Weave•Knit•Wear: Simply Fabulous Clothing and Accessories for Rigid Heddle (and Other) Weavers Paperback – October 1, 2014

A couple of years ago, I first purchased some kind of weaving patterns pamphlet by Judith Shangold and I really enjoyed the designs. At the time, I didn't make any of them, because I was just starting to dabble in RH weaving at that time and didn't feel confident enough to make anything beyond mug rugs. But I was very impressed and inspired with the designs and thought, "These are the kind of garments I could actually see myself wearing!"Now, low and behold, she's written a wonderful book called WEAVE KNIT WEAR. Even knowing her fine work from before, in the pamphlet, I was so thrilled as I turned each page of the book. Not only do I love, love LOVE and want to make about 85% of the 30 designs in this book, but she makes each project seem so doable, from design to execution, she covers it all. The beginning parts of the book explain how you will do it, taking woven cloth into garments, and in this approach, like me, Judith doesn't want to cut and sew a lot of complicated pieces, so her designs emphasize an approach to laying out your few pieces and avoiding as much cutting and sewing as possible. She even has you planning your warp so if a piece gets narrower, you change the width of your warp at that point, such as in the underarm area, to avoid extra cutting and sewing.I also really appreciated the fact that she used knitting where it makes sense to do so, for example, in a darling hat which is largely woven, but has a knitted base to make it better fit your head. And then there are knitted embellishments on some of the garments, and adding gussets a closer fitting, tapered sleeve to some garments. Sometimes you might knit a collar.This, along with the Jane Patrick RH book are two favorite weaving books. While Jane's book is filled with the "how to" of RH weaving and has many wonderful weaving techniques, Judith gives you the inspiration and how to as it applies to the design of the garments you can make and actually wear. It takes weaving, for me, beyond the dish towels and table runners, which are practical but don't really thrill me, and gets into WHY I want to weave, which is to express my creativity in woven garments that are easy to make, and very attractive to wear. What I like is that the designs aren't so fitted that they require elaborate tailoring or tons of pieces but they also aren't just the totally boxy or shapeless garments that I've envisioned making on my own.For me, thumbing through each page of the book while watching baseball on TV, I had to say, the author knocked the ball out of the park for me, and definitely scored a "homerun."

I was SO excited to get this book I could not WAIT. Fashion? Style? Unique? I am ALL about that. When I first thumbed through the book, I was like, "Are you KIDDING me?" Boring does not come close to what I was feeling about it. Frumpy? Um, blah. I don't know. I was expecting a little more pizazz the way everyone raved about the book.PLEASE don't take this as criticism for those of you who love it- I am GLAD you do. Not everyone has the same style so I don't expect to like what everyone else does all of the time.For me, however, this was rather unspectacular. I will take more time to read through before I decide if I will return it- as what is written might be worth the price of the book. But the styles and glances at what is in the book left me really feeling, well, like I got worked up for a huge disappointment and paid for the experience.I love avant garde stuff. I love unique handmade things and I love weaving and knitting with all kinds of interesting things. This almost seemed like- Okay, don't waste fabric, just drape it on your shoulders and connect the sides. It is a bit more than that, but it all looks rather sack-like. This, however, just is not my style. I will look elsewhere for my inspiration, I guess.EDIT-UPDATE 10-20-2014I have had some time to read a good portion of the book. It has some good information in it about using a rigid heddle loom, including setting it up and creating some different cloth designs. For all of the information on basic usage, I am probably going to keep the book- will know more when I finish examining it in more detail. However, I still am not motivated to re-create any of the designs in this book as far as clothing pieces go. I have to determine if I can find the same information in another book that WILL motivate me. I realize books on rigid heddle weaving are not overly plentiful, which is why I am trying to determine if I want to keep it.The author does say that she does not have experience with clothing design, cutting, fitting, etc (as in sewing), so her focus is merely not having to cut fabric and still be able to wear it.She accomplished that. I just am not excited over the styles that she came up with by doing that, as I am experienced in sewing and clothing design. I am still not sure the book is worth the price for what I might gain from it overall, but I wanted to update for anyone who was interested in a bit more information.

After getting a 15" rigid heddle loom and making everyone I know some kind of scarf, towel or spa cloths, I decided I wanted to move on to something a bit more involved. It was a heck of a search to finally find a copy! I - of course - tried Amazon first but it was sold out. To my dismay, so was pretty much everywhere else. After a couple weeks of looking, I came back and found Amazon had some on order! I was finally going to get my copy. It was worth the wait for me. I've read other reviews that felt the styles were too basic, plain, etc, but that's exactly what I was looking for. I wanted inspiration with instructions on how to do the basic and then make it my own from there. I don't knit but have still found ways to do what I wanted - with a lot of help from this book.

Excellent book. It far exceeded my expectations.The layout is very nice, a bit busy but loaded with great information. The preview pictures really don't do this book justice. I am so glad I did buy it. There is information on design, basic techniques, including knitting and weaving. Each design has detailed instructions, pictures of the yarn used, techniques used, whether the project uses knitting, weaving, or sewing. The photos are excellent.The projects range from a few accessories to many shirts/sweaters/vest/jackets. Some of the projects require simple sewing, and/or knitting. Which makes it nice for me, as I am a very slow knitter. Each project requires a minimum of equipment; rigid heddle loom, knitting needles, and a very basic sewing machine. I believe that most of the yarns used in the projects are knitting yarns available in most yarn shops.Shangold is very encouraging to all levels of experience, especially for those of us with a little experience and a lot confusion or fear about going forward.

Some interesting styles I may try some day.

I am a brand new weaver the instructions to set up and start weaving are very clear. The projects are clothes that I not only want to make but wear.

Great, easy patterns!

Excellent project book. I'm a new weaver and wanted some ideas on how to use my new creations.Really looking forward to having a go at some of the ideas in the book.

Very good indeed for all the weaving information, but would have liked a few more ideas on marrying knitting with the weaving. However very enjoyable.