River Ganseys – Book Review and Giveaway

I recently received the book River Ganseys: Strikin’ t’ loop, Swaving, and Other Yorkshire Knitting Curiosities Revived from the Archives by Penelope Lister Hemingway from Cooperative Press to review. I am not being paid for this review. The book is for sale on Amazon for $26.95 or $16.95 for the Ravelry download.

This was a fun and interesting book to read because this book is not your typical knitting pattern book. In fact, it is not your typical knitting book and I loved it. This book was more about knitting from a historical perspective. I found it extremely interesting to learn about Gansey history and myths. I was also fascinated to learn all of the different places that knitting took place in the past such as charity schools and prisons. There were also great sections on Gansey knitting techniques as well as spinning techniques for Ganseys. The spinning section includes the best sheep breeds to use and spinning woolen and worsted.  The author also gives a general recipe for making a Gansey but includes 7 patterns for men, women, and children. There are charts for the motifs as well as the alphabets in different styles are charted. This is a great book to read if you want to learn more about knitting and the history associated with it.

If you like the book and want to enter to win a digital copy, please leave a comment below by March 31 along with your Ravelry name or email address.  I will draw a name on April 1 using a random number generator and the winner will get a digital copy of the book. Please check it out and let me know what you think!