Quick – what’s it going to be?

First – lets just get this out of the way.
2ndoffour
Meet second of four. Loving the yarn, which is a super cool lopi ( grey multi). Much less boring than first of four. I really find that yarn that is heathered, or variegated or anything like that moves the work along. It’s almost embarrassing to admit that I can be entertained by little flecks of colour in wool. I wonder where the next fleck will land, what colour it will be? Will it land on the right side? Will it be near other flecks? Will this stretch of blue go past the red from the last row? I hope the yellow goes over there…. Gripping really. I’d be actually embarrassed to admit that I care this much, instead of almost embarrassed, except I know that you care too.
Yesterday Joe was ordering a book online, (probably something like this) and he said “Hey Steph, want a book?”. I wander over, knowing that I want a book, and actually knowing that I want so many books that I’m getting paralysing “choice anxiety” all the way there. I need a couple of minutes to make up my mind. I need to wander through the website, picking books, contemplating projects. (Sorry….you figured it had to be knitting book…right?) There will be none of this. Joe has his finger hovering over the “enter” key and I can tell that I only have moments to make up my mind or he is going to yell “TOO SLOW!” just like a nine year old, and I will not get a book. (At least not a book he’s paying for.) If I want a book that he’s paying for I’ve got to be quick, I’ve got to think of a knitting book that I really, really want, that I don’t have already, that doesn’t cost the earth, that isn’t full of lame, dumbass projects that I’d never make, and I’ve got thirty seconds to do it. I did think of one, and I don’t think I regret it. (Though I’m probably going to after I do this….I’ll tell you what I picked tomorrow.) Quick…you have thirty seconds to pick a knitting book. What’s it going to be?

28 thoughts on “Quick – what’s it going to be?

  1. You have only yourself to blame for this, but you have now become my unofficial source for information on the FiberTrends Felted Clog pattern, which I need since I’m knitting my First Pair Ever as we speak. Perhaps if you hadn’t written in such an entertaining way about aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaalllll the clogs you’ve knit…
    Silliness aside, I do have a question. When you fold the cuff in half and knit it, does it have a tendency to lean to the outside? And does this leaning resolve itself when you felt the clog?

  2. about felting:
    did it for the first time last night. followed advice from somewhere – use mom’s zip up pillow case to put the knitting in. worked like a charm!
    BTW – i’d be forever in your debt if you can get me the JS shawl pattern by the end of the day. i put my work email in a comment under the entry with pics of your sis in the shawl.
    thanks!!!
    katie

  3. I’d get the basic patterns book that Interweave put out (can’t remember the author exactly right now). Everyone seems to say nice things about it, and I don’t have it yet!!

  4. I’d go for Vogue Knitting: The Ultimate Knitting Book if anyone feels bad about missing my birthday… 🙂

  5. probably either folk knitting in estonia (because i would love to learn) or unexpected knitting by debbie new. not sure that one’s available on amazon. i just bought the philosopher’s wool book, otherwise that would have been my first choice. 🙂

  6. I’m two behind in collecting the Weldon’s Practical Needlework series… but what I *really* want is Eric Corran’s book, “Understanding the Spinning Wheel”, which goes for (gulp) $80. I don’t think Amazon has that one, though.

  7. This: The Principles of Knitting: Methods and Techniques of Hand Knitting, by June Hemmons Hiatt.
    Unfortunately, it’s out of print and $200+
    (Amos’ book on handspinning would be cool, too.)
    I too am entertained by small flecks of yarn. They saved my sanity when making my mom a sweater in fisherman’s knit (twice as thick = twice as long to knit!). 🙂

  8. Knit Lit, Too–I started to pick up a copy at my local bookstore a few days ago, but didn’t buy it because I knew if they had it my LYS would, too, and I try to support them. Guess where I’m going today?

  9. “It’s almost embarrassing to admit that I can be entertained by little flecks of colour in wool.”
    Oh, do I ever know what you mean. Case in point: me and Rowan Felted Tweed.

