new book!

So, today I made another step into the knitting world. I bought a book. Up until now, I have owned no knitting books. I have the Yarn Harlot's newest book, but that doesn't have patterns or instructions (the library didn't have it, I wanted to read it, so I bought it; it was worth the money for sure). This book was a careful choice. There are the books I like which are available from the library. Some of these I would like to own someday but I don't need to buy them. And for many, while the patterns are good, it's likely that I'll knit only one or two patterns from the book. And I'm not sure it's worth the thirty dollars for the sake of two patterns. However, I do have a list of knitting books I would like to own, and my biases show. Lace. Mosaic patterns. Socks. Mittens and gloves. Vintage patterns. Modern patterns with an old-fashioned twist. Mostly small items, but larger wraps, too. Today, I finally checked one off of the list (I added two more, but one got checked off!).

Wendy D. Johnson's Socks from the Toe Up. I love this book. It covers about half a dozen cast-on methods for toes, three specific heel methods, and several ways to cast off. Then it has a number of very lovely patterns, most of which I want to knit. And most of these are lacy or cabled or otherwise texturally interesting, which I love. The photographs show the socks being modeled on actual feet (that was a complaint I had about one sock book, in which many of the pictures were of the socks alone or on sock blockers, not real feet). There are charts (I like charts. Charts are good. I didn't think so until I followed a chart and realized how much easier it really is). And there are nice, clear, written instructions as well.

So I think I have chosen wisely for my first knitting book. Vogue Knitting's Ultimate Sock Book is also on my list, but since I'm more into toe-up socks right now, this is a better choice. When I finish the socks I'm on right now, I'll probably start the Wonderland Socks, although I may get another pair going in one of the self-striping yarns I've picked up. Those can be my easy bus-knitting project.

Well, I should stop writing this and finish writing something else. And then go to sleep.