Just before Christmas, a unique opportunity presented itself, and I was fortunate enough to be able to take advantage of it. I'd had a little surplus grocery money that I hadn't put into savings, and the intrepid Catherine K. (whom some of you might know from knitting lists with a more traditional/technical bent) had turned up an amazing book entitled The Orenburg Down Shawl. She arranged for a number of us to be able to purchase the book, which arrived in my mailbox yesterday:
(The one down side -- the binding is broken, and I shall have to have it repaired, but this is the way of Russian books, in my experience. Otherwise, the thing is gold, I tell you.)
This is not a pattern book. It's a rather comprehensive history and description of the craft of Orenburg shawls. Yes, it's in Russian. No, I don't read Russian. However, there is a quirky English translation in the sidebars. It's good, from what I've read so far, though I do wish I could read the Russian.
And look at this:
The dust jacket is actually a heavy piece of card, and there's a bit of Orenburg lace mounted in it. It's exquisite. And that's not all:
Yes, there is a bookmark out of lace as well.
As I mentioned, there aren't any patterns in the book, but there are lots and lots of fabulous photographs, as well as discussion of construction of the shawls from the yarn right on up. Also included is an insert on how to care of an Orenburg down shawl (I have a Faux Orenburg -- one of those sold as the real thing at a local marketplace. It's not as beautiful as the real thing, but it's still pretty nice, for a faux.) And there's a DVD, which The Other says we should, in theory, be able to view on our multi-zone DVD player, though since neither of us understands Russian, that might be a bit of a moot point. Though I'm curious.
I'm still gobsmacked at how this all happened, and that the book actually arrived, and I am absolutely thrilled with it. It's a beautiful and inspiring book, and one I'm tickled pink to have in my collection.
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