entreKnits review

EntreKnits from Interweave Knits

PC Version
Mac Version

Ravelry Link

 Impressions: This is an enhanced ebook.  Well designed.  You can flick through the book page by page or use the index to go to what you're looking for.  There are portions of the pages that are interactive, videos, and some horizontal scrolling on some pages so if basically it's like chapters that you then can go down rather than having to flick through something you're not quite interested in to get to a more interesting chapter.  Also usefully, if you're navigating by arrow, when you go left or right it brings you to the top of the next page.  You can resize the pages, useful when I was looking at my small screen netbook for this review.

It starts with a section on storage, where you can open the items to see what they're like, and click through to the company's website, usefully using the default browser on your machine.

Next up is a yarn review, the initial page is the swatches, done in diamonds, and you can scroll through or click whichever one catches your fancy, the quick reviews talks about usefulness for entrelac knitting.

Now a Book review, where they look at some books, patterns and dvds with some modular/entrelac designs

Now the meat starts; Annie Modesitt talks about maths and kniting and about befriending maths, this will probably be a chapter I return to again.

next up is a pattern, the Turn About Wrap

The next section is Entrelac - Meg Swansen gives a guide to blemish-free blocks; and talks about knitting backward, while Eunny Jang shows in a video how it's done.  A pattern called Cochin Shrug is next  (photograph to left) 

Then they have some links to some Interweave Knits entrelac and other modular knitting

Quilt Inspired is the next section; starting with the Sweet Hexagon Cowl, an oversized pieced cowl where they're all linked as you go.  The Lancaster Blanket is a blanket inspired by quilts, made modular. 

Modular is the next section where Jenna Wilson (the Girl from Auntie) looks at the history of modular knitting and patents
Soap Bubble hat by Norah Gaughan comes next, an oversized hat
Vivian Hoxbro looks at 3D Domino knitting and provides a pattern for a folded domino bracelet

The penultimate page has resources where you can find all the websites in one place.
To finish (and I almost overlooked it! due to the last page) Knitter and photographer Maryse Roudier takes some images and knits them, a very interesting section of inspiration

Overall I think it's an interesting magazine with a lot of samples of the kind of different modular and entrelac forms, it's a good introduction to the methods and some of the big-name designers in the field.

 Colour/Black & White: All colour 

 Target Audience: Intermediate to advanced knitters

 Comments on patterns:
The Turn about Wrap creates a square wrap out of three triangular units with an two-colour iCord edging

Cochin Shrug is an interesting shrug made from various sized blocks.

The Sweet Hexagon Cowl is an interesting draped cowl, not really what I need in a cowl (I need something a little tighter for under my motorbike jacket), tempting though!

Lancaster Blanket (pictured right) is a patchwork-style piece, it would be a good introduction to the concept of constructing a patchwork style blanket using patchwork patterns.

Soap Bubble Hat is an oversized hat using bubbleshapes and designed by Norah Gaughan.  Very oversized, if you're fond of that style it might appeal but it's not my type of thing.

Vivian Hoxbro provides a Folded domino bracelet.  A different pattern, not really my style but an interesting method of design.

 Buy/Borrow: it's a bit of an ARGH! Because my primary machine is Ubuntu this is a little awkward to access, and part of the reason it took me a while to get around to reviewing it, which would probably be a barrier to my actually considering buying it, but I do like it and would have bought it if I could have easily accessed it.  (It requires Adobe Air to be installed - if you can get it working on your machine you should be able to get the Windows version to work, my computer is just not playing ball.)

 Where found: Interweave Knits gave me a free copy for review, weeks ago.

The Cover Photograph is from Interweave Knits Website and the two pattern photographs are from Ravely and copyright their originators.