Customer Reviews

33 Contemporary Swedish Weaving Patterns for Monk's Cloth

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This book is diverse within types of patterns from Southwestern to tummbling teddybears to a gentle lilac, one can imangine the softness and feel of these through the pictures. Ideas on color and finishing are very clear and opportuninites for different projects just make laundy, grocery shopping, cleaning and those special cleaning projects just seem less important in the long run. With results of lovely peices to grace that favorite easy chair, or over the back of sofa along with matching pillows. Such a quiet lovely hobby, not difficult, and I am convinced could help to woman keep her sanity in todays instant paced world. A good take along project while waiting for summer trains, planes and endless swimming lessons, baseball practices and the constant parade of "things" that keep us on the run. Now I can take my own piece of mind around with me these projects, a walkman and a diet coke! Let's here it for woman's survival!

This book is diverse within types of patterns from Southwestern to tummbling teddybears to a gentle lilac, one can imangine the softness and feel of these through the pictures. Ideas on color and finishing are very clear and opportuninites for different projects just make laundy, grocery shopping, cleaning and those special cleaning projects just seem less important in the long run. With results of lovely peices to grace that favorite easy chair, or over the back of sofa along with matching pillows. Such a quiet lovely hobby, not difficult, and I am convinced could help to woman keep her sanity in todays instant paced world. A good take along project while waiting for summer trains, planes and endless swimming lessons, baseball practices and the constant parade of "things" that keep us on the run. Now I can take my own piece of mind around with me these projects, a walkman and a diet coke! Let's here it for woman's survival!

Women in our park meet weekly to make the beautiful afghans that are in the book, Avery Hill's 33 Contemporary Swedish Weave Patterns for Monk's Cloth written by: Jeanne Tams and Nan Duffin. Once a year we display the afghans that have been done that season. It never fails to amaze me how many there are. This book has such a wonderful variety of patterns, all with very descriptive directions, diagrams and color grafts that are so helpful in reading the patterns. The hardest part about making these afghans is choosing which pattern to make.33 Contemporary Swedish Weaving Patterns for Monk's Cloth

This might be an ok book for your first try at Swedish Weaving or Huck Embroidry, but it gets awfully boring after that. I did a couple of afghans based on just handwritten instructions from a local craft shop and was delighted to find any book at all on Swedish Weave. After collecting the first four books by the authors and doing another couple of afghans I was totally bored and ready to move on. Most of these patterns are very similar and they use similar (boring) color combinations. Their beginner patterns are the type of thing that you could finish in a day and then put in the back of a closet. I don't think their advanced patterns are much more interesting.

A better choice for a first book might be ASN's Monk's Cloth Diamond Afghans, which offers a choice of traditional designs and somewhat clearer how-to instructions. It doesn't pretend to be more than it is.

A much better choice for a second book would be "Huck Adventures" by Michiko Kuge with easy to follow instructions, more interesting designs and mouth watering colors. These designs show how far from boring a rather limited technique can be! Another good choice for a second book would be "Plain and Fancy Huck Embroidery" by Bonnie Datta. This is a slim booklet but has more interesting and original material in it than all four of the Tams/Duffin books. The graphs are also very easy to follow. The only drawback is that it may be difficult to find.

The patterns are lovely, however, unless you already know how to do swedish weaving, instructions are poorly written.

The book seems to assume you have some basic experience with this craft. It does not tell you how to figure how much yarn will be needed for any particular project. Nor does it give instructions on how to calculate the patterns for different size projects. The patterns are pretty, and the book certainly encourages you to step out and make your own creations, but leaves you guessing.

This is book has easy to follow directions with the patterns in color. My first attempts with swedish weaving were with a black and white pattern. The color makes on the difference in the world.