I am thrilled to be able to kick off the World Blog Tour for Jean Moss's latest book, Sweet Shawlettes (Amazon link). Jean Moss will be familiar to many of you as she often designs for Rowan and has been published in The Knitter and Vogue Knitting (aka Designer Knitting in Europe) as well as writing her own books. She has also worked for some seriously impressive international fashion houses, including Ralph Lauren, Laura Ashley and Benetton, and her eye for knitwear is really evident in her work.
I first worked with Jean when I was technical editor on The Knitter, and her methodical pattern writing style has always stood out for me. The combination of artistic design flair and an ability to write clear, conscise and accurate knitting pattern instructions isn't actually that common. On being approached to join the blog book tour, I jumped at the chance to see what she's been up to lately!
Sweet Shawlettes is a collection of 25 patterns for a variety of accessories that can be worn around the neck-shoulder area. They are collected into four themed chapters - Country, Couture, Folk and Vintage. You can see the full gallery of projects on Jean's website, or if you are a member of Ravelry, there are many images on the pattern pages there.
I couldn't resist casting on something from the book, and after much deliberation, I went for Penumbra. This is a cowl with a garter stitch shadow motif. When you look at it in certain directions you can see zigzags. I've seen this techique before, but never tried it myself, so I nipped down to Marmalade Yarns to find the perfect materials. I'm notoriously bad at putting colours together on my own, so Maxine lent a hand, and in the end we went for Rooster Almerino DK in a lovely purple (Grape 204) and green (Gooseberry 207) combination (this was a close winner over two shades of teal blue... I already have a few teal neck items, so decided a change was needed!). I had to fiddle with my camera somewhat to capture the right shade of purple - it's quite a pinky shade, rather than blue-purple. I love it!
I've cast on and had hoped to have a finished cowl to show you today, but I've still got some numbness in my index finger, so I'm trying not to knit too much. :( It won't take me long to complete once I'm back up to speed, so do pop back to see the finished pictures sometime next week. In the meantime, here's a picture of my progress:
I love how the garter ridges pop out in this yarn (as they do in the black and white shades of Rowan Wool Cotton used in the book). Here's how it will look once it's finished:
Penumbra Cowl © Taunton Press
The pattern instructions are very clear and there is a great section of techniques at the back of the book if there is anything with which you aren't familiar. The book uses US knitting and crochet terminology, but translations and explanations are given at the back and page numbers in the text point you to the relevant section. All measurements are given in both metric and imperial throughout the pattern instructions, which is really helpful if you're a die-hard user of one or the other.
The charts are all presented at a good size for ease of reading, and the colourwork charts are given in full colour. I find it much easier to work from coloured colourwork charts, rather than from symbols representing colours. The only potential disadvantage is that if you like to copy charts to work from them, you will need to use a colour photocopier, since there's unlikely to be enough contrast to read from a black and white version.
Each shawlette includes a very clear schematic showing its flat shape and the dimensions, along with any salient features, like direction of knitting or position for slits and embellishments. This is a really helpful addition to the book, and one that is often omitted for accessories.
So that's my technical editor take on Sweet Shawlettes. I'm really enjoying making Penumbra - you can see more about my project on my Ravelry page here: JenACKnitwear's Clever Shadow Cowl
The blog tour continues tomorrow over at the utterly delightful Needled blog with Kate Davies, so do stop by to read her interview then (I've seen the questions and will be reading with interest for the answers!). The remaining dates on the tour are all at the bottom of this post, so do drop in and sample the wonderful range of stops on the way (seriously, look at the lineup! It's fabulous!).
As well as sending me a review copy, Taunton Press have kindly donated a copy of Sweet Shawlettes to give away to one of my lucky readers. All you have to do if you would like to win a copy, is to visit the project gallery on Jean's website, and decide which accessory you would like to cast on first. Come back here and leave a comment on this blog post telling me about your choice. The winner will be chosen at random from all valid comments (if you don't pick a project then I won't include you in the draw). Please only leave one comment. If you post more than one comment I will delete the extras and they will not be included in the draw. Taunton Press will be sending out the book, so please make sure that you leave your email address in the email address field so that I can contact you if you win (it won't be published, and only I can see it). The only prize is a copy of Sweet Shawlettes by Jean Moss (no alternatives are available). The comments will remain open for 7 days and the winner will be announced on Thursday 15th March, so come back and see if you were the lucky reader!
Sweet Shawlettes World Blog Tour Itinerary
Thurs 8 March: Needled (Kate Davies)
Fri 9 March: Rock and Purl (Ruth Garcia-Alcantud)
Sat 10 March: Woolly Wormhead
Mon 12 March: Yarnscape (Alison Barker)
Wed 14 March: Joli House (Amanda France)
Thurs 15 March: This Is Knit
Fri 16 March: The Knitting Institute (Knitting Magazine)
Sat 17 March: Life’n Knitting (Carla Meijsen)
Sun 18 March: ConnieLene (ConnieLene Johnston)
Mon 19 March: Just Call Me Ruby (Susan Crawford)
Tues 20 March: Tiny Owl Knits (Stephanie Dosen)
Wed 21 March: Ulla-Bella (Anita Tørmoen)
