cover image Huck Lace Weaving Patterns with Color and Weave Effects: 576 Drafts and Samples Plus 5 Practice Projects

Huck Lace Weaving Patterns with Color and Weave Effects: 576 Drafts and Samples Plus 5 Practice Projects

Tom Kinsley. Stackpole, $39.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-8117-3725-8

Kinsley’s encyclopedia of huck lace patterns should be a must-have for loom weavers who want to explore this particular method. In addition to hundreds of patterns, Kinsley provides a few basic tips for getting started, and a small array of projects. Huck lace, he explains, is a weaving style that requires a certain number of picks and ends per inch to create a soft lace fabric. Kinsley breaks up the patterns into four main categories: Dark/Light, Monochromatic, Complementary Colors, and Triadic Colors. They’re followed by projects: scarfs, towels, rugs, and blankets. Before tackling any of the patterns, Kinsley advises weavers to consult the key he provides for reading the weaving drafts (pattern guides). Newbies should be warned that the text is written for experienced weavers, and, without a glossary or any photographs of looms or the weaving process itself, those new to the craft will find themselves a bit at sea. For veteran weavers, however, this well-appointed resource will amply fulfill the goal Kinsley states in his introduction—to talk to readers “as old friends sitting down with a cup of tea and catching up on the latest weaving projects.” (Nov.)