wrapped in color: 30 shawls to knit

Koigu Wool Designs company makes some of the best-loved yarns by knitters around the world. This company has a very unique method of lovingly handpainting their gorgeous colorways onto high-quality merino wool as well as other fibers.This book by Maie and Taiu Landra is newly published by Sixth & Spring Publishing. It offers 30 original patterns for shawls, wraps and capes designed to show off  Koigu's beautiful yarn.Based in Chatsworth, Ontario, Koigu is both the name of the farm and yarn company of Maie Landra, her daughter Taiu, and her granddaughter Kersti.The story of this company is unique and fascinating: Maie's late husband was originally from Koigu, Estonia. It is about 83 km ( 1.5 hour drive) south of the second largest Estonian city Tartu in the middle of one of the most creative craft-oriented regions. Maie, the founder of the company, is an artist and her watercolor paintings are at the root of the colorways of Koigu.This multi-generational family run business is known for its creativity and quality. The family's mission was "to create fine merino yarn painted by hand in small batches ". Each skein might contain a dozen colors, creating colorways knitters had never dreamed of.  As they developed their hand-dying skills, they began keeping track of their ideas and formulas in a book in order to reproduce designs that appealed to them. They continue to use the system they created and produce over 400 colorways. Every dye lot is a small batch to reflect the individuality of the dyer.Many of the shawls in this book were designed by the Landras themselves. They employ a variety of stitch patterns and construction methods that take advantage of the beautiful palettes of the yarn that they so carefully and thoughtfully bring to life .This shawl, named Keepsake, was designed by Maie Landra. It is a square shawl that can also be used as a throw. It is knit in stripes of twelve colorways. The pattern makes the most of the unique yarn.Valentina, designed by Brooke Nico, is an elegant capelet. The design is a modern asymmetric crescent with a feminine lace pattern and ruffled hem. A fun project that will hold your interest as you knit!The Lucky Lady, designed by Barb Brown, is a garter stitch square shawl with a border of horseshoe lace. The Koigu Mori yarn (a blend of wool and mulberry silk) is beautiful and gives visual interest to the garter stitch body of the shawl.Tumble Leaves is a Maie Landra design. The body of the shawl is a leaf lace pattern with an eye-catching border. The colorway is full of jewel tones and would be an ideal wrap for fall.Woodsong, designed by Zabeth Loisel Weiner, is a sophisticated shawl. It has a pretty picot edge and the design will hold your interest throughout the project.Charlotte's Web is another Maie Landra design. There are five colorways used with a simple lace pattern. You can decide how you would like to vary the colorways and make the design your own.Hopefully you got some understanding of what you can expect to see in this book. It is absolutely worth having in your knitting library. Different constructions and stitch patterns used here will satisfy your craving for a good shawl that knitters and non-knitters will admire for different reasons.It is available on Amazon and local yarn shops.On a personal note, I have met Taiu while I was teaching at Vogue Knitting Live in Pasadena. We had a long and wonderful conversation about Estonia, Russia and their connection through crafts. I grew up in Russia admiring knitting creations, magazines, and books that were brought from Estonia. Craft techniques travel between the countries and no matter what politics do, people are united by crafts.