{Some Book Reviews}

I got FOUR new knitting books for my birthday!  I am so excited!!  It's even more fun when I get to share my opinions of these books with my blog friends, right?

 Hand Knit Holidays by Melanie Falick

It was my family that bought me this one off of my Amazon Wish list.  I put it on that list as soon as I saw the patterns online. They are AMAZING! It's a hard cover book and there a lot of patterns in this one, more than normal it seems.  They cover all the different holidays, not just Christmas, and there's a huge variety of patterns, from decor, to sweaters, to socks, mittens and hats.  There are hardly any patterns in this book that I flat out wouldn't knit, and unfortunately the cover is one of those.   I would have put any other pattern on the cover. lol There are so many patterns that I just love love love.

                                  Hannah's tablecloth   Over-the-knee socks      Aran tree skirt

These are just three patterns that I really really want to knit.  The Tablecloth is just gorgeous and uses store bought linen napkins and then pieces them together with lace knitting - breathtaking.   The Over-the-knee socks are pretty!! I imagine it would take me a year to knit them, but I could make them a size to actually fit!  And the Aran tree skirt is definitely getting made for our tree this year, and I think I even have the yarn for it! Ours had a mishap last year (of the kitten variety) so it got trashed.  I'm thinking green for the body with red trim for a more traditional feel.

I give full review points for this book.  Can't wait to start knitting out of this one!

Socks From The Toe Up by Wendy D. Johnson

Every since I trashed my first sock on 5 double pointed needles and went searching for the two circulars method, I've been in love with it.  I adore knitting socks from the toe up so this book jut seemed like it would be a good fit, so I was thrilled to get it as part of my Knit Picks gift from my Mister!   I was blown away once I started reading! They list three different heel methods with just plain vanilla socks as lessons and then go on to write patterns for each method.  They seem to be split almost half and half between lace socks and patterned socks, not much colour work or cabling in this one.  This book has so much information in it! It's now an invaluable addition to my book collection.  Here's a couple of my favorites:

                                      Dead Simple Lace Socks          Diamond Gansy Socks

Most of the patterns are on fingering weight, but there's a handful at the end on sport weight, too.  I think I'm going to pick one to cast on this evening because the cotton cardigan I'm knitting right now is a little tough on the old digits. hehe  These will be so much fun!!  I have a feeling everyone might be getting socks for Christmas this year. lol  Definitely full marks on this one too!

Knitting the Perfect Pair by Dorothy T. Ratigan

 
Another soft cover book from my Amazon wish list.  My family really loves me! hehe  I put this one on a while ago because it looked like they had a wide variety of socks, and do they over!  The only problem with this one is I'll have to read the pattern backwards to go from the toe up.   With this book you get colour work, lace, lots of cabling, heavy weight and light weight, the whole gambit of what socks can be!  Even toe socks! Two I'm looking at are:

                                        Textured Stripe Socks                      Fishnet Stockings

The stripey ones just seem a great way to use up ends, don't they? Or maybe all those odd skeins of Palette I have around.  I love the textures and I even get to practice some fair isle!  The fishnets are just pretty and fun and I'm certainly going to be making a pair of those, too.  This book is up there on the scale, just not as high as the other two.  There are some kinda zany patterns that are fun looking, but maybe too much for me to invest time in, ya know?  There are only a few of those, though. 

Knitter's Almanac by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Isn't this one just a standard for every knitting library?  I haven't read all the way through it yet, but I really enjoy the conversational style of Ms. Zimmermann's writing.  It's like having an aunt over your shoulder explaining why we knit like we do, passing along the information from generation to generation.  There aren't any huge fancy pictures and it's mostly formatted like a reading book, not an instructional guide.  Old fashioned, but tried and true!  I got mine used from my family, which I love too!

Thanks folks! I hope these were helpful to you guys and if you have any other questions shoot them along! I have so many blog posts ready to go in my head, but I'm trying to pace myself. lol   Oh, and Popeye is doing great now! Thanks for everyone's caring comments!  He's eating and playing like his old self. :)

{Book Reviews}

I got a few new knitting books for Christmas and I wanted to let you guys in on which ones I liked and which ones I don't think are worth buying. Keep in mind these are only my opinions and others may think differently. :)

the knitter's handy Book of Patterns


Let me just say that I never plan on being a knitwear designer. I got frustrated though when I was searching for a pattern and I didn't have *just* the right weight of yarn in order to knit the pattern that I liked. I think with this book I'll be able to use a pattern and just change the stitch counts depending on my gauge swatch with this book.

It covers the basics - a sweater, hat, gloves, mittens, socks and scarf. Someone was thinking too because it's a book that's made to lay flat with rings in the middle. Smart, right? I'm looking forward to the knitter's handy book of Sweater Patterns too.

The Best of Interweave Knits


I was excited about this book because of the reputation that Interweave has of making great patterns, but I don't think my expectations lived up to the reality of this book. There are a couple of patterns that I'll probably knit, including the shawl you see on the cover, this cool bag pattern and maybe this summery top. Many of the patterns are kinda shapeless (ex: Simply Marilyn oversized sweater) and others are kind of out of date (ex: Cropped Argyle Vest). Then there are a few others that look like they are designed for someone twice my age and wouldn't really look great.

