Wrapped in Lace

I went to the bookstore yesterday and wandered the morning away.  I wandered not because I had a lot of time, but because after 5 years (at least), the book store is changing its layout and the craft books are now stored behind the cards, gift oddments, and other miscellaneous stuff way off in the boondocks of the store, under the big sign that reads 'computers'.  

yah.

When I did finally find them, I struck gold.  I came upon a copy of Margaret Stove's Wrapped in Lace.   I have a great library of knitting books and I am pretty picky.  I long ago vowed that whatever books I buy have to be something that I could learn a lot from, not just knit a lot from.   

Wrapped in Lace is such a book.  I have a funny feeling that it is going to take some time before I understand just how much `suck a book`it is.  Each time I open the book some little tidbit falls out changing the way I think.  Even this morning just flipping though the pages, idly waiting for my computer to boot up, a little ditty on hiding short row holes popped into view.  

Toward the back of the book there is an entire section devoted to grafting lace.  This alone, it makes the book a must.    

The shawl patterns follow Margaret`s path knitting lace.  Much knitting history, rich with family stories, the patterns follow traditional forms.  They are not traditional shawls but they are shawls knit with the eye to a living tradition.  There is a stunning Faroese shaped shawl (the red one in the link above) that makes my fingers itchy to knit lace.  

There is another very large round shawl called the `Filmy Fern`.  It is ethereal.  And probably really hard to knit for all that it looks simple.  

Indeed the only irritating this about this book is that one pattern, a `New Zealand, Tribute to Orenbùrg`, is pictured in the book but it is not in the book.  You have to download it from Interweave`s Knitting Daily website to get the pattern.   I might accept this if the publisher told me why on earth he did this. He did not.  

But for this one glitch, this book is going to be in my best buy category. It is so full of lace knitting.  It is so full of knitting.   I am a mere padawan learner about to be taught by a master.