What to do with all that leftover yarn

I picked up a copy of Mini Skein Knits from the library as it looked interesting and useful. While I probably will not directly knit any of the patterns, they do give a knitter lots of ideas for small skeins and leftovers.

One oddity about the book is it provides instructions on how to make a knit stitch, a purl stitch, an increase, a decrease, how to cast on and bind off, etc. But nowhere are there instructions about colorwork, which abounds in the patterns. I don't find Fair Isle to be all that intuitive, but hey, maybe that is just me.

Not the usual cast of characters

After reading the latest from Clara Parkes, I wasn't sure I wanted to read another book of knitting stories, but Knitting Yarns (edited by Ann Hood) is a refreshing change of pace. All of the contributors are writers but most are not knitting writers, and some are not even knitters. There were a few knitting-as-metaphor bits, but mostly the collection focuses on how, one way or another, knitting impacted their lives.

Many of the names are familiar: Barbara Kingsolver, Hope Edelman, Elizabeth Berg, Sue Grafton, Jane Smiley, etc. This book became my bedside reader, the one I reached for when I wanted a little finite something to read before sleep. And there were patterns!

Which brings me to my only complaint about this book: no pictures, not even line drawings, to go with the patterns. To see them, you have to go to the designer's website. Otherwise, this book is a pleasant diversion.

Casting Off

I picked this book by Nicole Dickson off the new fiction shelf at the library, to see if it could successfully put the "knitting" into "knitting novel". Casting Off is more accurately classified as "knitting romance", but don't let that stop you from giving it a try. The main character is kind of annoying, and the storyline is equal parts predictable and unlikely, and the book is a bit long-winded, but it is redeemed by the ganseys.



Each chapter starts with a description of a gansey stitch or combination of stitches, lifted from a fictional source. Each definition also includes the meanings behind the stitches. Consequently, a gansey created with a combination of stitch patterns tells a story about the wearer. This is the most successful part of the book and makes me wish the fictional source of this information was not so fictional.

I would also call this book "beach fiction" - it will hold your attention well enough while you bake in the sand, but is not so engrossing you will lose track of the kids.

It's Snowing Again?!?

February is asserting itself with another snowfall, making sure we know it is Leap Year and not March yet. Now that I have other plans for tomorrow, there will probably be enough snow for cross country skiing. This year I just can't win.



This is the house of one of the neighbors who did not blow my driveway after the last snow. Neither did my next door neighbor. I shoveled a bit, enough to get my car out of the garage, but have not had the time nor the energy to finish the job. Both these neighbors have been very helpful this winter, but I guess even they have their limits. I'm home sick (the usual: sore throat, headache, runny nose, etc.) so I'm not going to tackle it today. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, if it doesn't melt first. One can always hope!

Meanwhile, I needed something bright and cheerful to work on, plus I am out of "expectant grandmother sets," so I knitted up this Mason-Dixon Knitting baby bib and burp rag.



They are in Peaches & Cream on US 6 needles. I like how the "Daisy Ombre" colorway pools on the bib but not the burp rag. All I need to do is add a button to the bib and they will be ready to go.

The other night, I had to try my hand at filet crochet, so I worked up this pattern from Filet Crochet.



It's in Red Heart Sport (not the best choice), on a size 00 crochet hook, and it took about two hours, including time to figure out what the heck I was doing and to undo some mistakes. The square is about 8.5 inches on a side and took 20g of yarn. It was kinda fun, so I'll probably do more in the future.

Meanwhile, I got this out of the library:



I have to admit, this Harmony Guide is kind of disappointing. I don't know if it is the photography or the yarn, but the pictures are not very enticing. The other Harmony Guides I have looked at were lacking charts, but this book has charts... for some of the designs. I wonder what the editors based that decision on, besides cost.

Well, sick or not, I am washing the dishes. Otherwise I will have no pots to cook supper in. Then it is time for a nap.

P.S. The spell-checker is back, but Blogger is balking at uploading photos today, so I have resorted to using Flickr. The template seems to be chopping off some of the pix, though. *sigh*

In Stitches

Does anyone out there have experience with filet crochet? Me neither. I picked up a book on it at the library, though: Filet Crochet, by Betty Barnden.



Basically, you crochet mesh squares, filling in some of them with extra double crochet stitches and leaving some open, to create a design or pattern. And you don't have to use teeny tiny crochet hooks and finer-than-fine threads. Any yarn and an appropriately sized crochet hook will do. It doesn't look difficult. I might give it a go some night, with some leftover fingering, just to see what it is like. (Just what I need, another yarn craft!)

Other books I have been getting out of the library as they come available include the new releases of the Harmony Guides. Apparently, many other knitters are also looking for them because the only two I have seen so far are Knit and Purl and Lace and Eyelets.



The surprising thing about these books is they do not include charts. Instead, the stitch work is described row by row. Personally, I prefer charts. At least, that is what I am used to.

As far as content goes, I can see myself making use of Knit and Purl, but not so much Lace and Eyelets. I do enjoy some of the names of the patterns, though, like "Lawn Hyacinths" and "Papyrus Lace" and "Raised Tyre Track Panel".

Despite my good intentions, I bought more yarn last night, online from Elann.com. The Pinwheel Sweater is on my list of things to knit this year, so yarn for that is okay, but I included yarn for the Sun Ray Shawl as well. This is my first order with Elann, and that is a lot of yarn to buy sight unseen. Fingers and toes and knitting needles crossed, that I like what I bought.

Book of Yarn

Have you ever substituted one weight yarn for another, only to produce disasterous results? Want to know why? Then I recommend you add to your knitting book shelf The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes.

Most of us know Clara through her website Knitter's Review where she reveals an astounding knowledge of yarn and knitting. This book, subtitled "The Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Using, and Enjoying Yarn," is a compendum of that knowledge.

When I received my copy, I tried sitting down and just reading it, and you can do that if you wish. But I find it is more useful and fun to pick out some yarn from your stash, then find that yarn's description in the book. It's like lab work in biology - until you dissect that frog yarn, you won't really understand what it's about.



(I am adding the above Amazon graphic and link because, well, I'm an "associate" of Amazon. In all the time I have been an associate (one year?), I have not earned one red cent from this program. If anyone ever has, I would appreciate hearing about it!)