Customer Reviews

Crazy Lace:an artistic approach to Creative Lace Knitting

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Right from the start: I think the title of the book "Crazy Lace" is a bit of a misnomer. When I think of "Crazy <fill-in-the-blank>" I think of crazy quilts which are meant to be totally random. That is kind of what I was expecting but for the most part, it is not just totally random stitches to come up with a lace fabric. Instead, I think the Crazy Lace concept is more about looking past lace as intricate circular shawls done with extremely fine (lace-weight) yarn and teeny tiny itsy bitsy needles.

I'll admit, the cover art got me -- it is a beautiful cover project and I definitely wanted to see more.

The rest of the book (unlike several I've gotten lately) does not disappoint. The purpose of the book is to get you to think about lace knitting as accessible and there are no "rules"... so often you see lace books that focus on technique and stitches that have been etched in stone since the beginning of time -- with elaborate circular shawls knit on weapons that the FAA would deem to dangerous, it is easy for even the most ambitious knitter to sigh longingly at traditional lace patterns and thing "I can't do that".

Myra Wood's approach is YES YOU CAN! Lace doesn't have to be just cream colored shawls or doilies knit on 000 needles. It can be done with handpainted yarn; It can be done with bulky weight yarn; it doesn't have to be perfect -- in fact by embracing the imperfections, you've created something new and exciting.

In terms of content, there is something here for everyone:

1. The new lace knitter -- helping you put aside your fear and just do it!
2. The experienced lace knitter -- helping you see the endless possibilities and creative expressions associated with lace.
3. The thinking knitter -- breaking shaping down and discussing how to create triangles and circles through increases and how your choice of increases (and frequency) will produce the fabric you are looking for (I really LOVED this section since if you understand HOW to create the different shapes, it frees you to create your own designs and break free of complicated 1000-row instructions)
4. Simple lace patterns -- with relatively few rows and repeats. To me, while I'm really happy to see simple lace stitches that anyone knitter can do, this section was the weakest because there were no pictures of the finished stitch, no names -- just charts -- though the charts are very easy to follow and very clear.
5. The lace designer -- yes -- you can design your own lace and this book gives you the tools to do that! You don't need to be bound by the Modern Lace Bibles that currently rule the craft!

The book has the usual binding that will not lay flat so my usual advice applies -- take this to your local office supply store and have the binding replaced with a spiral so that you can lay the pages flat while you are working with it and reading it.

Many knitters I know look at lace as sort of the pinnacle of artistic achievement that only old ladies from the Shetland isles can do and have the right to do. This book gives you the confidence to realize that lace is just another knitting stitch with a few holes here and there -- it gives you the confidence to know that there are no bad "lace knitters" and that every lace project can be a thing of beauty and interest.

If you have been wanting to learn lace, or have your lace take on a more modern flair, this book will give you the tools and inspiration to do it.

As an aside, if you are looking for a more structured approach to learning lace, another excellent book with some manageable projects is I Can't Believe I'm Lace Knitting (Leisure Arts #4466) -- this is more a nuts and bolts Leisure Arts introduction to lace techniques so if you aren't quite ready to embrace your inner lace anarchist, you can earn your lace wings here -- the foundation you build with "I can't Believe I'm Lace Knitting" will serve you well in understanding the concepts discussed in this book.

[NCJAR]

If you are the compulsive or obsessive "must do it perfectly and in order with detailed directions" type of knitter... you will be frustrated with this book. If you already knit lace and LOVE your charted books and patterns, you might want to pass on this one... it probably won't meet your standards. If you are looking for predesigned lace patterns and expect to be told stitch by stitch how to recreate something the author has designed... you'll be disappointed because that is not the purpose of this book.

HOWEVER... if you have wanted to learn to knit lace and found yourself completely overwhelmed and paralyzed by the charts in books and patterns, I strongly encourage you to consider this book. If you'd rather have FUN knitting lace than sweating over every stitch... and frogging more than you knit, I strongly encourage you to consider this book. If you are a rebel at heart and really don't like being told what to do and how to do it, I strongly encourage you to consider this book. If you'd like to understand how lace WORKS... why it does what it does when it does it, I strongly encourage you to consider this book. If you'd like to sit down with nothing other than your needles and yarn and knit lace "without a net," I strongly encourage you to consider this book. If you'd like to learn "Lace Logic" so you can chart and graph your OWN lace patterns, you yourself personally, I strongly encourage you to consider this book.

Most other lace books teach you to read lace by sight... literally. You have to learn what all the symbols mean to even begin to knit lace with most of them. You have to memorize the "words" by rote memory without really understanding why that group of "letters" make those "sounds."

"Crazy Lace" teaches you to read lace by "phonics." You learn what "sounds" each letter (stitch) makes and what "sounds" (textures) they create when you combine them in specific ways, (combination of stitches in a given sequence). Better than that, "Crazy Lace" teaches you to "read" your knitting, and this translates into every aspect of your knitting skills. You learn to visually recognize why something looks the way it does... and how to make it look differently if that wasn't what you wanted it to do.

