Book Review: Lace Style

I often plan to write reviews to share my favorite books with you, but somehow I never get around to it. When I picked up Lace Style the other day, I was struck by how many patterns there were in it that I know I will make. It's not uncommon for me to buy books that offer wonderful inspiration or that contain several patterns that I'd like to try out some day, but it's rare that I end up swatching for something just days after purchasing the book. My queue is just too long for that kind of whimsy. Lace Style is an exception - it is just the kind of book that sends you running to the stash to cast on right now. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this book is the forerunner among knitting books for 2007.

Swatch for the Essential TankLace Style contains 21 projects that vary substantially from one another in form while remaining cohesive in style. The book does an excellent job of showcasing the wide variety of garments that can be made with lace knitting techniques, and includes everything from anklets and gloves to an elegant full-length dress. The projects also vary substantially in difficulty. Beginners should be able to make Vicky Squares' cuffs or Pam Allen's Little Silk Shrug without trouble, yet both of these projects are sophisticated enough to draw the attention of a more advanced knitter looking for a quick lace fix.

The Essential TankI might also add that both projects are excellent candidates for those small amounts of lace-weight handspun that many of us seem to have languishing about. cough::me::cough... Just glancing through, I would say that most of the designs are accessible, with only one or two requiring more than intermediate knowledge of lace. Most utilize short lace repeats to great effect so that you get a lot of glory for fairly average stitching efforts. Even better, many of these designs can be worn by a variety of body types. This is a very stylish book that will appeal to the svelt and the curvaceous among us, and that is no small feat!

Lace Style also has a "design notebook" in the back that covers a lot of ground in a few short pages. It hits the highlights of lace knitting and design very nicely, and I would highly recommend that you take a read-through before starting one of the projects. For beginners, it is a great little primer, but advanced lace knitters may find the section helpful as well. I think that it will help you to better understand the patterns themselves and to fix any little mistakes along the way. Kudos to the editors for doing such a good job in a small space.

Some of my favorite designs: the Lingerie Dress, Peek-a-Boo Cloche, Long Lacy Gloves.

Leg Cozies by Lisa DaehlinThe photography in this book follows in the footsteps of the first two volumes in the series, Scarf Style and Wrap Style, but improves upon both books. Carol Kaplan is the photographer for all three books, and her romantic viewpoint is present here, as in the first two books. However, in Lace Style Kaplan and the editors have gone one better than they did in the past - the viewpoint and feeling that we all know and love has been preserved, but the photos are clearer and the knits are in much sharper focus than they have been in the past. Not only do you get a sense of style and beauty from these pictures, you can really tell what the pieces look like and how they will be worked. The information gained from this clarity is indispensable, and really improves on what were already enchanting photographs. Plus there are many more photographs than in the earlier books - often six or more for the more complicated projects. This is what I love to see, because it gives the knitter a much better sense of the project and how it will look on the recipient.

Lace Edged CorsetI also really love the models in this volume overall. I have always been a fan of the editor's daughter (aka the IK girl) as a model, but I really love the African American model they used in this shoot as well. As Mary Heather subtly pointed out, "She has breasts." And although this isn't a characteristic we share, I think it is really useful to show her as they did here, modeling the summer tops. You get some real live proof that a knitted camisole can be worn by someone above an A-cup. She has a great body for modeling knitwear and I hope that IK will use her in the future. I also love the model who they used for the lingerie dress and peek-a-boo cloche. She's stunning and yet still has the look of a real person. Overall, I think that the editors did a really great job of using models that were the correct sizes for the pieces they were wearing. I know this may sound elementary, but to my knowledge IK always uses friends and family of staff to model. All of these people are cute and real, which is nice, but many of them (the IK girl excepted) are not standard-sized. The unfortunate result is that often a lovely piece is not shown off to full effect, and an otherwise attractive person is made to look unnecessarily dumpy. Not so here.

A nice photo of
Kat's Show-off Skirt.For the most part I love the styling in Lace Style. Everyone and everything looks great. The one exception that glares out at me is the Show-Off Ruffle Skirt. This is an amazing skirt, which my friend Kat Coyle - of the many fabulous skirts - designed. I've seen it in person and it is to die for. Sadly, in the book this dark red skirt is shown with a green and pink top tucked into it. The model, bless her soul, looks about as forlorn as one can look in a fabulous skirt, but as one of my friends noted, "Who can blame her? She's wearing cashmere in ninety-five degree heat with an ugly top tucked in in such a way that she appears to be wearing a diaper. It is not her fault." Well said. Please don't tuck shirts into your handknit skirts. And please do give this skirt a second look. It really is a wonderful piece, and can be made in $3 cotton or a pricier cashmere blend.

Katherine Hepburn CardiganMy personal picks from the book include Laura Zukaite's Essential Tank Top, which I have swatched already, and which is impatiently awaiting the moment when my US 5 addis are free for use again (Four of the five projects in queue require size 5's - I have several pairs, but not that many! I guess I will have to finish some things!), Kathy Zimmerman's Katherine Hepburn Cardigan, Mona Schmitdt's Peek-a-Boo Cloche, and Lisa Daehlin's Leg Cozies. I adore Mari Lynn Patrick's Featherweight Lingerie Dress, but I don't think I could pull it off without some modifications. (Perhaps I will make some!) I also love the Long Lacy Gloves and need to come up with a reason to wear gloves to my elbow! I predict that the Hepburn Cardigan, the Tailored Scallops Jacket (on the cover), the Essential Tank Top, and Norah Gaughan's Lacy Waves Top are going to be all over the blogosphere, and Veronique Avery's Shetland Shawl Turned Vest will be popular among those who can pull it off. There are also Lacy Anklets and a Lily of the Valley Shawl that are very accessible and which will no doubt get some play given all the sock and shawl knitters out there. But with so many great designs, it's hard to go wrong with Lace Style.

Sure to be popular: Norah Gaughan's Lacy Waves Top and Veronique Avery's Shetland Shawl Turned Vest.