We’ve definitely crossed over that line at work — in case you had any lingering doubts. We are in BTS (back to school) with a vengeance.
Yesterday, a customer came up to check out with all black stuff — border, letters, probably a dozen black items. I asked her if she was going for a Goth look for her classroom. It struck me as a reasonable question, which says something about the level of fatigue I had reached or possibly about my blog-reading habits, and it gave her a good laugh. (Um, no — she was a ballet teacher. Her backgrounds were pink.)
We’ve gotten the announcements for the new fall knitting books — along with a hint that knitters like to start their holiday projects “months in advance,” so we had better get the books into the stores.
The Yarn Harlot has a new book coming out. Nicky Epstein, author of Knitting on the Edge, is following it up with Knitting Over the Edge. Stewart, Tabori, and Chang are bringing out a new holiday knitting book with gifts, decoration, and clothing. Alterknits combines knitting with quotes from Albert Einstein, always an appealing choice.
There are a couple of new crochet books that look interesting. One is for converting knit patterns to crochet — something that does not appeal to me at all, but would be helpful for crocheters who cannot knit. There is also a book on felted crochet. I can’t believe I hadn’t thought about that before. Crochet gives you a firmer fabric in the first place, and you also have more immediate direct control over the shape of your object. And yet, often we do not choose crochet for a project because the look or texture of the fabric is not quite what we’re after. Felting could solve that — I am definitely going to experiment with it.
I also saw a sample pattern from Compassionate Knitting, a book which promises to help knitters “connect with the basic goodness of the world.” This sort of thing leaves me cold, frankly, though it is obviously a new fad in the knitting world, to judge from the number of books promising us enlightenment with our knitting. But the sample pattern, a toddler outfit with shooting stars, is very cute. I’ll keep it in case I ever have grandchildren to make it for.
None of these books is on my personal booklust list. I am wishing for Poetry in Stitches, a hard-to-find book of Norwegian sweaters.
A little review may be called for here. I have been looking at knitting books in search of a perfect triangular shawl. I did not find one. I did buy Denim People, The Knitter’s Handy Book of Sweater Patterns, and Celtic Knits, none of which contains a shawl pattern, perfect or otherwise. I cannot defend this. Particularly in a month which requires so much in the way of tuition, school clothes, and stuff, three knitting books was way over the top. So I definitely will not be buying Poetry in Stitches. Family, you can club together and get it for me for Christmas.
I realize that I have not told you anything about the Handy Book. I think that is because it is strictly a utilitarian book. My grandmother had a leaflet which gave the stitch counts for every possible permutation of raglan sweaters in all kinds of sizes and weights of yarn. You could make a chunky cardigan for a toddler or a laceweight pullover vest for a a grandfather or anything in between. This book purports to do the same thing for several styles of sweaters. I won’t know whether it delivers until I make a few sweaters from it. I can tell you this: if you buy knitting books for the gorgeous pictures of moody people in stunning garments, you won’t like this book.
BTS is the holiday kickoff. Obsessed parents running around like idiots here we go…