co.uk (as my local bookshop weren't able to order it for me)

Review: Knitting Everyday Finery

I've got a real treat to share with you today. It's the latest book from the brilliant Mel Clark! 

© Mel Clark, Collins & Brown

I first worked with Mel when she designed for us on The Knitter, and I've been delighted to edit a couple of her patterns for the magazine since I went freelance. Mel mentioned in passing that she had a new book due out and I jumped at the chance to have a look at it. Mel has a style that I can only aspire to. She thinks about each and every aspect of a design to make sure that they work together in perfect balance. You can be sure that her yarn choice is going to give the best possible results for the intended finished item, and that the colour combinations have been chosen with a great deal of care and attention.

Knitting Everyday Finery is a collection of quick-to-knit designs that bring a touch of luxury to your everyday life. It's not so much luxury in the sense of really expensive yarn (although the yarn choices are what I would describe as nice yarns, rather than really budget yarns), but more luxury in the sense of time and effort taken to create an item which conveys that love to its wearer. There are designs for men, women and children so you can knit a piece of finery for everyone in your life!

© Mel Clark, Collins & Brown

I am completely in love with this gorgeous Daisy Dachshund pencil case! I'm not normally one for toys, or dogs for that matter (I'm more of a cat person), but this is too delightful to miss. You can make her as either a pencil case or just as a toy, but what child wouldn't want an excuse to take such a fantastic creation to school each day? Mel has done a short blog post on the making up process for Daisy that you might find helpful.

© Mel Clark, Collins & Brown

These July Gloves also caught my eye, as the construction is a little unusual - they are begun in the round, then the hand is worked back and forth and sewn together later between the bobbles. It gives the gloves an interesting detail and one that I'd enjoy trying.

Each project is carefully photographed from a couple of angles, so it's possible to see all the detail you might require while you are working on a pattern. The instructions are straightforward to follow, and the few charts are of a good size and not too intimidating if you are new to chart-knitting. I could easily be tempted to cast on a few of the designs for a quick and satisfying knit. In fact... I'm off to Loop on Sunday, so maybe I need to pick up yarn for one of these. Hmmmmm. It might be just what my slow-knitting mojo needs!

Mel might be known to you as Slip, Slip, Knit - the name of her lovely and inspiring blog, or perhaps as the co-author with Tracey Ullman of Knit 2 Together - a book of patterns and stories for serious knitting fun (instantly recognisable by the 2-person jumper worn by Tracey and Mel on the cover). She's also on Twitter as @SlipSlipKnit and on Ravelry as melc to do go and check out her other designs.

Knitting Everyday Finery by Mel Clark
Published in the UK by Collins & Brown (and in the US by Trafalgar Square Books)
ISBN: 978-1-84340-663-1
RRP: £14.99 

Disclaimer: I asked Mel if I could review this book, and as such was provided with a copy free of charge by the publisher, Collins & Brown.

Knitting with The Color Guys

Way back in the mists of early 2011, I worked on a book for one of the biggest names in knitting. I created the charts for Kaffe Fasett and Brandon Mably's book of accessories; Knitting with The Color Guys.

This was one of my very first jobs following my move to freelance work, and it was a brilliant opportunity for a number of reasons. Firstly, there's no way to avoid the fact that Kaffe's eye for colour combinations is extraordinary. There are so many designs that I would just love to cast on immediately. Secondly, I learnt about a million things about charting in Illustrator during the project. With so many charts to create, I turned to tutorials from Adobe a number of times, and discovered all sorts of tricks and new tools. I love to learn new things, so this was excellent. The third, really major, bonus of this job was that it involved working closely with Sarah Hatton, who was the Pattern Writer/Editor for the project. Any job that requires me to stay in touch with Sarah is a winner in my book! She's a legend.

© Sixth & Spring Books

This half-circle throw is just delicious. I want to wrap myself in its wonderful happy, smiling colours. It reminds me of late spring-early summer, when all the colours in the garden are vivid and brighter than life.

The book is divided into chapters which group the colour palettes in use; Soft Tones, Singing Colour, Moody Hues and Rich Shades. The half circle wrap (above) is from the singing colour chapter, naturally! And the following Multistripe Stole (my all-time favourite from the book), is in the soft tones collection.

© Sixth & Spring Books

This stole makes me want to run down to the yarn shop, buy everything I need and cast on instantly. Not the effect I expected this book to have on me! And if I'm being honest, there are some projects in here that just don't quite work for me - the Dotty Cushions would have been greatly improved by using a yarn with more bounce than Rowan Summer Tweed. That said, I feel that there are more than enough projects that I like to make this book well worth its place on my bookshelf.

