Gawain's Shield release

This month, my knitting book, Gawain's Shield, was released. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work putting this book together, and opening the box of print copies was an incredible experience. I've gotten so many compliments on the book, and I'm looking forward to seeing the shawls knit by others.

The book was put together with the help of Stitch Definition, who provided the photography (Anne set up and styled the photo shoot and the photos were taken--and are used here with permission--by JS Webb Photography), tech editing (Maureen), and graphic design/layout (Elizabeth). I highly recommend their business and services.

The inspiration behind the book is the medieval story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Within the pages of the book, I provide a summary of the tale as well as an analysis of the importance of Gawain's shield, especially the knightly virtues it represents, and the replacement of the shield by the green girdle at the end of the story. This book feels like a true combination of my two halves: medieval scholar and knitting designer.

Just look at the gorgeous interior pages Elizabeth designed:

The book contains patterns for five crescent-shaped shawls, which use German short rows for the body and knitted-on borders for the border. Each can be done in either one color or two colors (one for the body and one for the border). The yarns used are all from my Round Table Yarns line, but provide a variety of yarn weights: two shawls use fingering weight, one uses sport, one uses DK, and the last one uses worsted.

The book is available both in electronic and print formats. You can find it on Ravelry for the PDF version and in my online shop for the print version (shipped directly from me, so let me know if you'd like me to sign it!) or the combo of print + PDF.

I'm looking forward to seeing what you make with it. Happy knitting!