Time for another book review. Warm Glass – A Complete Guide to Kiln-Forming
. And this is a very informative and comprehensive book of kiln forming. It includes fusing, slumping and casting and it’s written by Philippa Beveridge, Ignasi Doménech and Eva Pascual. It’s published by Lark Books. What I like most about this book is the fact that it provides quite a bit of technical information more than projects. If you want to know why glass does what it does , this is an excellent reference book to have in your library. There are projects, and they are very satisfying as far as what you are able to accomplish. This may seem a bit advanced for a new glass worker but it’s not. And it may seem overwhelming but it’s not. It’s just packed with information. I would still recommend taking classes and working directly with an instructor to get your feet wet in kiln forming but when you go home or to your studio have a copy of this book around to reference while you work.
Have you read?
Bring Some Texture to Your Sweater Knitting
I generally think of adding color as a way to add interest to a sweater. You can easily throw in stripes or a bit of Fair Isle patterning, even on a sweater that’s meant to be plain, to make it a little more fun.
But there’s also something to be said for working a sweater in a solid color and using textured stitch patterns to make a project more interesting.
Tressa Weidenaa’s Bluewater Sweater began as wrap design, and then a cowl she designed for a class. The stitches looked to her like they would also be good on a sweater yoke, so the Bluewater Sweater was born, too.
The textured stitches are meant to look like ripples on water, inspired by a lake her family visited when she was young. It’s all knits and purls and a single color, which would make it a nice first sweater or one when you’re still early in your knitting journey.
The sweater is worked from the top down in DK weight or light worsted yarn and has a circular yoke. The pattern is charted, but just knits and purls worked in the round makes for pretty easy chart reading. There are 11 sizes to chose from, with a finished garment circumference ranging from 40.5 to 65.75 inches, or 103 to 168 cm. You can choose the amount of ease you would like, but it’s meant to have 4 to 6 inches, or 10 to 15 cm of positive ease.
You can buy this pattern on Ravelry, and if you’re interested in how the stitch pattern looks in other designs, also check out the Bluewater Cowl and Shawl. It’s really interesting to see how to same basic knit and purl patterns can be put to such different uses, or even just how they look different when stitched in different colors. Isn’t knitting fun?
[Photo: Tressa Weidenaar]