Sharon Hernes Silverman - Delicate Crochet: 23 Light and Pretty Designs for Shawls, Tops and More

M any hands make light work, the saying goes, and in this case, many hands also made Delicate Crochet!

I am indebted to the ten amazing designers who agreed to submit original patterns for this book. Their creativity and hook skills are unparalleled. I also appreciate their patience with me (for whom demanding is an adjective that falls laughably short). Each one of them taught me new things about crocheting and about collaborating. Hats off to Vashti Braha, Judith Butterworth, Robyn Chachula, Vicky Chan, Rhonda Davis, Karen McKenna, Marty Miller, Katya Novikova, Kristin Omdahl, and Amy Solovay.

Symbol charts are helpful adjuncts to written instructions, but they are not easy to make. Kj Hay and Karen Manthey were indispensable in creating diagrams and schematics to supplement the ones submitted by the designers. I would never have met my manuscript deadline if I had tried to do those on my own.

For yarn support, thanks are due to Demian Savits of Blue Heron Yarns; Carly Waterman of Cascade Yarns; Bobbie Matela of Coats & Clark; Cornelia Tuttle Hamilton of Hamilton Yarns LLC; Stacey Winklepleck of Knit Picks; Katja Luppi of Lang & Co. AG; Vanessa Ewing and Kaelin Hearn of Plymouth Yarn Company, Inc.; Sandra Rosner of Premier Yarns; Stephanie Alford of SpaceCadet Creations; Emily Stewart of Spinrite LP; Stacy Charles of Tahki Stacy Charles, Inc.; and Amy Gunderson of Universal Yarn. It has been a wonderful opportunity to work with their fine products.

The Stackpole Books team did a stellar job shepherding this book through the editorial and production process. Thanks to Candice Derr, editor, and Judith M. Schnell, publisher for Stackpole Books. The books design and cover are due to the time and meticulous effort of Tessa Sweigert and Sally Rinehart. Thanks also to Caroline Stover for art preparation and Kristen Mellitt for guiding the book through the production process.

Daniel Shankens photographs are works of art. I am deeply grateful for his participation in this project, and for his expertise in staging and taking pictures of the garments. Thanks also to the women who modeled the garments: Alexis Lebo, Nina Magnani, Aron Rook, and Shay Strawser. As is the case with all of my Stackpole crochet titles, I am indebted to photographer Alan Wycheck, whose technique photos are an essential part of the pattern instructions.

I am grateful to the Craft Yarn Council of America (CYCA) for permission to reprint standards, to the Crochet Guild of America (CGOA) for industry information and news, and to The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) for its support of yarn industry professionals.

I could not have completed this project without the support and encouragement of my family and friends, especially my husband, Alan, and our sons, Jason and Steven. Not a day goes by without my thinking how much you mean to me. Thank you for everything.

T he yarn transitions gently from pale pink ros to deep bordeaux in this lightweight wrap with just a hint of sparkle.

SKILL LEVEL

MEASUREMENTS

51 in. (129.5 cm) by 17 in. (43 cm)

MATERIALS

Nako Arya Ebruli Sim, distributed by Plymouth Yarn Co. Inc. (76% premium acrylic, 10% alpaca, 10% wool, 4% metallic polyester; 3.5 oz./100 g; 547 yd./500 m)

Electric Pink (6401F): 1 skein

U.S. size J-10 (6 mm) crochet hook

Tapestry needle

Blocking pins

Blocking board or towel

GAUGE

13 sts and 7 rows in dc = 4 in. (10.2 cm), blocked.

For gauge swatch, ch 27. Last 3 chs count as first dc on Row 1.

Row 1: Dc in fourth ch from hook and in each ch across.

Row 2: Ch 3 (counts as dc), turn. Sk st at base of chs. Dc in each st across.

Rep Row 2 until swatch measures at least 4 in. (11.4 cm).

SPECIAL STITCHES

Double crochet 4 together (dc4tog): [Yo, insert hook where indicated, yo, pull up lp, yo, pull through 2 lps] 4 times, yo, pull through all 5 lps.

PATTERN NOTES

Wrap is worked from the top down.

On Row 4, there are three groups of dc4tog all the way across. The first and third groups are worked over four stitches (the hook is inserted into a different stitch each time). The center group is worked into a ch-3 loop (the hook is inserted into that loop each time).

To make the shawl narrower or wider, subtract or add a multiple of 12 from or to the beginning ch.

Ch 170.

Row 1: Sc in second ch from hook. [Ch 5, sk 3 chs, sc in next ch] across.

Row 2: Ch 6, turn. Sc in ch-5 lp. [Ch 2, dc 7 in next ch-5 lp, ch 2, sc in next ch-5 lp, ch 5, sc in next ch-5 lp] across until 2 ch-5 lps remain. Ch 2, 7 dc in next ch-5 lp, ch 2, sc in next ch-5 lp, ch 2, tr in final sc.

Row 3: Ch 1, turn. Sc in tr. [Ch 2, dc in each of next 4 dc, ch 3, dc in same double as last dc made, dc in each of next 3 dc, ch 2, sc in ch-5 lp] across, working final sc into ch-6 lp from beg of previous row.

Row 4: Ch 5, turn. [Dc4tog over next 4 dc, ch 5, dc4tog into ch-3 lp, ch 5, dc4tog over next 4 dc, ch 1] across, omitting final ch-1. Tr in sc.