The Men's patterns in this book are timeless and fashionable forever, of course. How do men get away with that??

{Tons of Randomness}

I'm so glad that Blog-land has come back to life after the holidays. I missed you guys! I've sorta been going crazy without any school or work and all your guys' posts have been keeping me occupied. I check my blogger dashboard like 5 times a day. hehe! So thanks everyone!

Today's post is going to be extremely random because I have all these blog posts rolling around in my head and I figured I'd just mush 'em all in to one big long soliloquy. So here goes!

Knit Picks Harmony Needles: Review

There was a comment on my Christmas post that wanted me to review my new needles because she was thinking of buying some for herself. These needles are really fantastic and I totally love them! So far they haven't come apart at the join at all (once I use the key provided for tightening). They are super smooth wood, but not as smooth as metal, and they are SUPER pretty! The colours in the wood make me happy as I'm knitting miles of stockinette. hehe The cord is also really flexible, which I'm thinking will be a big help once I start knitting gloves and such using the Magic Loop method. Another thing that's great is that they are the pointiest needles I've ever knit with and it makes a huge difference. I'm very very happy with them!



All White Again:

Being that hubby and I have had our head in the sand for the last 5 days while he's been on break we hadn't looked at a weather report at all, so these 2 inches came as a huge surprise. hehe When I looked this morning, Weather people are calling for snow every night this week and negative temperatures in Fahrenheit!! It's gonna get cold here, people.

Another Christmas Gift:

I fell in love with this little clutch the moment I saw it, but couldn't justify buying it for myself. That's how it ended up on my Christmas list! It's from the etsy shop Ponder and Stitch. It's so perfect and girly! At first I was going to use it for a makeup bag, but couldn't stand the thought of getting makeup all over this beautiful vintage fabric and lace.


Instead it's holding some knitting notions! A small tape measure, my knitting gauge thingy, some stitch markers. Perfect! Now I carry it with me in my knitting bag! :D

How cute is that coordinating fabric inside??? Thanks Amy for being so awesome!!

Project My First Sweater Update:

I finished the back of the sweater last night and I'm pretty proud of myself. Three days I think it took me? It's the first time I've felt really comfortable doing the shaping around the waist of a piece like this. Before I sorta... made it up as I went. lol

See all the strings at the top? I'm pretty sure I messed up the neck shaping something terrible. It says to do neck shaping and arm hole shaping "At the same time" so I guess I was thinking you have to do them on the same row... but when you bind off the LAST five stitches in a row you end up with one lonely stitch on the end by itself. So.... am I binding off wrong? Or do I just do the neck shaping at the beginning of one row, finish that row, and do the arm hold shaping at the beginning of the next row? Because it doesn't SAY to do that, but I'm guessing it's one of those unwritten rules. lol

As soon as I'm finished writing this post I'll be casting on the front which means I'll be getting in to this! Very excited!


Alright, I'll end this one here and give you guys more randomness tomorrow including new projects that I'm thinking about starting and some MAJOR yarn I got from my Sister in Law!

{These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things}

I got so SO much cool stuff for Christmas, but the overall theme was definitely"knitting!"

There were:

three awesome knitting books: Stith 'n Bitch, The Knitter's Handy book of Patterns, and Knitting Without Tears from friends and Mr. Pie (I'll review any or all of these later if anyone is interested, or maybe even if you aren't. :P )


some really cool buttons made out of antlers from my mom:


Knit Picks knitting chart keeper:


Knit Picks blocking mats:


and... (drum roll please) Knit Picks Harmony Interchangeables!! YAY!!


I am one contented knitter!! :D I pretty much can't think of any other tools I'll need in my knitting career that I don't have now!

Is it possible to knit too much?

I didn't think so, but after my knitting marathon last weekend (20 hours between two days!) I came away with a blister and very achy hands. I suppose that's what I get for pushing to get finished with mum's scarf AND starting my first sock!

All of this amounts to the fact that I didn't do much more knitting last night other than the gauge swatch for dad's vest. Oh, and then I cast on the back, but that's it. hehe

So what was my newly free time being spent doing, you ask? Reading! I got a hold of a few great knitting pattern books from my local library! Feminine Knits, Knitting in the Sun, and Finishing Techniques for Hand Knitters were all very informative and I've found a few patterns that I'm dying to start, but the last one I read really impressed me, Knits to Fit and Flatter.

(photo from Knitpicks.com)

There were a couple of patterns in this book I think I'll be knitting (including the one on the cover) but they weren't the highlight for me. I love the way Ellison explains why she chose all the elements of her designs and then goes about showing us how to change them if we'd like. All of her patterns in the book are made once with her main preference, and then knitted and photographed a second time with an alteration. She changes a sleeve length, a colour, a fiber or a collar and shows us how she did it and how it changes the whole look of the garment. I love this book! I have to say that I've found the information at the exact right time in my knitting education.

On the school front, orientations start in a little over a week and I'm getting really. really. excited. I'm sure I'll be writing more about that as it inches closer. :)