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Book: Entrelac: The Essential Guide to Interlace Knitting
Author: Rosemary Drysdale
List Price: $24.95
I’ve often admired entrelac knitting. The interwoven look of the fabric is a bit mesmerizing. So when I spotted this book, I took the opportunity to pick up a copy.
This book is divided into four chapters.
Chapter 1: Entrelac Step by Step
Chapter 1 covers the how to of basic stockinette entrelac. Clear, step-by-step photos accompany the directions. I found the instructions easy to follow, especially with the aid of the photos. Directions are also included for knitting backwards (why keep turning when you can knit backwards?) as well as working entrelac in the round and as an entrelac triangle.
Chapter 2: Swatch Glossary
I must say that this is the chapter that really stunned me. Prior to this, I had mainly seen examples of entrelac worked in stockinette stitch or basic ribbing, but this swatch dictionary has it all. It includes basic patterns using knit and purl stitches, lace patterns (lace AND entrelac! I’m in love.), cable patterns, stunning colorwork, and a variety of other variations all worked as entrelac. The swatch glossary (which is really like a stitch dictionary for entrelac), is inspiring.
Chapter 3: The Patterns
You can practice your new skills with chapter 3. It contains 20 different patterns for a variety of garment and home décor items. Some use entrelac for the entire piece while others, like the Uptown Poncho and Rose Garden Baby Cardi, use entrelac as either a trim or focal point. My favorite pattern though is the Fruit and Veggie Caps (pg 139). These entrelac hats are worked in pumpkin, strawberry, and eggplant style. It’s only sized for child’s 6 months, which is a shame, because I think adults (and their inner children) would like it too.
Chapter 4: Designing with Entrelac
This section contains information for designing with entrelac. It has tips on how to incorporate stitch patterns into entrelac, advice for shaping in entrelac, and a page of special entrelac graph paper to use when designing your own creations. Also included is an entire page on how to calculate gauge in entrelac. This chapter is a great little addition for knitters who decide to take their entrelac to the next level.
Overall, this is a fantastic book, and I highly recommend it.
I would have liked some information on how to do entrelac without the ugly seams on the backside (I’ve seen a youtube video that seems to show this) and some discussion about slipping first stitches and picking up. But I do agree that this is an excellent book and I’m happy to have it in my library.
Thank you for the review. The book looked awesome with the patterns within the entrelac – this is what fascinated me so much. Sure broadens the uses of entrelac. I think this is what tempted me so much.
Good to hear from you Mike. I always know eactxly what to write to get you to pipe up, right? Reasonable people can disagree on these rankings, but Syracuse did just lose AT HOME to Pitt by DOUBLE DIGITS. I understand the Kansas-Cornell analogy by we all know Kansas would beat Cornell 9 out of 10 times. That’s the definition of a fluke. Can we say that about Pitt-Cuse? I don’t think so. Let me see more and then I will adjust accordingly. As for West Virginia and Villanova, I’ve had them 1-2 in that order since October and I see no reason to change that right now. Nova losing to Temple in one of those crazy Big 5 games (where upsets are commonplace) doesn’t upset the apple cart in my mind. Again, it’ll all play out. I actually enjoyed Boeheim’s postgame after Seton Hall, even his potshot at the media about OOC schedule strength (at least the quotes were interesting and usable). Much better than the normal blah-blah-blah you get from a lot of the other guys. Bitter, the point about last year’s Big East is how it was the deepest league ever. Obviously no league was better at the top than those mid-80s Big Easts. If it makes you feel better the next time it comes up I will put an asterisk and a footnote making this distinction. Piratefocus,I’ve been beating the drums for Fero Hall as you know, but he is way too small to play center in the Big East. Have you seen the size of the postmen on the other teams? Big John is a space-eater and is useful in short spurts (alas, his knees have robbed him of the rest). Fero has to beef up big-time before he can hold his own at center for any reasonable lengths.