Product Description

Knitted Shawls, Stoles, and Scarves
By Nancie W. Wiseman

Get ready to wrap yourself in cozy comfort!

These elegant, glamorous fashion accessories all have something special in common--a great fit! Nineteen gorgeous projects range from simple shapes that beginners will appreciate to stitch patterns and techniques that advanced knitters will love.

For many knitters, learning complicated knitting techniques can be overwhelming--so overwhelming that some may put down their needles for good. But the glorious accessories in Knitted Shawls, Stoles, and Scarves rely on simple, easy-to-learn shaping methods that produce elegant--and foolproof--results.

The yarns chosen for these projects range from trendy, richly textured yarns to the most easy-to-find styles. You'll fall in love with these designs--and with every beautiful accessory you make, you'll learn a new technique or stitch pattern that you can use in future projects.

· Choose from 19 glamorous wraps, such as Interlocking Diamonds Scarf, Textured Squares Mohair Shawl, Cabled Stole, and Lavender Linen Lace Scarf

· Learn several new knitting concepts as you knit--start with simpler projects, and then move on to more advanced projects to perfect your skills

· Find charts and written stitch patterns, basic knitting techniques, and an informative reference section

Whether you're a novice knitter or someone who has made knitting a lifelong passion, you'll delight in this beautiful book that will expand your knitting skills and enhance your design savvy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #519140 in Books
• Published on: 2001-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 96 pages

From Library Journal
How many people want to make time to knit and to expand their knitting skills but get sidetracked by a knitting project that is either too easy and boring or too difficult for their current skill level? Probably quite a few, in author Wiseman's opinion. Her solution is to work with beautiful yarns to make small, wearable projects such as scarves and shawls that do not require a slavish attention to gauge. An experienced knitting teacher, Wiseman here includes a wealth of knitting tips and techniques plus patterns for 20 scarves, shawls, and stoles that illustrate a variety of techniques, including diagonal knitting lace, short rows, entrelac, and intarsia. Warmly recommended for all knitting collections.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review
This book is not just a collection of projects, but a manual on creative techniques as well. -- --Detroit Free Press, March 2001

… a wealth of knitting tips and techniques… Warmly recommended for all knitting collections. -- --Library Journal, April 2001

About the Author
Nancie M. Wiseman has been knitting since she was a child. In college, she knitted, made wedding dresses, and worked in a fabric store to help pay her tuition. After working for fifteen years as a nurse, Nancie opened her own yarn store. Her part-time passion blossomed into a retail and wholesale business called Nancie Knits.

Soon Nancie started teaching, as well as writing articles and creating patterns for such magazines as Knitters, Interweave Knits, Piecework, Knit 'n Style, and Cast On. She created the scarf pattern for Martha Stewart Living's "Knitting 101" feature article. Currently, Nancie has seven videos and four books, including Lace from the Attic, to her credit.

Nancie is best known for her remarkable ability to make the knitting process easier, with special emphasis on more creative knitting techniques. "I like to stretch beyond just 'plain knitting,'" Nancie says. "This book isn't just a pattern book; it can be a manual on techniques and a tool for the new designer."

Customer Reviews

Emphasis on challenging techniques.
This is a book for knitters who want short projects that teach new and challenging techniques without the added problems of how to make the garment fit. The following techniques are showcased: sideways knitting and shaping, diagonal knitting, textured squares, slip stitch pattern, cables, short rows, lace, garter stitch squares, interlocking diamonds, entrelac and intarsia. The major plus of the book is that before each pattern, the technique to be used is discussed in some detail, boosting the knitter's understanding before attempting to follow the directions. In most of the patterns, the knitter can chose between making a scarf or making a stole or shawl (which would obviously take more time). Line-by-line directions are given, as well as a line drawing of the finished piece. Charts are provided for the more difficult techniques, i.e. textured squares, cables, lace and intarsia. Colored diagrams are provided for the garter stitch squares, the interlocking diamonds and the entrelac. If you are knitter looking for short projects to teach yourself a new technique, this book may be just what you are looking for. For myself, I personally was not interested in making any of the projects because the finished items didn't appeal to me. Cheryl Oberle's "Folk Shawls" was much more my cup of tea. But the knitting world is huge and growing and there is room for all.

Uneven quality of patterns
The patterns look beautiful on pictures, but some of the pictures are misleading. For example, the picture of Textured Squares Mohair Shawl shows a full-sized shawl draped around the shoulders. I have knit it with the recommended gauge, and found out that the only way the shawl can drape like this is if you wear it sideways. The shawl is very long in the back and too short in the front (barely covered my relatively small chest). Wearing it sideways is impractical in any situation apart from posing for a picture. The pattern did not state finished dimensions, and the picture was misleading. I ended up ripping the whole thing. I wanted to knit the Gossamer Shawl, but then realized that its picture also did not offer a full view of the shawl, so I skipped it. On the positive side, I knit Chenille Diagonal Lace Scarf, and it turned out great.
I would recommend to editors of knitting books to follow the example of Cheryl Oberle's Folk Shawls, and show each shawl in the clearest way possible.

A winner
It's not often that I want to make nearly every item in a book or magazine, but I'll soon be starting my third project from this book. These projects are fast and great for gifts--the Shoulder Warmer Shawl took just three days, and that included time for ripping out and redoing when I paid more attention to the Olympics than to my knitting chart. I'm an experienced knitter (40 years, egads!), but my previous experience with charts was for intarsia patterns, not lace. This book taught me how to read charts (and by the way, there's an error in the line numbering on the Lace Scarf...it's supposed to be odd-numbered rows only, yet there's a row 20 in there...just renumber 'em all after row 19. The chart is fine).

The suggested yarns are (in many cases) expensive, but if you work up some gauge swatches, you can use less-pricey substitutes. Local yarn shops can also help you with substitutions. I found Euroflax's sportweight linen online at a great price, so I'll be making the Linen Lace Shawl using the suggested yarn. (Sometimes, a girl's gotta splurge a little.)

Except for that one minor error, I found the instructions clear, the photographs great, and the chapter introductions were full of helpful hints. This one's a keeper.