Bargain Knitting Books; Stretch response

Check out this website from the Yarnmarket. It is their Bargain page for slightly damaged books. Both of the books below are under $10 and are the last two books I would ever be without.


Montse Stanley was a Spanish architect living in London. This has wonderful line drawings that make techniques easy to see. It is organized well and is easy to use. The section on cast ons and bind offs is worth the price, but there is so much more.
Maggie Righetti was not only a great knitter, but she could write. You will love reading this book because it is humorous as well as practical. My favorite Maggie Righetti chapter is "Buttonholes Are Bastards."

There are plenty of other books and some nice yarns for very good prices. Enjoy.

As to the stretch factor of the Fair Isle socks I am making in Cotton Fine---I'll let you know. I wore the finished sock all day yesterday and it didn't stretch out at all. After I launder, I'll advise.

Cat Bordhi review

Remodeling again and it's wasted me. This time I'm having the downstairs bath enlarged so we can use it as more than a powder room. 1940's baths were tiny.

Steve and I finally painted the living room so the new sofa has a nice home. It was hard work, especially repairing the plaster. So many years since we had tackled such a project together and I quite enjoyed it.

Knitting news! Cat Bordhi's new sock book.

I enjoy Cat Bordhi's mind. I knit the two tutorial socks and I have reservations about both. You toe-up sock knitters have yet to convince me. I knit one from Cat's Sock that Soar, but it doesn't fit well enough. Tossed it on the frog pond.

Decided to work on my two socks on two circs or on Magic Loop. Annoyed by 2 balls of yarn at the same time, but stuck with it. Now I have discovered my own technique to handle the yarn and am racing through two pair.
1. Brigit-- in CTH, a pattern I found online and tweaked with twisted stitches

2. "Veil of Leaves" from the new Bordhi book in Brown Sheep Cotton Fine

The new Bordhi book has the best explanation/instruction of lifted increases and short row wraps I have ever read--and I have read many, many, many. The diagrams and schematics are terrific--well drawn and easy to understand.

Heels are a different story. I like my sturdy Dutch heels or standard turned heels. Short row heels seem insubstantial compared to them and don't ever fit as well. I've about finished the lace pair and am not happy with the heel. I want to knit a gorgeous two color design called Clematis Vine, but I have to figure out how to knit it top down and with my own heel. Well, I can do that.

Got my invite to Ravelry; no time yet to put anything up. Pics and new patterns soon.

Stitch Diva Strikes Again

I was down to the Mystery Stole and the Harry Potter Scarf; I’m sure sane people would think that enough, BUT . . . . Once I get a pattern/project conquered, I need to move to something new even while finishing the first thing. ADD? Probably, but I’ve always been this way and I cope.

I want to knit, I want to play with yarn, I want to learn, but I am in no mood to design. I have really been enjoying the Mystery Stole because all I need do is knit it. So I hit the computer—as well as books, years of magazines, the yarn shop—but couldn’t find anything I wanted to knit. This often happens.

Finally I found a pattern for a twisted stitch sock. Click here.
It’s called Brigit and was designed by Gigi Silvia; and it’s really lovely. Yes, I tweaked it. I took Austrian Twisted Stitches from Candace Eisner Strick and I’ve just received two books on the subject by Maria Erlbacher. Take a good look at those stitches in the background.The top design is knitted normally as the pattern directs, the next two designs are knitted with twisted knit sts (ktbl). Much neater, tighter effect. I didn’t really get it right until the third design which was knit after I charted the pattern. I learned the technique from charts and was getting bogged down in the verbage. I’m going to use them as samples in some sock techniques classes I’m teaching in August, so the errors will be teaching tools.

As usually happens, as soon as I found the sock, I began to plot a sweater. I thought I would redo the Stitch Diva Simple Bodice by Wendy Bernard. I liked the red one I did but I wanted to knit it with a different waist feature and a different bottom finish.

StitchDiva picked today to email me an opportunity to

1. buy patterns at a discount and

2. help some knitters.

Can’t pass that up. I bought Sahara, a sweater designed by Wendy again, and Shimmering Thread Necklaces.
Well, I need something to do with the beads leftover from the Mystery Stole.

Would have bought Trapeze but it is not yet available. I’ll get it soon.

I love these patterns because they follow the body and don’t leave inches hanging to add even more flesh to my ample body. The pics with them look too young, but they are so easy to adapt for me. Raise the neckline a little and lose the bell sleeves and it becomes quite a conservative, classically fitted sweater.

Class tonight with my very accomplished beginners and then to finish plans for all the August sock classes.

New Book; Sale book inventory; On the needles

I finally got an inventory and some pricing on my books for the craft sale. My blog readers get first dibs and then my students. After that complete strangers are welcome. I am too stupid to post a link without having to retype the list, so if you want a look, just respond or email me and I’ll shoot you a Word file. The Denise Needles I mentioned in my last entry are already gone.


I bought the new Amy Singer book because I live in the South. She has several opening chapters about the properties of non wool fibers which I need for my sweaters. Great charts that summarize the info and allow you to compare the yarns. The patterns are lovely, but were not my primary interest.
My fave is Intoxicating which combines a mosaic front with a different mosaic back and lace sleeves (Shouldn’t get bored knitting this.) I would soften the colors and maybe put the high contrast front pattern on the back. No need to draw any more attention to my boobs.


I also love Morrigan (no pic available) which is covered in small, crisp cable patterns and is knitted in Rowan’ Calmer.
I plan to buy Calmer and some hemp ASAP. Forget the vow of no new yarn. This is necessary!

Have started the Simple Knitted Bodice by Stefanie Japel which I bought from Stitch Diva. I’m doing it in (from the stash) bright red Super 10 cotton which means changing the gauge and adding some length for shrinkage. This project was supposed to be a simple “follow someone else’s pattern” but has turned out to require thought. I forgot the part about using the same yarn as the pattern to cut down on calculations, but I don’t want a worsted weight wool sweater.

New – and best ever—sock pattern underway. Also working on a lace shawl that is jerking my chain. Do not knit lace in dark handpaint. You can’t see it.