Bookish
I got a lot of inquiries about the mitten book I blogged about yesterday. I got my copy from a knitter in Finland who had an extra one to swap. At the time, it wasn’t available outside of Finland. But now I see that Nordic Fiber Arts has copies for sale. Looks like they’re limiting the number of copies you can purchase to just one, which would indicate that they don’t have many in their inventory. If you want one, you might be wise to move fast.
The interest in my mitten book inspired me to take stock of some of the other, somewhat obscure knitting titles on my bookshelf. I thought I’d spend a week or so describing some of them.
This book, Maiglöckchen, was sent to me by a friend in Germany. The book was mentioned in an article in the Spring 2004 issue of Spin Off and I immediately knew I had to get my hands on a copy.
Spin Off reprinted an excerpt from the book, describing a woman named Edith Haller and the shawls she knit in the traditional Estonian Lily of the Valley pattern:
If you can get your hands on a copy of the Spin Off issue, the article is fascinating. And, best of all, it’s written in English.
All the patterns in the book are written in German and the designs incorporate variations of the Lily of the Valley stitch pattern. There are socks, hats, shawls, scarves, sweaters, and an adorable drawstring purse. Even with my limited knowledge of German, I can figure out most of the patterns. If you click here, you can see a couple of the patterns on Ravelry.
It’s an amazing little book that’s crammed full of interesting projects and I flip through it often.
If you can navigate your way through Amazon.de, the book is available for purchase here. Or, you can order it from Martina (she speaks English) by clicking here. For more information on the book, and its author, Dorothea Fischer, check out Dorothea’s website.
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8 comments Susan | books, knitting
8 Responses to “Bookish”
I was just looking at the Lily of the Valley shawl yesterday on Ravelry. It looks lovely. I also found a book you might find interesting Eesti Kindakirjad (Estonian mittens). I just haven’t figured out where to get it yet but I thought it was in line with your current knitting.
http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/sources/eesti-kindakirjad
I remember that article….fascinating.
thank you Susan for your backlink, perhaps you can change it to http://www.bastelundhobbykiste.de/maigloeckchen.html
and for interessting people – shipping for only this book will be 7 Euro, I can ship booksending. (if you pay with Paypal I will refund money to your account).
Oooh, I am going to enjoy this series of posts a LOT.
Do you have the kilt hose book? That’s one I’d love to see inside…
I look forward to the other book reviews!
I speak German if anyone needs translating. Sounds like a fun book.
Great book! And the other too… and that scarf? Yowsa, it is just beautiful! I may have to purchase it… gotta get my new credit card on the pay pal account first.
be still my heart … are those “nupps” in that shawl (says she who hasn’t done the Swallowtail yet….) thanks again for an informative posting!!