What is that book at the bottom of the pile - Could it be? I had started to doubt it’s existence!

With all the amazing new knitting books coming out in the last year or two I have a list as long as my arm of those books that I’d like to add to my collection. I have restrained myself, for the most part, however, and did not purchase any new knitting books for most of 2006, content to knit from my magazines.

2007 may be a different story. It started with Poetry in Stitches. I stumbled on dear Hege’s blog at some point last fall and it was all downhill from there. I had to have that book, and it came in the mail early in 2007. Shortly after the love affair with Poetry began, I discovered pictures of Norsk Stikkedesign on line (hmm, now that I think of it, this may be how I found Heather’s blog - through a search for this book. I read her for awhile before I figured out that I knew her - he!**), and told myself I would hold off - after all, I won’t be ready to knit anything from these books for awhile.  But in March I heard a rumor somewhere in the blogosphere that it was going out of print. I have no idea where I saw this, nor can I verify whether there is any truth to this statement. I can tell you the very thought was enough to kick my ass in gear and I promptly ordered it from Amazon - explaining to Tad how much some out of print knitting books go for. Thus justifying my purchase, I looked forward to it’s arrival every bit as much as Poetry. Ahem, this was somewhere around beginning to mid-March. I was starting to doubt that it would ever show up. I even got a delay notice from Amazon. But it finally did arrive, about a week ago, and it is SO worth the wait. There are many projects in here that I would never knit, but just love to look at. There are at least two “lifetime” knits - as in, a project that I would dream about doing someday when I have the skill, and that it might actually take me a lifetime to knit it when I actually get around to it!

Books in general are something that Tad & I consider to be a great addition to our life and our home, and money well-spent. Even so, I try to keep my knitting book purchases to those that I will actually use, either as reference or to knit several patterns from. This book is one that I would hand down to my children one day with reverence (ok, maybe to a cherished neice - perhaps AB will knit!) .

The other two books have been picked up in the last few weeks with very specific purposes. But I think I’ll save the write up on them for another day - Both are certainly worth mention, and I am so glad to have added them to my bookshelf - But nothing can compete with this one for my affections at the moment.

**BTW, Heather had a great suggestion about procuring books directly from the author, something that seems so basic, but hadn’t occurred to me until she brought it up - what a great way to really support the author of a book that you love!

Well, the house is still in disarray and I am still a bit behind on everything, but making progress in small increments on both points!

Exhibitionist 3 - Where do you knit?

Ironically - week three was the week where I did not pick up my knitting, not once. These pictures were taken over the last week of me with faithful needles back in hand (phew!)

I knit on my favorite spot on the couch (though the couch isn’t currently where it belongs so the actual location is off - did I mention that the house is still in disarray?)

I knit in the car whenever Tad drives (which is most of the time, especially since I became a knitter!):

And I knit at the Borders coffeeshop - we go here almost weekly to sit, read, chat (and knit!):

Exhibitionist 4 - What (besides needles & yarn) is your most useful knitting tool?

This is probably not an original response, but here they are; without them I could not cast on, knit, purl, wind the next skein of yarn as I’m doing here, push-pull-poke-prod the knitted fabric as I’m blocking a piece, etc, etc. My hands are my most essential tool, and I am much more conscious of them now that I knit - at the moment they are in drastic need of some help, they are so rough from working on the house that I had little bits of fiber caught on my fingertips when I was done winding!

Isn’t this yarn beautiful? It’s a 100% silk single, dyed by Spirit Trail Fiberworks. I picked this up at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival last spring and it’s almost that time again - I can’t wait!! Finally, here’s a taste of my current WIP, also at the bookstore, where I viewed the new Spin-Off (yum!):

Maya has started a Photo-Along called Exhibitionist for us to show pictures of our knitting gear (the link is also found on the sidebar under Crowd Participation. Unfortunately I’m having some button difficulty!) I have to admit, what really roped me in was the first topic. It gave me a chance to take a trip down memory lane and document something that really is most precious to me.

This knitting kit was sewn years ago and was well-used and likely well-traveled by someone very precious to me. I love the simple beauty and tactile feel of the wool felt, the pinked edges, the straight stitches, the little blue-gray button. It was crafted as a functional object (although not without a desire to be handsome) by it’s original owner, for her personal use and without thought that it would eventually belong to someone else. In fact I believe it was made years before I existed. Now it, and it’s contents, are much loved by me. I do wish that I had learned to knit earlier. But it is so nice, to have this.