Inspired Shawls 15 Creative Patterns for Year-Round Knitting by Laura Zukaite
#InspiredShawls #NetGalley
Starts with a contents page showing each of the designs, names and small scaled images and the pages they are on.
Each pattern starts with a title, finished measurements, materials needed and guage.
Special abbreviations and stitches are explained in detail. Special patterns are also explained in easy word instructions.
Diagram of the finished item is shown along with size in US/Metric dimentsions.
Charted pattterns are in color and easy to follow with key included.
Lot of variety is just the shapes, something for everyone.
One thing I did not see what a level of expertise needed as some of these are going to take a bit of time to make.
List of abbrevaitiosn are included at the end along with how to make them.
Needle conversions are also included.
A section on the author is highlighted at the end.
High end photos of the designs and the contrast is good to see the patterns.
Also did not see an introduction nor list of places to get the yarns.
Received this review copy from Dover Publications via Netgalley and this is my honest opinion.

Most knitting pattern books I've reviewed lately have been pretty mundane. Maybe I'll see one or maybe two patterns I'd like but not enough to buy the book. I love nearly all of the 15 patterns in this book! Some are lacy, delicate shawls, while others are thicker, sturdier. But no matter, they all are unique. Directions are written in a clear manner and in a larger font (appreciated with my ageing eyes). And, the photography/design of the book is lovely. In particular, the models' clothing is impeccably matched with the colors in the shawls to provide the perfect backdrop for the shawl.
My only concern is that I wonder if I'm skilled enough to make some of these patterns. It would be nice to see a rating (beginner, intermediate, advanced) for each pattern. Regardless, I will definitely buy this book! Highly recommended.

This is a fun knitting/story book with many interesting patterns. I wish they had included the patterns for some of the extremely imaginative costumes shown, particularly the headdress for the raven.

I received a free copy of Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns for Year-Round Knitting by Laura Zukaite in exchange for an honest review. This book contains a collection of triangular, rectangular, and semi-circular shawls. The patterns demonstrate how to use embellishments, colorwork, lacework, and different types of yarn to dress up basic shawl platforms.

Due to the wide variation in styles, not all of the shawls will appeal to everyone; however, I’ve yet to see a pattern book where I absolutely loved everything. The shawls range in style from classic to wildly bohemian. I, myself, prefer the classic patterns, but I know people who would love the others. I think, whatever your style, you’d find something in Inspired Shawls that appeals to you.

#InspiredShawls #NetGalley

I love the patterns in this book. There is a wide variety of styles & techniques. There are clear schematics for the size & shape of the shawls. Most have 2-3 photos. One simple one has only one photo. I haven't tested any of the patterns, but they look to be clear & thorough. I think this will be a great addition to a shawl knitter's library with different styles & shapes of shawls.

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced reader copy of this book, however, it is in a format that I am not able to open, Unfortunately, I cannot review the book.

While these shawls are certainly interesting, they will not be to everyone's taste. There are a lot of decorative elements which add to the pieces' uniqueness, but also seem to mean that the knitter will spend some time not knitting but doing other crafts instead (embroidery, tassel making etc).

Laura Zukaite's book, Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting, is a new work being released by Dover Publications. It contains shawls with names reflecting South American locales and culture, such as Cartegena, Nazca, Cuzco, Ipanema, Copacabana, Geo Aztec, and Inca. There are definitely creative designs in this book that feature elements that make many of the shawls quite unique. The photographs are attractive and the instructions appear to be nicely laid out. There is a list of general abbreviations located at the back of the book, along with a US/UK needle conversion chart. If there are more unusual/special abbreviations specific for a pattern (e.g. Tw3B which means "twist three stitches to the back"), they appear near the beginning of the pattern after the materials and gauge are mentioned. Besides written instructions, several patterns have charts, especially for designs that feature lace or colourwork.


The shawls vary in size; some are large shawls and some are shawlettes. The shapes also vary; I found one crescent, three rectangular, four semi-circular, six triangular shawls and a ruana. The crescent shaped shawl, the Copacabana design, features several tiers of ruffles. Other designs, such as the Cartegena, feature lace. Colourwork is featured in the Cuzco, Geo Aztec, Inca, and Mayan (the ruana) designs. The Mayan shawl seems to showcase a variety of techniques and stitches; it contains star stitches, bobbles, slip stitches, garter stitch, Fair-isle and fringe! The La Paz and Puno shawls (the latter is featured on the book's cover) have embroidery, and tassels can be found on the Amazonas, Ipanema, and Geo Aztec shawls (the last shawl has 20 tassels). The Ipanema design also has cables and a drawcord, in addition to the tassels. The Salento shawl is mainly in garter stitch. There is quite a variety of techniques and embellishments utilized in many of the designs. I peeked on Ravelry earlier today to see if any of the patterns from this book has been uploaded into the database there, but I haven't seen any yet.


The patterns and samples in the book use luxury yarn labels such as Artyarns (Ensemble, Silk Mohair, Silk Rhapsody), Madelinetosh (Merino, Chunky, Prairie), Plucky Knitter (Spiffy, Crew), Malabrigo (Silky Merino), Sweet Georgia (Superwash Sport), Miss Babs (Big Silk), Shalimar Yarns (Aerie, Breathless), Ancient Arts Yarns, and Hedgehog Fibers. These represent varying yarn weights ranging from lace to aran weight; however, most of the patterns seem to use sport/DK weight. Also, most of the patterns call for several skeins of yarn. However, if you do your research, you could probably substitute many of the yarns with more economical ones to recreate these shawls.


Out of the 15 designs, I would probably knit about ten of them, which would make this book a big candidate for joining my knitting library. In my opinion, I think that the difficulty level of most of the patterns in this book would be suitable for intermediate and experienced knitters, although there appear to be a few patterns that advanced beginners can take on.


Also, I would probably opt to buy a hard copy of this book rather than an e-book (unless it was a Kindle version). I had problems viewing the photographs of the book using the latest version of Adobe Digital Editions, and had to download an older version of ADE (4.0) in order to see them.



Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of Laura Zukaite's, "Inspired Shawls: 15 Creative Patterns For Year-Round Knitting," from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions stated in the review are mine.

This is a great book filled with original shawls. Currently knitting has really come to the forefront of the hobby interests. Shawls are a big part of this. I myself am interested in making all but 2 and that’s not because they are unbecoming just personal taste. The instructions are clear and well written. Pictures are very well done everything is explained very well. This book is a beginner to experienced knitter. I myself would buy the book just for the eye candy and design of the one shawl named the Mayan Shawl. There are also 3 other shawls with geometric designs that are gorgeous.