miss ewe knits

since you asked...

A couple of quick book reviews of my recent acquisitions, for Andrea (since you asked...):

Knitting Rules, well... rules. If you like to knit, if you like to laugh (are there people who fall outside of this category), if you are a person with a crafterly soul, buy this book. It is full of Stephy-good anecdotes, plus some really useful charts and basic widget recipes for hats, scarves, socks, and shawls of all types. And a steady stream of reminders that "there are no knitting police". Some of it is pretty frivolous, but I can enjoy a little frivolity from time to time. One warning: do not read in bed, late at night, with partner who is sleepy. You will laugh, the bed will shake, your partner will get grumpy. Actually, that goes for all of Steph's books.

One Skein is probably not for everyone. I bought it because I like the idea of some suggestions for leftovers, and uses for those precious yarns of which I can only afford one. It's also great for gifts, particularly gifts that you remember you need "next weekend" (how long does it really take to knit up one skein, right???). There are some cute but (relatively) useless things, like cupcakes and candy wrapper sachets, but there are also beautiful patterns for a flower-shaped bib, baby hats, some little clutch purses, plus some nice bath accessories that would take no time and make lovely gifts. The author is really good about giving the yarn weights and gauges, so you can substitute your own leftovers easily, but if you're clever enough to dream up some simple patterns on your own (I'm not quite there yet), you could probably make a lot of this stuff without the book. But it's sweet and inspirational, and I expect I will be sweating over it in late December.

posted by miss ewe @ 4:31 p.m.