Shaping Shawls.

If I had to sum up Shaping Shawls, a lovely new shawl pattern book, in one word, it'd have to be breath-taking! Anna Dalvi, the book's writer and designer, manages to capture not only gorgeous lace designs expressed in several different shawl shapes but also delves into the technical knitting aspects of each one in thorough detail. She has managed to not only give knitters beautiful designs but has also managed to explain them all in great detail. Gorgeous lace design paired with material geared to enhance your knitting skills...there's not much more to ask for in a book!

Ravelry: Shaping Shawls

I had the pleasure of first meeting Anna in person at TNNA in June of this year in Columbus, Ohio. We only spoke briefly over the 3 days of the market but with our first meeting, I could sense that Anna really had a lovely grasp of the technical side of lace knitting. It wasn't until the Knitters' Fair that I got a chance to talk more with Anna about her designing and it all came together as she showcased and signed her book in my booth:

Anna Dalvi - Shaping Shawls
Book Showcasing/Signing
Knitters' Fair - Sept 10/2011
Kitchener, Ontario 

Anna is an Engineer by education and also holds an MBA. Finally, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together because as a few of you know, Mr. Zen is also an Engineer by education. Engineers have a way of conceptualizing design and implementing them with fine details. Anna is no exception when it comes to lace designing and her Shaping Shawls book definitely captures her ability to put her conceptions into her designs.

So with that in mind, I had a chance to ask Anna a few questions about her book and I hope you enjoy these as much as I did: 

Roxanne: Where did you grow up and did you go to school for any degrees?  If so, what degrees did you receive and do your degrees help with your designing process?

Anna: I grew up just outside Gothenburg, Sweden.  In 1990 I moved to the US and went to school at Cornell University.  I have a B.S. in Computer Science with a concentration in Electrical Engineering.  While I was in school, I worked in a robotics lab developing localization algorithms for the robots (basically helping the robot figure out where it was and how to navigate in an unknown environment).  I also worked on a Hybrid Electric Vehicle - an HEV built from scratch by a team of 40 students or so.  Our HEV then competed in a race in California against a number of other schools.  After I moved to Canada, I went back to school for an MBA (from Queen's University), which has been very useful in terms of running your own business.  I've been self-employed since 2003, and that MBA has definitely been useful.

Roxanne: What was the inspiration that led to your taking the leap to becoming a designer? 

Anna: I have always liked to experiment with my knitting and make up new things.  As for writing the patterns down and publishing them, I really just looked around at a number of the knitting patterns that were out there and thought "I could do this".  I submitted a design just on impulse to (now defunct) MagKnits, and when it was accepted I wrote it all down.  That was the Burridge Lake Aran Afghan.  And after that, I decided to host a lace mystery KAL, just for fun, and that was Mystic Waters.  After that, it just sort of continued, and here I am.  

Roxanne: Are there any particular fibres you like for shawls?

Anna: I'll have to say that it depends on what I'm making.  I mean, I always love a good merino, as well as a number of merino blends (MCN, merino/silk, etc).  I also really like the yarns with a slight halo, like the baby alpaca blends, or even angora blends, as long as the yarn is not so furry that the lace pattern is obscured. And then silk and tencel result in a completely different texture and drape.  All are nice, it really depends on what I'm aiming for.

Roxanne: How do you incorporate colour into your creation of a design?  Does the colour ultimately inspire you to design something or make you design in a certain manner?

Anna: I often do start with a particular yarn and a particular colour and associate freely from the colour to pick the theme of a design. That said, I do love when knitters substitute yarn colours in the design, because it really impacts the finished look of the shawl.

Roxanne: Do you enjoy designing other things along with shawls? If so, what else do you like to design?

Anna: Yes.  I like all sorts of things actually.  In the past year, I've been on a bit of a fingerless mittens spree, just because they are nice, small projects that can be used to explore a variety of techniques and textures.  I love lace and cables, colours and textures, and anything that allows me to play with those is fun.  And that would be all knitting.

Roxanne: And lastly, do you have any other books coming over the horizon?

Anna: I have a couple of designs coming in the Fresh Design Series published by Cooperative Press, in both Shawls and Mittens.  And I'm also working on another book focused on lace and colour, which will be published during the summer of 2012.

