The Hoolia on Reviews

Prior to writing my first review, I considered writing a blurb on my personal review philosophy for this blog. Here's rule number one: I only review things I like. And for the most part I will only review things that I like a lot. Although I know it may very well be useful for you to hear about things that I don't like, I don't enjoy that kind of writing in this particular forum, and with the limited time that I have to blog and my tendancy toward long-windedness, it's not a hard decision to stick to the things I am actually interested in rather than harping on the things that I think suck. Whether you realize it from my writing here or not, I am a pretty harsh critic (I am a lawyer, after all), but that isn't my role at chez MOW. When I review something here, my goal is simply to share something that I like a great deal with you, my readers and friends. Hopefully you know me well enough to know where our opinions overlap and where they do not (well, at least in the knitting arena). I know you know yourselves well enough to make final decisions on your own, no matter what I say to you.

Rule number two is that I never review anything at the behest of someone else. Period, the end. I will only review a book, podcast, etc. if I feel like it. Similarly, if I talk about anything that a friend has designed, I will let you know in advance, so that you can take that potential bias into account. I will never tell you that a pattern is great if it isn't, even if it is designed by someone near and dear. And I will always let you know if there are aspects of a book, pattern, or yarn that I do not care for, or if there are things that may not appeal to certain sensibilities or skill levels, if those things occur to me. I will do it in a very nice way, and in a way that indicates that I am expressing my opinion rather than a universal truth, but I will definitely let you know. Naturally, sometimes my own preferences are so strong that your preferences may not be in the forefront of my mind, but I will try to be balanced. If a pattern book is involved I will include a healthy sampling of photos, as I think this gives you the best opportunity to make a decision for yourself. (I love thoughtful reviews with lots of photographs. Although I'm sure you've seen it already, here's a particularly good review with tons of photos.)

I recently read a review that was very critical of Lace Style and very critical of reviewers who gushed about it. This review was not aimed at me, and I seriously doubt that the writer read my review of Lace Style or is even aware that my blog exists. It simply got me to thinking about something that I had thought about before, and that is that I wanted you to know what my review philosophy for the blog is, so that you can evaluate what I say in that context. I also want you know that I am not gushing because I am blown over by "famous" (god help us) knitwear designers or being swept up by the vast peer pressure of the "knitting crowd." (What are we, people? Three?)* I am gushing because I truly like something and I want to share it with you. I stand by that gush with my every fiber, and I will no doubt live to gush again. But I also stumbled upon a review with what I felt could be pretty useful criticism of Lace Style, in the sense that it echoes what I can imagine many knitters with a different perspective than mine might not like about the book. It expresses what I can see being the dominant counter-viewpoint. If you read it and it sounds like you, you may want to give buying Lace Style a second thought. (The review also gives some good tips for figuring out if patterns are wonky - watch how the models hold their bodies and hands. Do they need to contort or to pull down an edge to keep a piece in place? Beware!) So, I wanted to share it with you as well. Reading an alternate opinion is likely to make your choices even more well-informed.

Finally, I invite you to let me know what you think of books that I recommend. Are there things that you don't like that I missed? Are there things that you loved that I didn't mention? I always like to know what hasn't occurred to me when I evaluate this stuff. I enjoy different perspectives, and I will gladly add your thoughts to the comments (or, if they're really interesting, to the review itself) so that other people can benefit as well.

* See, she is critical. Where did that come from?

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.

Review: Cast On! The Podcast for Knitters

Listening to Cast On along the coast of Kauai.I originally posted this review on August 6, 2006, but subsequently changed the date to give it a little more time on the front page. Go check out Cast-On. You won't be disappointed.

We got back from Hawaii late last night. It was an awesome trip. I am already planning our return trip to Kauai, our favorite of the islands that we went to. Despite the fact that every day was action-packed, I did get a lot of knitting done - mostly on the balcony between about 4:30 - 6:30 a.m. while Moxie was asleep and I could sit and watch the sunrise while the ocean swept past below. It was very peaceful. Project MIL was completed and gifted to my mother-in-law who was thrilled beyond my expectations, the Daktari skirt is half done, and I have a nice start on the back of the Prairie tunic, which I had to rip completely and start over (the pattern is fine - it was my own silly mistake). I have a gazillion wonderful photos, including pictures of the River Stole for my project notes, and a couple cute snaps of my MIL in Project MIL, but a full 50% of the pictures were taken on my Contax 167MT, which is a film camera, so before I do any of those posts, I have to wait to get the film processed and scanned. Although the process is slower, I love taking pictures with my Contax. It's awesome, and I know the results will be, too. Anyhoo, in the meantime, I thought I would take the opportunity to do a review of Cast On! I've been meaning to start adding reviews of books, podcasts, etc. to the line-up around here, and I think that now is the perfect time.

For starters, if you don't "get" podcasting, or don't have an ipod and think that you can't join in the fun, think again. A podcast is really just an audio file that you can listen to on your computer as if you were listening to NPR in your car. If you need more info, check out No ipod required, a great site to get you started. Personally, I am long time Mac user and like to listen to my pod casts on an ipod, but there are other methods you can easily use to access this fun new media. Oh yeah, and if I didn't already mention it, podcasts are free.

And now, finally, a bit about Cast On! I think I'm going to have to start by simply gushing. I love this podcast. If I were on a desert island and could have only one audio show, this might very well be the one. The feeling it gives me to listen to Brenda Dayne's melodious voice reminds me of the way I have often felt listening to Ira Glass' This American Life - huddling in the snow in my truck in the middle of a Chicago winter so as not to miss those last few precious words. I take Cast On! with me everywhere - hiking in Griffith Park, on the BART when I go to San Fran for work, all over the Hawaiian Islands on vacation, into bed at night while knitting and falling asleep - and it transforms the landscapes within which I move, and imprints upon me a memory of where I was when I listened to one segment or another. I don't say this lightly. There are many great podcasts and NPR shows out there, and several that I will huddle in my truck for, but this one is very special.

