First, the facts:
Author: Lucinda Guy
Published by: Interweave Press, 2010
Pages: 159
Type: Patterns.
Chapters:
1. Iceland
2. Shetland
3. Norway
4. Sweden
Pattern Size Range: Varies
The In-Depth Look:
I know there are strong knitting traditions all over the world, all with their distinct trends and cultural inputs, but when I think about knitted sweaters, I admit that I think of northern Europe before any other region. Fair Isle. The Aran and Shetland islands. Scandinavia. Those are the places I look to first for inspiration and ideas.
Apparently I’m not the only one, because Lucinda Guy’s new book does the exact same thing.
I’m loving this book because she takes the time to visit each of her favored regions to discuss trends and history, but lightly, easily. It’s not serious (i.e. boring or hard to read) history, but more along the lines of a good folk story. The focus of the book, of course, are the patterns inspired by those long, cold winters.
They are lovely patterns, too. Socks, mittens, gloves, hats, and sweaters … and even a shawl or two for good measure. I like these patterns. Each one is inspired by a specific region–Iceland, Sweden, Norway, Fair Isle, and so on. Some are straight-forward, classic patterns, some are more “inspired by” than “taken from” but I like almost all of them.
The techniques span the countries, too, most notably with the section of twined knitting patterns–that distinctly Swedish two-end knitting technique.
This lovely book is available from Amazon.com.
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This review copy was kindly donated by Interweave Press. Thank you!
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