In a bizarre twist of coincidence, Eskimimi chose Kaffe as one of her knitting heroes for her post in Knitting and Crochet Blog Week, and was kind enough to include me as an example of inspiring craft bloggers. To be included in the same post as Kaffe was more than a bit of a compliment!

Disclaimer: As I worked on this book, I was provided with a copy free of charge.

Principles of Knitting and some sage advice

In the absence of knitting and while trying to avoid yarn purchasing, I've been trying to keep my fabric collection from raging out of control. This has mostly been a futile endeavour, so I've turned my attention to expanding my book collection. There has been a lot of chat online about the republished Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt, so I asked my wonderful local bookshop, Hunting Raven, to see if they could track a copy down for me.

They were successful, and I've been enjoying reading it ever since. It's a weighty tome, with more than 700 pages and covers all aspects of hand knitting. I've not finished reading, so I'm not aiming to write a full review here, but the first chapter in particular seemed apt...

Chapter 1 covers knitting methods, describing in great detail the different ways to hold and tension yarn and the direction of work, etc... I was unsurprisingly struck by Hiatt's assertion at the end of the first column of text that, "I strongly recommend that every knitter consider learning at least two methods; three is even better." She points out that only working in one way leaves us open to injury or fatigue, and that the possibilities opened by having two or three methods available to you are highly valuable.

Oh how I wish I had read this advice 6 months ago!

I'm grappling with learning to hold the yarn in my left hand. It's fairly slow progress at the moment, but perseverance and a strong desire to be able to knit will doubtless see me through! I've been using my mouse with my left hand for nearly 3 weeks now, and it is starting to feel quite natural, so I'm sure the same will be true of knitting.

In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy reading all about knitting, and hopefully will pick up some more excellent advice from this book. I'll aim for a more detailed review once I've reached the end!

Principles of Knitting by June Hemmons Hiatt
Published by Touchstone (Simon and Schuster)
ISBN: 978-1-4165-3517-1
RRP: $45.00 (US)/ $49.99 (Can)/ My copy was £33.99 (UK) 

Over-excited!

This is just a really short post as I'm up to my eyeballs in preparation for the Knitting and Stitching Show at Alexandra Palace next week. I'll be there for the whole week, working on the Fyberspates stand. So if you come to the show, please be sure to stop by and say hello!

I'm sorry for the delay in the next installment of the series of posts on Illustrator. It will come, but not until after the show.

In the meantime, my work on A Stitch in Time 2 is complete, and Susan has shown me parts of her black and white print-out copy. I am so completely ridiculously excited about this book that I can barely contain myself. Printing will take some time still as it is such a mamouth book (it weighs 1.8kg!!), but if you haven't already ordered it, then do. Seriously. It is epic in its brilliance.

Bits and bobs (books)

I received a brilliant parcel from Amazon this week.

I had ordered the photography book that Franklin Habit recommended on the course I did at Knit Nation. It's the Ultimate Field Guide to Photography from National Geographic, and it looks absolutely brilliant. I'm going to make time to do some serious reading and practising - I'm determined to get better project photos! Practise makes perfect and all that.

The book contains all sorts of useful information, including some basic Photoshop tutorials, so I plan to get totally stuck in to my photography study very shortly.

The other book I received was The Knitting Pocket Bible by Mimi Hill. Now clearly, I don't need a beginner's guide to knitting! However, I do end up teaching lots of other people to knit, so it's nice to know what's out there in beginner knitting guides. I like to be able to recommend books that I've actually read, rather than just suggesting an Amazon search. I'll admit bias, as I know Mimi through her online alter-ego Eskimimi, but I really do think that she has done a super job with this book.

 
I settled down and read the first chapter last night, and found it completely charming. It's enthusistic and laugh out loud funny in places, whilst also being really informative. Mimi's love of knitting and the current knitting community really shines through her writing.

This is the Vivianne Scarf (Photograph © Eskimimi)

The book also contains some beginner knitting projects, but they wouldn't be dull for experienced knitters either. In fact, I've queued both the lovely Vivanne Lace Scarf (knitted in Skein Queen Blush - yum!) and Holly's Handwarmers (they will be mine!). I'm just hoping for some spare minutes to use knitting them in the near future.

And how sweet are these Holly's Handwarmers? (Photograph © Eskimimi)

So even if you're an experienced knitter, I think this book is worth a place on your bookshelf. I might buy another copy for lending out...