Book reviews: a little lace

Galina Khmeleva's article on Orenburg lace in this month's Piecework led me to wonder: what is the difference between a "gossamer" and a "warm shawl"? Teh Intarwebz had surprisingly little useful information on that topic - but there were references all over the place to her book: Gossamer webs : the history and techniques of Orenburg lace shawls, and my library actually had a copy. The book was informative (although it never did directly answer my question, except to mention that the warm shawls were knit with heavier yarn), covering the traditions involved in making and selling the shawls, the women who make them, and the work that goes into it. (Once again I'm flabbergasted by the amount of work put out by genuine "production knitters". I feel slow and inadequate, but that's pretty normal.) A big chunk of the book is taken up with the charts for a single, fairly large, shawl.

While I was at it, I also checked out A Gathering Of Lace, maybe the classic book of modern lace knitting - I'd seen a reference to it for a technique for starting a circular shawl without leaving a hole. Looking through the book did nothing to tone down my urge to knit a lace shawl - and now I have so many more to pick from! It's mostly a collection of patterns, but, with the exception of some of the sweaters, they're absolutely timeless. I might have to get my own copy; I had to get it through inter-library loan, so it's not even like I can go back and check the book out again whenever I want. And then I just need to figure out what I'm going to do with a half-dozen lace shawls...