Customer Reviews

Stahman's Shawls and Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls from the Neck Down & Seamen's Scarves

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have knitted one shawl as presented in the book (Catharina), and one that I designed using Stahman's design guidelines. In addition, I have also made several Seaman's Scarves following her "Matthew" pattern (dedicated to the memory of Matthew Shepard). In all cases I used my own handspun yarns. While it took some concentration to adapt a totally different lace design to the Faroese shaping, I couldn't have done it without Stahman's many hours of planning and designing. I'm indebted to this book, and recommend it to adventurous novices or experienced knitters alike. [....]

Myrna Stahman did a wonderful job with her research and planning for working a Faroese-Shaped Shawl from the neck down. Her information was detailed, informative, and creative. Her many hours of work have made my job so much easier! It does take some concentration to pursue these patterns. The end results are worth the challenge. Myrna Stahman has taken much of the frustration out of Faroese shawls. Her work allows you to pursue your own pattern designs with style and confident results.

If you are new to lace or to knitting, the terms "faroese-shaped" and "seamen's scarves" refer to very specific shapes of garment. If this is the shape you want, this book is a great investment. I have made almost all the scarf patterns for gifts. While the basic pattern is always the same (moss stitch borders, ribbed center of the scarf so it will fit the neck better) Stahman uses different patterns for each scarf, so they are all unique. Like most lace, the scarves can be made with any weight of yarn.

I have not attempted any of the shawls, as Faroese is not a shawl style that I particularly care for, but the book was worth the scarf patterns, IF you don't mind that they are all exactly the same shape. They are perfect for gifts.

This is a great book to have in the lace knitting library. Not a "pretty" book (black and white photos only) but full of lovely patterns and suggestions for customizing. I will be knitting quite a few from this book. I primarily wanted this book for the shawls but the seaman's scarves are a welcome inclusion. I have often searched for "manly lace" as I like to knit for male friends and family. There are quite a few that fit the bill here, not too feminine, but still interesting for the avid lace knitter that I am.
If you love shawls and lace, this is a book for you.

What is different about Seaman scarves and Faroese shawls? - they are shaped to fit an actual human body. Instead of knitting a triangle and trying to keep it around your shoulders, or knitting a long thin rectangle and trying to fit it between your coat and your neck, these patterns do the shaping so you can actually comfortably wear what you knit.

Explains in detail how to construct a Faroese shaped shawl. Several yarn weights and several difficulties of lace, although none are impossibly difficult. You will come away with a good understanding of how these shawls are constructed, how to modify them for size of wearer or weight of yarn. There are VERY few errors in this book - a marvel of self publishing if you compare with the error riddled books coming out of major publishing houses. I highly recommend the book and I recommend trying a few of her shawls before you jump into the fancier, lacier faroese shawls you can find. This book can keep you knitting gift items for years and years.

Seaman shaped scarves are ribbed at the back of the neck, and widen at the front of the throat. They are a great way to try a lace pattern before beginning the major commitment of making a shawl. For couples who are into such things, you can make a matching his/hers set. There are more scarve patterns than shawls - several solid textured stitches so they are not all lacy.

I bought this because I wanted to learn to knit top down faroese shawls since I have heard they fit better on the shoulders than regular triangles. There are lots of great patterns here, but more importantly, Stahman teaches the user how to modify the patterns to make shawls that actually fit. I'm just about to start my adventure. The charts are clear, though a little small, but Stahman specifically suggests enlarging a copy for use while knitting.

The explanations and patterns in this book make Faroese shawls easy and a lot more fun to do!! There are lots of options for advanced knitters and yet I believe an astute beginner would be able to successfully use this book as well. It was just as much fun to read as to use! Great help for those of us who were always daunted by 'cast on 680 sts' .... now it is more like cast on 17 sts! Not nearly as intimidating and you can see right away if you are getting low on yarn and need to quit rather than starting from the bottom up and not having enough to properly decrease for the neck and shoulder area! Great and valuable resource.

I had just discovered the functionality of Faroese shawls and most of the projects I was researching kept bringing me back to this book - so I ordered it. Perfect!! The shawls are made top down and are faroese so they'll stay on your shoulders and the patterns are gorgeous! I have already recommended this book to several ladies in my knitting group - and will continue to recommend this book.

I don't know how many Faroese shawls I will want to knit, so the cost per project may turn out to be rather high. The scarves knit from the middle with lace on either end and a ribbed neck portion seem more adaptable. But I'm giving this book 5 stars because it is excellently written, very thorough, and accomplishes what it sets out to do. I am knitting the Alberta shawl, and the charts, which are relatively complex, are precise and correct. In several spots, I thought there was something wrong, but each time, it turned out that the apparent irregularity was exactly correct and it was my intuition that was off.

Any intermediate-level knitter could definitely knit the scarves, and if you have some experience with lace shawls and charts, the Faroese style shawls are very do-able. Possible minuses--no yardage requirements listed, and you have to be able to knit from a chart for most of the projects. (I don't consider this last a minus, but some do.)

Stahman's Shawls and Scarves: Lace Faroese-Shaped Shawls from the Neck Down & Seamen's ScarvesLove the book it's very interesting but a little confusing for the lefty in me. There are stitches that I'm unfamiliar with and I feel like the books lacks some details. I can't wait to try some of these. The scarves look easy and really nice.