I am delighted to announce that The Second Carolingian Modelbook is finally out and available for purchase!

I have listed it for sale in hard copy via Amazon.

If you have been following along over the past decade you know that it has been long in the making, and you have seen many (but by no means all) of the patterns it contains here on String-or-Nothing as I play-tested them in my own projects.

To recap for those new to this site – T2CM is the sequel to my The New Carolingian Modelbook, which was published by a disreputable outfit back in the mid 1990s and is now out of print.

Like the first book, it is a treasury of charted designs for needleworkers and artisans. The 75 plates present over 250 individual borders, motifs, or all-over designs. These include both linear designs suitable for double running stitch, back stitch or other similar treatments; and block unit designs, suitable for long armed cross stitch, lacis/buratto, and other solid fill work of the time. Block unit patterns are also useful for modern interpretation using plain old cross stitch, filet crochet, tapestry crochet, or stranded colorwork knitting. There is good representation of designs appropriate for voided (reserva) work – both with and without accompanying linear outlines.

None of the designs in T2CM duplicate those of my earlier book. The majority of the contents are redactions of designs appearing in paintings and artifacts, done to the best veracity I could achieve given the imprecision of many of the originals. My charting methods are clear and easy to work from. All historical works are fully documented, and include the date of reference and inclusion (many of these pieces are subject of ongoing study, and their provenances/dates change as scholars reconsider them). Many are accompanied by discussions of pattern “families” or other observations on origin or use. All original “inspired by” designs are so noted. The book also contains hints on some historical stitching methods, a supplementary bibliography, and a ready reference chart to help users pinpoint the designs by place/time of origin and unit count. And I’ve kept my vow to release the thing in print as affordably as possible.

Now, who might be interested? Well, it’s rather a niche market, to be sure, but potential users include needleworkers interested in creating new works with firmly documented historical origins; stitchers, knitters, and crocheters who delight in the past but want to mine those aesthetics for contemporary use; and mosaic and marquetry specialists or other artisans who rely on graphed inspiration for their own designs.

Is this book suitable for beginners? To be sure, it’s not a how-to piece with clearly defined projects laid out in final form along with shopping lists for materials. But there is a range of patterns presented, from the small and simple to those of mind-bending complexity. I believe that a beginner who has needle, thread, countable fabric and motivation could use T2CM as fodder for self-paced learning, and produce stellar pieces along the way.

So please enjoy! Pass the word! And feel free to send along questions, or post pix of works done from T2CM’s pages. Nothing thrills me more than seeing what mischief the “pattern children” attempt while cavorting with the creative and inspired out in the wide, wide world!.