Nancy Bush, a knitting expert, has written Knitted lace of Estonia to showcase the beautiful scarves and shawls produced in Haapsalu. Nancy discovered the shawls on her first trip in the 90's and was enthralled. She learned the traditions and techniques from the women of the area as well as recent patterns and books. The first thing she found was there was no one right way to do anything.

In the book, she begins with the history of the shawls, then how to knit a Haapsalu shawl, in great detail, from cast-ons to bind-offs, joining yarn, sewn on and knitted on edges and my nemesis, the nupp. The nupp looks a bit like a bobble but is made differently. Needless to say a life line was essential for me - Nancy doesn't use one. And note that this is not a beginner's book. There are no basic knitting instructions.

Next are the fourteen different shawls and stoles, each one a beauty, with pictures and patterns, using charts. There are errata sheets on the interweave.com website and it is best to check there before starting a project. There is an Estonian lace stitch dictionary with abbreviations and symbols for the charts, and pages of patterns for shawl design and edgings for the brave and experienced who want to try and design a shawl themselves. Nancy also has a section explaining how to calculate stitches for the lace edges. There is a source for yarns but be aware that the book was published in 2008 and many are probably no longer available. There is a bibliography (mostly of Estonian sources) and an excellent index.

The best part of the book is the CD-ROM in which Nancy gives a workshop on how to make your first scarf. The pattern for this is available on the Interweave website and I would recommend that this would be the best place to start. Her workshop is excellent and a great way to begin your knitting adventure.

And you don't need to stop here. Interweave, in Piecework Magazine occasionally publishes more of Nancy's designs, in addition to other kinds of lace shawls and samplers, including Orenburg. So get your needles out, buy some yarn and begin! ( )

The laces in this book are incredibly elegant - airy, lacy, gorgeous things, if you prefer your shawls on the intricate and wispy side, you are in luck! The photos of the lace are also quite good, and the book's layout is pretty much perfect. Also, everything is charted - much easier for me to memorize than lines of words! It's a great knitting book, and essential for anyone who loves to knit lace. ( )

I'm fairly new to lace knitting so this book appealed to me as a way of learning more about techniques. It was well worth the money just for the patterns alone, which introduce all sorts of techniques I haven't yet tried. Expect to find knitted-on and sewn-on edges and three completely different approaches to the triangular shawl (although most of the patterns are for square or rectangular shawls, or scarves).

This isn't for the novice knitter unless you're very determined - some of the techniques are quite challenging. That said, I find that most patterns are much simpler than they look once you get started on them. Ms Bush includes a lot of information about techniques, so it'll also be a useful reference - plus, she gives a wealth of information about the history of Estonian lace and the knitters of the area of Estonia from which most of these patterns are derived. I would have liked a few more patterns in the sample collection at the back of the book.

I find myself looking quite often at this book - I'm rather backed up with projects right now, but as soon as I can I'll be embarking on one of the triangular shawls, which is one of the prettiest shawl patterns I've seen. This is an excellent buy. ( )