Wrap Style: Innovative to traditional, 24 inspirational shawls, ponchos, and capelets to knit and crochet
Pam Allen & Ann Budd, eds.
(Interweave Press)
AUD$49.95
160 pp, paperback
Those who consider a wrap nothing more than an oversized scarf, get ready to broaden your thinking: the editors of this new offering from Interweave Press define it as 'more than a scarf but less than a coat'. The designs included revel in the broadness of this definition, as well as covering a wide range of techniques: fair isle, lace, cables, intarsia, textured stitches, and crochet as well as knitting; there truly is something for everyone. Several patterns are sized and all are designed for women. Although the complexity of many of the garments may discourage beginners, the instructions are clear and the diagrams are superb. Photographs are generous and show different angles of each wrap, but shots of specific details could have been larger. At the back of the book is the valuable Design Notebook, a reference for designing your own wrap. Southern Hemisphere knitters who can't always access the yarn specified in Northern Hemisphere publications will find this especially useful, as will those mix-and-match knitters who tend to like the shape of one garment but the features of another. This is a book for thinking knitters who seek inspiration and information along with patterns. —Ingrid Summers