This book is a WORKbook. This book is a foundational COURSE in knitting lace. Do not let its size fool you. It is not designed to "pick out a pattern," get a prescribed set of tools and materials, and follow a pattern. There is not a lot of text, but every sentence is precious and full of purpose. Let them marinate and savor them. Begin reading it, slowly and deliberately, on page one... with some fingering weight yarn and size 6 (4 mm) or 7 (4.5 mm) needles of your choice close at hand to test out things as you go along... and really DIGEST this information. Make the Sampler Scarf. Try your hand with some freeform Crazy Lace. Cast on some stitches and play with the various shapes in the latter part of the book. Play with the edge embellishments. Study the few charts included to get you started with charted lace knitting.

This book's primary purpose is to teach you to trust yourself to create your own lace; but you'll want to follow other's people's paths sometimes, so you are introduced to charting "language" along the way too.

When you get to the end of the book you will know how to knit lace "without a net" with freeform abandon. You will know how to read a basic beginning charted lace pattern... if you choose to. You will understand the logic of lace such that you can design your own lace patterns and chart them for others to follow. You can do some of each, all in the same project.

In other words, this book will set you free to create lacework in any way you please, and please no one but yourself. At the same time, it provides you with a solid foundation to branch out into more traditional lace knitting and patterns with confidence. You can be as free or as obsessive as you choose to be. You'll feel a whole lot less intimidated by those charts and graphs. You'll be able to look at a lace project and "read it"... and be able to figure out how you might recreate something similar, without a pattern, if you'd like to do that.

Will you learn everything you need to know about lace knitting from this book? No. Will you have a firm, broad, foundation upon which to add new lace knitting skills. Oh yeah, baby! You will.

If all you do is glance through this book and look at the drop-dead gorgeous photos, you may not be particularly impressed. You may even be initially disappointed. If that is your initial response, you've not given it a fair chance and you are short-changing yourself on a marvelous experience in knitting that will benefit all your future knitting projects.

I hope you won't do that. Approached from the direction the book is designed to be used, it is worth far more than the price you will pay for it. Unless you USE the book and the information therein, you cannot possibly appreciate the gift Myra Wood has given the knitting world.

NOTE: I didn't buy this book from Amazon. I got an autographed copy from the author. I took a class from her at the TKGA Conference May 2009 in Portland, OR. I paid a lot more for the class than the cost of this book. Her book wasn't released until Nov 2009. I cannot tell you much more valuable this book is, for me, because there simply was not time for her to cover ALL the material that is in the book in class. I can work through every thing she taught me in the class, at my own pace... and still have SO much left to learn from the book! Personally, this book is a HUGE bargain and I simply cannot recommend it to you highly enough if you are really motivated to learn to knit lace... or if you'd like to expand your lace knitting skills by learning to generate your own lace creations led only by the "logic of lace" and the flow of the fiber.

If you love to knit lace and sometimes get discouraged by trying to work with charts and written patterns, or if you've never knit lace before, or if you are an accomplished traditional lace knitter who would like to step out of the box and try something new - this book will take a cherished place on your bookshelf.

Here is a list of some of the differences between Crazy Lace (CL) and Traditional Lace (TL)

TL - follow a chart or written instructions or both
CL - use a chart or written instructions for stitch patterns or just wing it.

TL - count sts and rows
CL - you can count if you want to

TL - everything needs to work out mathematically
CL - missing a stitch? Just add it in later

TL - work 3 nights to progress 6 rows, discover a mistake and rip it all out
CL - what mistake? it's a design element!

TL - must give all my attention
CL - can watch tv, carry on a conversation and knit lace all at the same time

TL - can make me Crazy!
CL - calms me down

Within hours of Myra outlining her concepts for Crazy Lace, I was happily knitting a circular shawl and was able to finish it in a couple of days with no trauma, no frogging, and no stress!

As Jen said - if you are looking for a book of patterns - this is not for you! But if you want enough inspiration to keep you going all winter and beyond, you will find it in Crazy Lace!

And did I mention that the book design and photography are mind blowingly beautiful?

The promised discussion of freeform lace knitting, along with the beautiful cover photo, enticed me into ordering this book sight unseen. When it arrived, it was a great disappointment.

"Crazy lace", as the author explains in the introduction, is lace knitted without any charts. However, nearly the entire book is devoted to simple instructions on (1) materials (selecting yarn, color, needles, tools); (2) how lace is created (using eyelets, increases, decreases); (3) casting on and binding off, (4) creating charts (but isn't this about uncharted lace?); (5) knitting a sampler scarf using the few included charted lace patterns; (6) knitting different shapes (center-out and mitred squares, triangles, rectangles, starbursts, circles, semi-circles); (7) blocking; (8) attaching edgings (knitted on and sewn); and (9) adding ruffles and ruches as embellishments.

There are four pages (two consisting of full-page photos) that are devoted to knitting "random crazy lace". These instructions are extremely general. For example, the author advises that "[y]ou're free to vary the holes and stitches across every single row . . . as long as the final stitch count is maintained for the shape you are making." Or she suggests that "[f]or an organic feel, create different sized holes in different areas."

