Customer Reviews

Wendy Knits Lace: Essential Techniques and Patterns for Irresistible Everyday Lace

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Wendy Knits Lace is chock full of beautiful lace patterns, each one more beautiful than the next. It is filled with stunning knitting projects for those who love lace knitting.

The first section is a tutorial on lace knitting basics such as needles, yarns, charts, swatches, and blocking. The second section is on lace knitting techniques. This section includes information on casting on, joining yarns, binding off, and making increases. The last section of the book is on resources such as yarns, standard yarn weight systems, abbreviations, and symbols.

The patterns are varied and include sweaters, socks, shawls, cowls, scarves, hats, and mittens. My favorites are the Cranbourne Scarf which is labeled as appropriate for the 'adventuresome beginner'. It utilizes Madelinetosh Tosh Sock Yarn in a beautiful off-white colorway. I love the True Love Scarf or Stole knit in white that calls for Jojoland Cashmere. This is a project for an advanced knitter. The Tiffany Triangle Shawl is for intermediate knitters and calls for Dream in Color Baby Australian Superwash Yarn. The Vortex Sprial Shawl or Afghan is gasp-aloud beautiful. Designed for the 'adventuresome intermediate' it calls for Cascade 220 100% Peruvian Highland Wool in Pumpkin Spice colorway. The Esplanade Mittens for the 'adventuresome beginner' uses one skein of Color Smooshy Sock Yarn and looks easy enough for a true beginner's project. The Rhossili Beach Watch Cap is designed for beginner knitters and calls for Dream in Color Classy Superfine Australian Superwash Merino. I think this is a very doable project for a beginner who is familiar with hat knitting. I just love the Mairi Tam, a slouch hat for intermediate knitters utilizing Dream in Color Smooshy Sock Yarn. The colorway is Beach Fog which is a lovely blue hue. Light-As-A-Feather Smoke Ring is designed for beginners and calls for Jade Sapphire Silk Cashmere in Amethyst Haze colorway, a lovely purple.

The projects in this book are beautiful. It is a great resource and the patterns look clear and easy to read. All the patterns are complemented by clear photos of the lace knitting which is a real plus. My only gripe with the book is a purely personal one. All the patterns are charted and none of them are written out. I prefer to knit lace from written out patterns but I think I'm in the minority.

Overall, this is a beautiful book for every knitter's library and is bound to inspire any lover of lace knitting.

I ordered this in the Kindle format thinking how handy it would be to just hightlight when I was done with each chart row. It's awkward to use though and the charts on the Kindle are not readable--they have to be downloaded from another website. Also, for many of the items the charts are spread out on different pages making it necessary to go back and forth a lot. Maybe someday the Kindle will be good for knitting patterns but not this book at this time. On the positive side, I love some of the patterns and have ordered the actual book too. Sort of expensive for one book to get it in two formats but I wanted to find out if using the Kindle was a good way to store and knit from patterns. At this time it's not.

Wendy wrote yet another fantastic book. This time she tackled the topic of lace, which to new knitters, can be somewhat daunting. But instead of the normal variety of epic shawls which leave new lace knitters quaking in their boots, Wendy has a large variety of patterns here all which feature lace in a variety of skill levels, from the smallest detail on a pair of mittens to the epic lace circular shawl. Her descriptions are well thought out and the pictures in here are fabulous too. Projects include a tank, a sweater, scarves, shawls, socks, mittens, gloves, and hats. Also included is the elusive "Stacy Shawl," a gorgeous shawl made out of a worsted weight handpainted yarn, previously only available to those lucky enough to subscribe to Tempted's yarn club when Wendy designed the shawl. I personally can't wait to get started on the projects in this book!

I am a lace addict but I hate charts. That said, the designs and photographs in this book are so gorgeous, I feel like Wendy is gently challenging me to overcome my mental block against charts because I want to knit everything in this book! Something here for everyone; you will not regret purchasing!

Wendy never fails to amaze me. Her patterns are always so easy to read. In fact, the reason I am able to knit lace is because Wendy's patterns are so easy to follow and so wonderfully beautiful. I would recommend this book to anyone.
Potter Craft has done an amazing job again with the photography. This is a very professional and organized book that I am so happy I own.

There isn't anything in this book I wouldn't want to knit. It is beautifully pictured,well written, yarns vary from lace weight to worsted weight, shawls, socks, hats, fingerless mitts. Simply a beautiful book. If you like lace, you'll love this book. Instruction at the beginning is well thought out and thorough.

Thought I'd give it a shot despite one user not enjoying theirs. To get a pdf version of the charts/instructions I used the Kindle App of my android phone...easy..then I mailed the pdf as an attachment to my kindle mail acct and downloaded it to my kindle for safe keeping.

While you have the pdf in your phone just email it to a pc and print it out.

Cant be easier and saves you from buying a hard copy and ruining the binding trying to mash it on your home printer!

Wendy has done it again! She's made lace knitting approachable for every knitter, from advanced beginner to experienced lace addict. So many different types of projects, in various yarn weights to accomodate whatever your knitting project needs. I am thrilled with the book - the patterns and instructions are clearly written and illustrated, easy to understand, and she's added helpful hints along the way. The sample pictures are gorgeous and detailed. I am happily going through my yarn stash to pull out what I need to start!

As with other products I've purcased from this author the quality is excellent. She and her publisher put out what I think is a product of excellence. From the photography, to the layout and the simplicity of instructions, I don't think they could be any better. I enjoy her no fuss approach to her pattern instuctions, clear and concise. I recommend this book for knitters of all levels.

Wendy Johnson has once again put together another fabulous knitting book. I fell in love with every design in this book. There's a little something for everyone as far as patterns go. There are shawls, socks, fingerless mitts, gloves, hats, sweaters, etc. There are patterns using various yarn weights from lace weight to aran weight. It's a great book to have in your knitting library. I'm very glad that I purchased mine and look forward to knitting all the patterns.