At one of the recent Virtual VK Lives, I got to attend a lecture on this book by the author, Cecilia Campochiaro. Hearing about her inspirations and her process made me curious enough to get the book. And I’m very glad I did!

Although a key part of the book is a very in-depth look at color theory, the author also shows you a way to bring the theory to the practical. She uses a technique she calls micro-swatching to look at how yarn colors will blend in practice. This is exactly what it sounds like – knitting tiny little swatches and letting them go ahead and curl up. You are not looking at gauge with these, just how the colors look together.

There is also some discussion of marling with different fibers and fiber textures, and also combining very thin strands of commercial (not for hand knitting) yarn in varying ways to get different effects.

The book demonstrates successful and unsuccessful combinations and also looks at the different effect you can achieve with different types of color combinations. She walks you through the many different kinds of color combination sequences that are most effective and shows many examples of each.

There are quite a few patterns throughout the book, mostly shawls and scarves and hats – things that you can more focus on your color combinations and marling techniques rather than worrying about garment shaping. The yarns used for the examples are given, though there is plenty of information on the choices made so that you could easily substitute your own yarns or colors.

The author also touches on a little bit of knitting history, discussing where there has been earlier mention of marling, and also profiling other designers who have used marling prominently in their designs.

If you have any interesting in marling or blending yarns, this is a great resource. With the exercises and patterns in this book, there is plenty to keep a curious knitter marling away!

Read any good crafting (or other) books lately? Do tell!