Scarf Style

Today I want to talk about my favorite book of 2004 -- Scarf Style from Interweave Press. Now you may be thinking -- scarves?!? Who needs another book of scarf patterns? -- but I have to tell you that this book completely won me over the first time I paged through it. Here's why. . .

First of all there are the number and diversity of patterns. This book pretty much has it all! Lace, intarsia, stranded, cabled, textured, beaded. . . you get the idea. There are even some crochet patterns thrown in for the non-knitters or those of us who want to try our hand at a something new.

In addition to the variety of patterns, the book is easy on the eyes. Ther pictures are big and beautiful and there are additional small photos highlighting diferent aspects of each project. The patterns are easy to read (even with my less than perfect eyesight) and free of errors -- at least the three patterns I've tried. Charts are provided for the patterns that include lace, cables and colorwork and they are also large enough to be easy to read.

One final thing that I liked about this book was the "design notebook" in the back that gives you tips to help you to create your own scarves. That's a nice addition that I really hadn't seen in other scarf books.

There are a lot of patterns in this book that I have made or plan to make, which makes it just about the most used knitting pattern book that I own. I've started the "Backyard Leaves" scarf by Annie Modesitt, which is a beautiful lace pattern. I completed a version of the "Misty Garden" scarf by Jo Sharp, knit with Angel instead of the recommended yarn. And last night I started the infamous "Ruffles" scarf which is a fun little project. Once again I'm substituting -- this time some lovely Brooks Farm Harmony.

This brings me to my final point. Who doesn't have a few balls, hanks or skeins of yarn picked up here and there laying about in their stash? Scarves are the perfect solution for getting all these smaller bits of yarn used and loved! And with this book, there is enough variety that you will surely be able to match that lovely, lonely skein or two with an equally lovely pattern. Posted by Julie at October 21, 2005 1:24 PM

This entry was posted in the following categories: Gotta Have It (****) , Knitting Books , Pattern Collection