by Chanell Gautreaux

Created on: July 23, 2010

Kristin Omdahl’s Wrapped in Crochet (2008) from Interweave Press contains over 100 pages of innovative designs for making beautiful crocheted, scarves, wraps, and shawls. Omdahl, who is also the author of Crochet So Fine (2010), taught herself to crochet as an expectant mother living overseas far away from home, friends and family. Crochet developed into a passion that led to her becoming a designer, author and Knitting Daily TV personality.

Wrapped in Crochet contains original patterns for six scarves, five wraps and seven shawls.  From the patchwork Labyrinth scarf to the lacy, fringed Farrah shawl and incredible Gali, Infinity Motif Wrap, the book’s designs go beyond the functional, employing simple stitches used in creative ways.

The colorful Labyrinth scarf, worked completely in single crochet, is formed by rotating and connecting squares and rectangles resulting in a design reminiscent of a Log Cabin quilt, while the Blaze Corkscrew scarf combines three skinny lengths of crochet coils to create a unique and stylish accessory. (Though there appears to be a typo with regard as to how many stitches to cast on – a single coil made from a 390 chain foundation reaches the floor on a person of average height, even when wrapped around the neck once.)

Anyone who has ever been curious about hairpin lace will no-doubt love the charming, fringed, Aressa Hairpin Lace scarf, which is made of three adjoined strips that form a curvy zig-zag. The woven and braided Heidi scarf creates a “flat twist” from multiple strips that are interwoven through a wide mesh. This isn’t your grandmother’s crochet! The two remaining scarves are a fluffy boa and a wide, angular chevron design 

The book’s beautiful shawls range from lacy open-work to an afghan-esque patchwork of triangles to Omdahls amazing, fashion-forward, spiral designs. Passionate crochet lovers will fall in love with the beautiful vintage-look He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not, Flower-Petal Tier shawl.

The wrap patterns included vary from the Tunisian Ruana to the impressive Ayla Circular Wrap With Sleeves (picture a long sleeved cardigan with shawl collar and spiral back!) to the delicate and the beautiful Gali Infinity Motif Wrap, which is essentially a large figure eight.

Beginners need not be intimidated by this book.  The glossary and stitch guide in back provide all the necessary how-to information for creating the crocheted textiles and with a little practice and a lot of patience even those who are still relatively new to crochet can complete some of the wonderful projects in fabulous book. Wrapped In Crochet also includes a resource guide for finding the yarns used in the examples.

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