Tunisian Crochet

This beautiful book is by Helle Kampp Mathorne and is full of the most exquisite Tunisian Crochet garments. I couldn’t help myself and had a quick look already and oh my…. The book is full of beautiful designs and so many of them with raglan shaping, which I adore!! If you need me, I’ll be here devouring this book. Will tell you more about it soon. Thank you Search Press for gifting me the book and thank you Helle for designing such beauties.

Mathorne presents a collection of 17 Tunisianwork garment patterns for adult women, with patterns that accommodate multiple sizes. The models, too, illustrate multiple racial, ethnic, and body types. The work is translated from Danish and was originally published in Britain, and the English translation comes with an abbreviation chart and a terminology conversion table (some U.S. terms are different from their British counterparts), but there is an occasional British-specific word or term that will present a minor challenge for U.S. readers. This is for intermediate and experienced users of the Tunisianwork technique, as it has only minimal instructions at the back. Mathorne assumes that crafters have already mastered both the technique and sewing basics (e.g., determining a garment’s size). Also, these instructions are for right-handed crafters only, with no conversion instructions for left-handed crafters.

There’s a touch of Scandinavian hygge about this sleek tome of Tunisian tops by Danish knitter, Helle Kampp Mathorne, who has brought together her friends and family to model her 17 sweaters, and their mutual warmth glows from its pages.

There still aren’t enough books for Tunisian crocheters and many are stitch dictionaries rather than project/pattern books, so this one slips, welcomed, into a gap in the market. Helle’s carefully crafted garments are organised in seasons, with four or five projects for each. My favourite is Winter’s Rosemary, a long jacket with a cable-like wheatsheaf texture. Indeed, texture, rather than colour, appears to be the design focus for this collection, which offers some interesting and inspiring stitch combinations and techniques for the Tunisian crocheter interested in taking their skills to new heights. The photography is polished and the models ‘real’, effectively targeting a certain demographic that, you might say, is well catered for but in our own dear Guild.

This book is a huge achievement and Helle is clearly a master craftswoman with a wealth of knowledge and experience from which I will continue to draw. This book is a valuable addition to my bookshelf that will be much thumbed for its advanced techniques and attention to detail. More high-end Tunisian garment pattern books such as this are needed!

Helle Kampp Mathorne’s Tunisian Crochet presents 17 gorgeous garment patterns that blend the unique textures of Tunisian crochet with elements of traditional crochet and knitting. This collection offers projects suitable for various seasons, from light summer tops to cosy winter jackets.

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Aimed at more experienced crocheters, Danish designer Helle’s latest book is filled with wearable designs. Hooked in gorgeous yarns featuring hybrid pieces combining elements of Tunisian crochet, crochet and knitting, the patterns are arranged by seasons. We love the classic styling of the V-necked Anemone Sweater and the pretty lacy mohair-silk Star Top, perfect for spring.

Helle KampP Mathorne has been involved in needlework and handicrafts all her life; she learned to embroider and knit when she was five years old, and was sewing her own clothes when she was 14. Since 1994, when she became a handicraft teacher, she has worked professionally, both in fabric and yarn, designing and teaching workshops. Through her company, Kampp Design, Helle has worked for a number of years as a freelance designer for handicraft magazines, designing knitting, crochet and Tunisian crochet patterns. Helle lives in Farum, near Copenhagen in Denmark.

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