CONTEMPORARY CROCHET

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Here’s a new book by Sys Fredens. I was not familiar with this designer/author, but I sure do like her designs! I am currently working on one of the pullovers in this book for my daughter. Not only did my daughter approve the design and yarn I chose, the sweater is actually fitting her nicely! A win for me as my daughter is not generally fond of my crochet.

Great thing about this book – the sweaters are constructed from the TOP DOWN. Hooray! A designer who finally listened to me (us??);-) Top down is such a great way to crochet a sweater as one can try it on throughout its construction to be sure it fits.

The book includes numerous color photos, often showing the design from more than one angle, and with simple schematics for each. There are sweaters, shells, bags, hats, mittens, and shawls. The shell I’m making is the Summer Top with Shoulder Bands on pages 44 and 45. With 37 designs included, there’s a good selection included. Yarn selections tend to be generic too – so no high end yarn prices to contend with.

The patterns are very basic, assuming a knowledge of and experience with garment construction. This can be a problem for beginners, but the schematics and photos will help as the designs are not terribly complex. I believe this book would be a great addition to anyone’s crochet library with the exception of a rank beginner.

Published by Martingale Publishers, 2009

94 pages

$21.99 (well less than $1 per design!!)

ISBN 1564778975

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

Have you read?