Book Review: Tunisian Crochet Encore by Sheryl Thies

Monday, May 20, 2013
I met Sheryl Thies last October when I attended the symposium put on by the Knit & Crochet Heritage Museum in Madison, WI. An out-going and friendly person, she is also a talented crocheter and knitter. I am delighted to review her latest book, her second, on Tunisian Crochet.

Tunisian Crochet Encore: New Stitches, New Techniques, New Patterns by Sheryl Thies

Published by Martingale, 2013

I had a very positive experience over ten years ago with Martingale publishers when I participated as one of the designers in Crochet Today, a book they published to celebrate the Crochet Guild of America. Today, Martingale and Sheryl Thies do not disappoint!

She had me at page one! The word “encore” in the title gives a hint to the creative metaphor that Sheryl uses throughout the book. She muses that once the basic Tunisian skills are achieved, crocheters will develop a rhythm with their hook and not be able to put it down, much like when a line or rhythm from a song is “stuck in your head” all day long!

Not only is Thies a lovely and gracious needle worker, she is also an expert at Tunisian crochet. She wields her Tunisian hook to create drapy, flowing, fashionable designs. Her goal is to increase her reader’s confidence in this age-old tradition in crochet. Again, using musical terms that easily segue to crochet, Sheryl provides the basics of the technique in the first section, Prelude. Here she starts the crocheter on a journey into Tunisian crochet, along which she thoroughly explains the use of short rows and miters to shape and curve rows

Make it Sing, the middle section, builds on the fundamentals with new techniques and concepts that lead the crocheter to create some amazing fashions including patterns for using bulkier yarns and large hooks for projects that work up quickly. I love the continuation of the metaphor in the catchy project titles like, Ruffled Interlude, Beaded Trill and Hummingbird Rhapsody!

Finally, you’ll find useful information required for finishing a project along with helpful resources information in the Coda section at the end of the book.

The publisher provides excellent photo illustrations of all the stitch techniques and Sheryl’s sixteen lovely designs are a bargain at the book’s retail price of $24.99.

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