Review: Knitting Modular Shawls

Title: Knitting Modular Shawls, Wraps and Stoles
Author: Melissa Leapman
Craft: Knitting Patterns
Rating: 5/5
# Patterns: 20+
Skill Level: Intermediate / Advanced

This book is more than a pattern book - it is a recipe book. In addition to providing 20 gorgeous shawl patterns, it also provides instructions for a "Choose Your Own Adventure" approach to designing your own shawls, with a LOT of increasingly elaborate stitch patterns (I was going to give an exact number, but there were too many, and I lost track while counting). I've been a knitter for awhile, and still some of them were completely new to me. My fingers are itching right now to sit down and play around with the components to create a truly personal shawl.

All stitch patterns are given as both charts and written instructions, with clear photos of each, knit up in a light yarn that really shows off the stitch definition. There is a HUGE variety in the stitch patterns, so it's obvious that Melissa Leapman put a lot of thought and work into this collection - it's definitely not something she could just have phoned in. I'm especially impressed by the section on adding horizontal or vertical insertions to shawl designs - a very simple design-element that few patterns incorporate, but which is extremely effective and really makes your shawl stand out. As for the section on borders, I'm biased - I absolutely love a nice perpendicular border, and Melissa has some amazing ones to try out here.

Photographs of the 20 patterns provided are spread out throughout the book. Each shawl is beautifully modeled, and shows wingspan, a close-up and a glamour shot for the full effect of the shawl. Project #10 is my personal favourite, and I can't wait to cast it on!

I know I'm gushing, but I'm really impressed by this book, and can't think of anything I'd add or change to make it better. It's not aimed at beginners, as it does require you to have some previous knowledge of knitting shawls, but I'd definitely recommend this book to any semi-experienced knitter who wants to take the next step towards creating his or her own designs.

WIP - November Edition

I was going to post this last week and completely forgot! It's been aaaaaages since I did one of these posts last, so no surprise, I've got a LOT of things to show off :-D

Off the Needles
First is my Summer Sunset. I finished this back in August and absolutely love it. The yarn is a cotton-acrylic blend, meaning it's actually cool enough to wear during the summer. I wouldn't have minded if it had been just a taaaaaad longer, but at the time I was afraid that the orange would get too overwhelming, as the orange section would have been a lot longer than the others. I think it would have been alright, but never mind. It's long enough that I don't mind too much.
A ton of my friends have had babies recently, so I've been crocheting a bunch of stuffed animals. They tend to be quite fiddly, but always turn out to be worth it :-D
One of my nieces has turned into a huge fan of the TV show Friends (which I find kinda amusing, considering how dated it is by now), so as a surprise, I decided to make her a Friends hat!! I used the Hamilton hat as a template, and replaced the Hamilton quotes with Friends quotes instead ("She's her lobster", "Pivot", "London Baby" etc.). I'm ridiculously chuffed with how it turned out, and just hope she'll like it too!
And finally I've finished a test-knit of yet another sweater. I didn't really have time for more obligation knitting, but I loved this pattern so much, that I just had to knit it! I'm glad I did too. It was a bit of a struggle to finish on time, but it's quickly become one of my most worn pieces! There were a bunch of mods I've have done if it hadn't been a test knit (most noticeably - added a bit of length and changed it to be knit in the round!!!), but even as-is it's a great layering piece.
On the Needles
At the moment I'm mostly knitting socks. They're a tad boring to show off though, so I'll leave them for when they become finished objects.

I have returned to working a bit on the Phoenix blanket though, and have managed an entire additional section. So I've know finished 7 out of 11 sections. Hope I'll have enough yarn to complete them all, but fortunately I can basically just add a border whenever and call it done. The colour selection is determined 100% by whatever yarn I had available in stash and I would never have chosen them if I'd gone shopping for the blanket... but they somehow just work and I'm really happy with how it's coming along. It's going to be huge though! It's already about 120cm across!