If you haven't already, make sure to support Anna and her designs and drop by and purchase her new Shaping Shawls book - you will not be disappointed! If you'd like to read other reviews of Anna's book, make sure to drop by her blog as she's hosting a blog tour for her book.

CONTEST:  Win a free e-book copy of Shaping Shawls by leaving one comment per person to this post with your Ravelry ID name and also a short comment telling us what shawl shape you prefer knitting. If you haven't knit shawls yet, tell us what your favourite thing is to knit. I will have a random drawing for the winner on Saturday, September 24th so the deadline to submit a comment is midnight EST, Friday, September 23rd. Good luck!

WINNER: Our winner, chosen by the Random Number Generator, is RubyFox - congrats!

Comments

[Malinda]

My favorite shape shawl to knit is Faroese but I love all lace! Rav ID moejo

[Knittingdancer]

I have knitted rectangular shawl, bottom-up triangle shawls, and top-down shawls. I prefer wearing the top down or faroese type shawls. They stay on the shoulders better.

Rav id: Kittingdancer

[Rusty M.]

I've only made 2 triangle shawlettes so I really don't have a favorite shape...but I love knitting shawls!

[Susan]

I'm Susebraids on Ravelry.

My favorite shawl to design is definitely the top-down triangle and variations thereof.

That said, I'm currently knitting a shallow triangle Baktus-type scarf/shawl with a lace edging, and I'm really enjoying knowing that I'm using up all the yarn I set aside for it!

[Sheila]

I haven't made a shawl yet, but I think I like the crescent shape best. If the lace motif I'm working on ever gets to resembling the image in my head, I'm going to try to design a crescent shaped shawl using it.

SheilaOKeefe on rav

[Natalie]

Engineers rule! ;) But I already have the e-book & I'm hoping to get my signed copy tomorrow night!

[Connie]

I haven't knit a shawl yet, but my favorite thing to knit is anything new - so this book would be perfect!

greyowl (rav id)

[Peggy]

My favorite shawl is the Faroese, but I am a shawlaholic. I am currently doing a rectangular mystery KAL. My ravelry ID is 1maineknitwit.

[Judi A.]

I've only knit one shawl and it was triangular. Loved seeing it grow :-)

Zowmom on Ravelry

[Catherine E.]

Triangle shawls top down are my favorite so far. But I've never tried semi circles. My name is Kittcatknit on Ravelry.

[Zabbers]

I'm Zabbers on Rav. I've only knit triangle shawls, so I suppose you could call them my favorite, though I have so many other shapes I want to try--they're just all waiting in line for the next project.

[Jessie M.]

I really like long crescent or Scandinavian-style shawls that I can wrap around and tie in the back.
I'm wickedsharp on Rav. :)

[Ann]

Thanks for the review & Anna's designs look great. I like crescent shaped or semi circular shawls as they drape nicely on the shoulder. Besides socks, lace shawl is my next fav project.

[Anastasia]

I love triangular shawls. even though the basic construction is (usually) always the same, depending on what the edging is like, it can totally change the shape of the shawl

RubyFox on ravelry

[Anne Burrows]

Great interview! Right now, I prefer crescent-shaped shawls for their ease in draping. Rav ID is annethologist.

[Anne]

Great interview! Right now my fave shawls are crescent-shaped; love the way they drape. Rav ID is annethologist.

[kellie]

I make a shawl a month and find it so relaxing to enjoy the yarn and learn new stitches. My favorite patterns are top down or side to side. zillalatte

[RubyLouise]

So far I have only knit triangle shawls and have discovered that I like knitting them from the bottom up (large cast on to short cast off). Having the rows get shorter and shorter as I go really helps me finish a project.

I do like the look of shawls which don't have a point directed at my behind, but haven't knit one yet.

RavID: rubylouise

[Sarah]

I've never knit a shawl before, but plan to make one one of these days! I enjoy knitting a variety of things depending on my mood, recently I've been hooked on stuffed animals and arm warmers.

Rav id: saraq24

[Chia]

Amazing! Wow. Thank you for this contest. My favorite shape used to be rectangle but I find myself drawn to triangles now.

monkalicious on Ravelry