  10. Need you even ask after posting those socks? Nancy Bush’s Folk Socks. Just call me the infinitely suggestible knitter. I now yearn for those socks! The pictures in your blog are downright dangerous. I just finished a diagonal scarf out of some Noro Silk Garden that was languishing in an unpleasant knitted form (the yoke-thingie in The Knit Stitch) — it looks much better as a Yarn-Harlot-inspired scarf. By the way, which child won?

  11. Knitting in the Old Way, Patricia Gibson Roberts. Lots of good solid sweater construction/design info there. She doesn’t dumb it down for you. She challenges you “up”.

  12. That’s easy, KnitLit Too for sure!! And if my sweetie was offering 2 books (not likely, but anything is possible – he did spontaneously buy me brittany cable needles) I would add Debbie New, Unexpected Knitting. Or maybe Alice Starmore’s Fishermen’s Sweaters, since it seems to be the only Starmore book still available.
    Thanks for the quick-quiz; it shows the value of keeping important facts in mind for such serendipitous moments. Now I am off to make my CD list, cookbook list, gardening book list, garden plant list, liqueur list, vacation destination list (okay, now I am really dreaming…)

  13. Eeek! I just got Unexpected Knitting today and it has me in a total, complete freak out. It is so beautiful and odd and inspiring. I’m just staring at page after page, ordering pizza for the fellas so I can ditch dinner. HIGHLY recommended for your post-clog euphoria.
    And Stephanie, nobody ever loved a fleck more than I. If I could knit flecky yarn for the rest of my life, I’d be happy.

  14. Great Big Sea: Something Beautiful.
    Just came out here on Tuesday.
    Oh, right, books. Knitting books at that.
    Not books containing images of the lovely
    Alan Doyle.
    Well, Kaffe Fassett’s Stitch Library comes to
    mind, as does Knitting In the Old Way.
    DO NOT waste your time or money on Principles of Knitting.
    Feh. What a dumb book.
    $200??? Please.

  15. Kathy — why’s it dumb? I agree, $200 is ridiculous, but it was the first book that helped me understand why my attempts at lace never worked — I was doing purls backward and twisting the knits, and never knew that I was doing something wrong before reading it. (I’m self-taught, what can I say?) The illustrations are clear and the instructions easy to understand — well, at least _I_ thought so. I think it’s a good book, if not worth the price it currently goes for.
    Lizzy: who’s Montse Stanley?

  16. I think I’ll go with Unexpected Knitting as well, Bob. I hate to follow the crowd, but if I’ve only got a few seconds to answer, that’s the book I don’t own but in which I’m quite interested.

  17. I would know immediately which book because i have a list, incl. ISBN number, in the back of my diary. Paring them down i would go for Barbara Walker’s 2nd Treasury of Knitting Patterns or The Fair Isle Knitting Handbook (this one is OOP,but i can dream).

  18. I’ve been waiting to get Norsk Strikkedesign, when I can justify the money. Even Amazon doesn’t have a discount on it. 30 seconds? That’s what I’d get.

  19. Knitting in the Old Way.
    Or Nicky Epstein’s Knitted Embellishments
    Or Knitter’s Stash.
    Or….or….or…
    I love flecks, blends, variegations, shadings,etc. You’re right, it entertains and mesmerizes throughout those looooonnnnnngggg stretches of something or other. Clogs…I got good and tired of them after only 2 pair. You are a wonder if you’re still at it.

  20. I’ll join other voices and say, “Knitting in the Old Way.” Or, wait – maybe one of the Walker treasuries. Can you tell which books are on my personal wish list? 😉

  21. I’m waiting for amazon.ca to ship me my copy of knit lit too.
    After that, the knitting book that I currently want most of many is vivian hoxbro’s new book Shadow Knitting.

  22. Ooh, ooh, too many choices, quick, it’s Folk Bags for my daughter — or Knit Lit Too for me. Or maybe Unexpected Knitting. only one?

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