Book Lust

I checked out a couple of knitting books from my local library last week.  It's a perfect way to preview books before buying them.  Since Borders went out of business, my town is left without a decent bookstore.  The nearest Barnes and Noble is 20 minutes away... not convenient for a quick pop-in.

Knit, Swirl and The Knitter's Book of Socks

Knit, Swirl by Sandra McIver is a beautiful book.  The pictures are gorgeous and the patterns are wonderfully innovative.  Sandra's swirl jackets are knit in one piece in four different round or oval silhouettes.  She says, "A Swirl is a uniquely flattering, one piece, one seam, circular jacket with sculptured shaping and fluid fit,"


The models wearing the jackets range from 5'6" to 5'9", so I'm not sure a short, stocky woman would look good in them.  Be that as it may, each jacket is worn by at least two different models and they all look fabulous.  My favorite is the cover jacket, the coat of many colors.  I wish I could knit that sweater with the suggested yarn, but it would take 10 skeins of mountain goat, costing over $220.  Yikes!

Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Socks is a wonderful guide for sock knitters.  Everything you need to know about sock yarn from elasticity to moisture management is discussed .  And the patterns!  She's compiled patterns from 20 different rock-star designers including  Norah Gaughan, Jared Flood, Cookie A, Cat Bordhi, and Ann Budd.  There's too many lovely patterns to pick an absolute favorite, but one of mine is veil of rosebuds by Anne Hanson.

Both books are available on Amazon and Knit Picks.  I think I see a future book order coming my way...