A Knitter's Guide to Shawl Design

As a desirable item of fashion, a cherished gift or a wardrobe essential, the shawl enjoys enduring popularity among knitters and non-knitters alike. The most admired of these beautiful accessories are designed with inspiration drawn from a wide range of themes and ideas. This creativity is achieved by blending a knitter’s imagination with their knowledge of how to translate a source of inspiration into an exciting new design.

A Knitter’s Guide to Shawl Design will inspire knitters of all levels to personalize their knitting and create original shawl designs. Author Emma Vining describes her own design processes, encouraging readers to explore and experiment with shawl shapes and stitch patterns.

Beautifully illustrated with photographs, sketches and explanatory diagrams, this book explores tradition and innovation in shawl design. It demonstrates the effects of yarn, knitting techniques and finishing choices on the end design and considers the framing effect of edges and borders and how to plan these into your project. The geometry of the shawl shame is examined - there are individual chapters on squares, rectangles, triangles, circles, semi-circles and crescents. Finally, the design process is illustrated in full over five detailed case studies, each culminating in a full shawl pattern by built environments.

Emma Vining is a creative designer, with a passion for all aspects of hand knitting and design. Her design inspiration comes from both the natural world and the built environment. Her original designs regularly feature in publications such as The Knitter magazine, The Knitter Deutschland and Knitting magazine. Her previous book, A Knitter’s Sketchbook: Design Inspiration for Twists and Cables, was published by the Crowood Press in 2019. As an active member of The Knitting & Crochet Guild, she regularly contributes articles to Guild publications and represents the Guild at shows and online events. She enjoys visiting and participating in virtual and in-person events at museums and galleries such as the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, where she is proud to be a volunteer.