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Tuesday March 31, 2009
Books in March
I seem to be spending less and less time reading - unless it's reading knitting books. So it occurred to me that I could actually write about the knitting books - here are a couple of them.
- A Fine Fleece by Lisa Lloyd
This is a book all about knitting with handspun yarns; George's Mother gave it to me for my birthday. I had not previously looked at the book when I requested it via my Wish List - which is always risky - but it did not disappoint. It is a very good book - these are the specific points in its favour: - The author tells us about her journey through learning to spin, discusses mixing fibres, and reviews a few fleece types that she used for projects in the book. I was interested that she reviewed Suffolk fleeces, (Ava's sheep), as I have not seen much about them elsewhere - she used them for socks, which confirms the view I have gleaned while working with this fleece myself.
- The book has a lot of patterns in it, (26 apparently), mostly for proper jumpers, not just little gifts. It is very good value on this point - so many books are lovely with maybe lots of ideas but few real patterns.
- And here's the good bit - every pattern is knitted up not only in a handspun with the fibre content explained, but also in a commercial yarn. This is really an excellent idea. It demonstrates that you can achieve quite different results by changing the yarn type - it's very encouraging.
- Rowan 45 Spring/Summer 2009 edited by Marie Wallin
Despite the amusement that Rowan's styling always seems to cause everyone (including me), I always like their books and look forward to their publication each season. I admire the way they do their marketing and always hope that their innovations will prove successful.
So I was truly dismayed by their anniversary edition (No 44) as, far from celebrating their history, it seemed a complete departure from anything that had gone before. I was motivated to complain to Rowan that there was not a single pattern for men in the book which I thought (apart from anything else) a real betrayal since the company was set up by men and their signature designers were men. Admittedly when they first started, the sweaters styles were not so gender specific, and often displayed on both men and women in the photo shoots. But now the girly, shaped sweaters are definitely not for men. I was impressed that I got a reply directly from Marie Wallin (whether "from the desk of" or whether a standard response is not important). However what she said was less convincing - that they did not "have space" to include men's patterns - though they seem to have space for patterns for dogs and fabric patterns for decorations. She also missed my point really - I am not actually short of patterns to knit for men and in truth I normally welcome the inclusion of patchwork and novelties in the magazines. I was simply angry that in a special anniversary edition she had made what was, in my opinion, an editorial decision ("mistake") to make it girls (and dogs..) only.
So back to Book 45 - I loved it as usual - and I was relieved that men had got back into it.... I am planning to make a couple of the things featured in it, including some household items (placemats and peg bag). These are my favourites:
This is the full text of Rowan's reply on the subject of Rowan 44 "anniversary edition". I note that Marie seems to think that the exclusion of men's patterns is a consequence of it being an anniversary edition - how on earth does that work?
Dear Christina,
I am sorry to hear that you are disappointed that the latest magazine
doesn't include any men's designs.
The main reason for this is that Mag 44 is a celebration of 30 years of
Rowan, and consequently the stories reflect women's wear. As there was so
much we wanted to cover within the stories to reflect the type of design
that has become synonymous with Rowan over the years, there literally was
not enough room to cover menswear as well. I appreciate that you would like
to see more men's designs and we are hopefully planning to do a Rowan men's
book in the near future, I myself would like to do a men's book! There will
be a few men's designs in Mag 45 and there are also some planned for Mag 46.
Best wishes and happy knitting,
Marie Wallin - Head Designer, Rowan.
I do look forward to seeing her men's book. I always like her designs, (despite the simple lines and lack of florals), though many of them are frankly too hip for me to feel I can wear. Narvik (still working on it...) is one of hers.
Posted by Christina at 10:34 AM. Category: Books of the Month
