Shawl Design in Plain English by Julia Riede, 2012, 122pp.
I’m always on the lookout for good self published books. Julia’s book contains a ton of good info, as well as nine different patterns, lovely in their own right, that illustrate the design concepts. Â (The patterns are all available individually as well.)
She walks you through the initial number crunching (swatching, blocking, measuring gauge, repeat dimensions, and so on). Â Subsequent chapters apply these principles to specific shawl shapes.
What are the shapes covered?
- Rectanglular shawls
- Triangular
- Circular and semicircular (including crescent)
- Faroese
Within each shape chapter she covers the specific ways of constructing each shape. Â For rectangular shawls, for example, she covers from hem to hem, each half worked from center out with a provisional cast on, and diagonally from one corner. Â She also discusses borders and edgings.
Her book is one of the most complete I’ve seen for teaching how to design different shapes. Â It’s a wonderful complement to Anna Dalvi’s Shaping Shawls, which I also love.
The patterns are all charted. Â I think Callie, shown left, is one of my favorites.
There’s also a small stitch dictionary with a very nice collection of stitches; Â each page has a photo of the stitch pattern and its chart.
Julia has a Ravelry group. Â She has a website, too.
Note: My review copy was given to me by the author. Â All opinions are my own.