Gushing aside, here are some of the things that make me like this podcast so much:

Music. Cast On! is a mix of knitting segments and pod-safe music to knit by. When I was listening to the very first podcast and Brenda mentioned that her plan was to combine the two, my first thought was: "Oh shit. I was so looking forward to trying this podcast out, and now I'm going to have to fast-forward through this crappy music to get to the knitting content." Not so. Now I know that we all have different musical preferences, but I can honestly say that I think the musical selection on Cast On! is as good as that of any good indie radio station that gets real play. It reminds me of a great indie music show that I used to listen to when I went to school in Iowa. At its absolute worst, I find the music listenable and have never had to fast-forward through. At best (which is far more frequent), I find myself listening to songs multiple times and sometimes even purchasing an album. I think podcasting may change the face of the music industry permanently and for the better. Cast On! has been a great entre into the world of podsafe music. Brenda includes links to the artists in the show notes on her site, so it is always easy to find the music if you decide you must have something. I give the music a thumbs up.

The Essay. This is usually the meat of the program, and can be anywhere from somber and touching to wildly, hysterically, belly-slapping funny. It almost always involves knitting and some connection between knitting and other aspects of life. Brenda sits down and writes this segment out and then builds the rest of the show around it. It is slightly different in tenor than the other segments, simply because Brenda reads aloud rather than just speaking conversationally. It always takes me a minute to adjust to the shift in her voice, but once I do, I'm in. Brenda has a lovely writing style, and the pieces tie the show together into a unified whole.

Today's Sweater. Brenda originally called this segment "What I'm Wearing", and it will always be so-named in my head. This is one of my favorite parts of the show, in which she revisits sweaters that she has made in the past and talks about choosing the pattern, the yarn, her feelings and what she was doing while making the sweater, and details about the sweater's construction. What I like best about this segment is that it combines the emotional component of the knitting and the technical aspects. Because Brenda often knits patterns from Interweave Knits, which I have from way back when, it gives me a chance to revisit those patterns and learn something about them. Although we have different body types which necessarily dictate different preferences for sweater shaping, I have picked up some interesting construction ideas by listening to this segment. As someone who designs knitted pieces, it is also interesting to me to hear about what fits and is flattering on someone else. Finally, because Brenda goes back to her earlier sweaters in Today's Sweater, you have a chance to see the evolution of her knitting and knitting choices over time, which I always find fascinating.

Guest Appearances. There are several podcasters and a few bloggers who appear on the show on multiple occasions - notably Dave of Chub Creek, Sage of Quirky Nomads, and Franklin of The Panopticon, each of whom has been a guest host on the show in a past episode. All of these guests are wonderful and entertaining in their own right, and it is a real treat to be brought into the circle of Brenda's podcasting family and get a chance to meet them. After hearing them on Cast On!, I've added all three to my list of internet sites to visit regularly.

Advice and Rants on Podcasting. Different listeners have varying opinions about the inclusion of these little tidbits about podcasting which sometimes get strewn amidst the knitting content. Personally, I find this content fascinating, and if Brenda wanted to do an entire podcast about which microphone she likes best and why I'd be right in line to download it. Her occasional mentions of equipment, software, editing techniques, extraneous sound muffling, etc. have really piqued my interest in podcasting. Although I doubt I would ever do a full-blown podcast show of my own, I think it would be fun to do an audio blurb here and there so that you guys could hear my voice. I love hearing other bloggers voices and seeing their photographs. It's just one more piece of the puzzle.

Random Musings and Antecdotes about Family and Life. This should probably be higher up in the list, because the entire show is infused with stories of Brenda's sons, Chris and Zach (see Chris, I put you first, since you're the oldest and don't get as much podcast time living far away from Wales), her partner Tonia, and the dogs who have great names that I am blanking on. Toby and Ruby, maybe? You'll have to listen and find out! Two of my favorite episodes, Pulling a Geographic and Green are all about family, and they are wonderful. Green includes a beautiful guitar piece, composed and performed by Zach, which practically moved me to tears when I heard it. Brenda, if you are reading this, I would be eternally grateful if Zach would somehow make this recording available to us, and I would be happy to pay good cash money for it. Seriously.

Audience Participation. Another wonderful thing about Cast On! is that everyone is encouraged to submit and be involved. On the sidebar there is an area to leave an audio message - be sure to check it out and join in the fun.

Great format, lead-ins, transitions... Last but not least. This may sound like a lame thing to note, but it's true. If Brenda Dayne wasn't at least a college radio station DJ in her interesting and varied past, I will be shocked. She has format down from beginning to end. Her opening theme song never fails to make me smile. It is perky, humorous, and just the right length that she can comforatbly let us know what the episode will contain. I inevitably baaah along with the sheep. Similarly, her "Today's Sweater" theme is catchy and makes you sing along, in happy anticipation of a wonderful sweater story. These seemingly little details are one of the things that make the difference between a well-done production that people return to and a stream-of-consciousness whateva mess. Future podcasters take note. Just as finishing can make or break an otherwise wonderful sweater, format and transitions can make or break the podcast. Brenda has this down.

If you're still here reading, I'm not sure why. You should get your butt over to Cast On! now and download all 32 episodes. I'll be back in a few days to tell you more about Hawaii and the knitting that took place.