My friend Merli at Apollo Publishing hoped I'd have my copy of The Haapsalu Shawl in time for New Year's and it CAME and it's so beautiful that when I opened up the parcel I was speechless!
(and honestly, it takes a lot for a girl like me to go speechless.)
It's so beautiful that as I opened the parcel to look at it the guy next to me said WOW. That is the most beautiful book I have ever seen.
(and let me tell you, this was not a knitty sort of guy.)
The cover design is beautiful and the photography is beautiful and the paper stock is beautiful.
But apart from all that: this is the most thorough stitch dictionary I own, and I have a few. It's got:
history
a stitch glossary with images so you understand how to make each individual stitch
clear instructions with diagrams for finishing and blocking
'Master's Advice' inserts throughout the book and
large, lovely photographs of Haapsalu residents wearing a shawl or scarf, with a quotation about what the town and/or garment means to her.
But is that that enough for this publisher? Not by half!
The book is oversized - 9.5" wide x 13" tall - and each stitch combination gets its own page. Complete with an impeccable photograph of the stitch above and a large, clear chart below.
It's a heavy book and given the size I don't know where I'm going to store it and it is in such perfect condition because it was wrapped so carefully for shipping that I'm afraid to just leave it lying around where it might get a dent on my watch and yet -
there is so much white on white on the cover, and such a generous amount of white space on each page, it feels as ethereal as the shawls themselves.
This is a great book, and I think you need it. You don't even have to order it directly from the publisher like I did, because the English translation is available at shops now too. Like, for example, Needle Arts Book Shop!
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