The entire book is only 100 pages long. One page consists of a grid for charting, one is a bibliographical page of references, five pages are devoted to 25 small lace pattern charts, some 21 pages consist of full-page photos (models showing garments, or closeups of knitted lace fabric), and many of the pages have overlarge, closeup photos that take up much of the page. The text itself--what there is of it--is presented in fairly large type. The layout of the book is attractive, but this slender volume fails to qualify as a knitter's "coffee table" book that might be purchased for the illustrations alone.

For anyone interested in freeform knitting, the books by Prudence Mapstone (Freeform: Serendipitous Design Techniques [out of print]), and Jenny Dowde (Freeform Knitting and Crochet) offer far more instruction. For those interested in learning lace knitting, the books by Sharon Miller (Heirloom Knitting), Barbara Abbey (Lace Knitting), Jane Sowerby (Victorian Lace Today), Susanna Lewis (Knitting Lace), and Meg Swansen (A Gathering of Lace) offer far better value.

Although I collect knitting books, this is one that I would have skipped altogether, had I looked at it before buying. If the book is a published version of the author's class materials, then I can believe that the author teaches a wonderful class. However, it doesn't work as a $24.95 stand-alone.

Are you looking for a book with lace patterns? Then DON'T buy this book!!! Are you looking instead for an innovative book that will free you from the pattern when approaching lace knitting, and teach you a system for creating gorgeous, improvisational lace without being tied to stitch charts and row listings? If so, then this book is for you. Myra Wood has presented a system to allow a casual knitter to approach knitted lace in a freeform way, and shares example projects. The book presents example lace stitch patterns as "building blocks", and illustrates techniques for using various patterns to come up with on-the-fly lace designs of one's own - without charts, without counting. If you are traditional lace knitter looking for a fresh take on lace knitting, or a beginning lace knitter who has felt intimidated by the complexity of traditional lace patterns, this book provides a simple and refreshing approach to further explore the craft.

This book is not a book of rote patterns, it teaches you how to design your own lace and not traditional lace.

Beautiful thought provoking photos, very inspiring

I collect knitting, crochet, and especially freeform knitting and crochet books, but this is the first book I've ever seen devoted entirely to freeform or free-style lace!

I LOVE this book! I always bring new books to my knitting and spinning groups to share with my friends, and I've never seen such a reaction to a book like I have with this one! More people have told me, "I have to have this book!".

The first part of the book completely covers the basics (and differences) of knitting lace and lace knitting, and there are clear photos of examples of everything the author is describing. She covers different methods of cast-ons, cast-offs, increases and decreases and the reasons you might want to choose one over another to control the look of your lace. I find the photos in this section to be the most thorough of any book I've seen, with photos of lace swatches that clearly demonstrate the stitches and compare them to each other.

She gives newer lace knitters some simple patterns if they want to knit a sampler, to get to know how lace works, but this is NOT a pattern book! If you want to skip the patterns and write your own, she gives you the guidance for that. She gives pointers on different shapes of scarves and shawls and how to achieve them.

And then, there's the abstract, random lace that I think is so fabulous! I've never seen such exciting yarnovers! There are many gorgeous examples of Crazy Lace to inspire you to create your own. I find the examples to be extremely helpful to compare your own work to, to know that things will work out without a need to rip your work back. If you want to have a consistent stitch count to your rows, and find yourself off by a few stitches, you can simply correct in the next row by increasing or decreasing.

I would definitely recommend this to someone who is new to lace! It won't take the place of traditional lace knitting books, but will compliment them. If you are looking for an artistic approach to knitting lace, this is the book you've been waiting for!

This is the lace book I have been waiting for. I think it is thoughtful, useful, logical, well thought out, and inspirational as well! Sections of all the topics that a newish ( two lace shawls) lace knitter needs. Myra offers the right combination of instructions, with a mix of structured suggestions, plus a touch of "go for it" that can be such a challenge for many of us knitters used to depending on patterns. I say, "Bravo, Myra!"

This is a LOVELY book, well put together with many great tips on knitting lace.

Can it be everything to everybody? No, no book can.

Can it help you [re]discover the joy in your knitted lace? YES, YES IT CAN!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and as someone who started my knitting life HATING knitting lace, and now love above almost anything, THIS is the kind of book that would have put me on the right path a bit sooner.

Check it out - it may help you get over the lace-hump by rethinking how you put those "holes" in your work!

Until a short while ago, I said, "I love lace shawls, but I just don't have the patience to follow all those intricate charts!" Then I took Myra Wood's crazy lace class, bought her book, and realized I have everything I need to go nuts making freeform lace AND to design my own lace patterned shawls as I go along! Me! Who'd a thunk it! "Crazy Lace" is a visually sumptuous book that is also well written, well organized & easy to follow--it is Myra's class contained in a book you'll be tempted to display on your coffee table--right next to your latest crazy lace project on the needles. Never read a real page-turner of a knitting book? Try this one! You'll never look at lace knitting the same!