Knitting Pretty

Okay, okay - I am a sucker for knitting books. I especially like pretty knitting books. Well, what I received from our dear postal carrier today just took my breath away. Two weeks ago I ordered a nice little book from Amazon.com. Lacy Little Knits by Iris Schreier is pleasant and fun but that wasn't the true treat of the deal. When I ordered it, there was a two-fer deal at Amazon. You know the drill, "buy that and get this one, and you'll get a price break." Well, I was feeling rich that day and on a whim ordered the pair of books. I was aiming to get the first book and just liked the title of the second. Anyway, it is the 2nd book that is truly the gem. The 2nd book (have I gone on enough yet) is Annie Modesitt's Romantic Hand Knits .

Now, let me explain the difference between these books. Iris's book is just fine. The projects are nice but they are a bit mundane for me. There is a pleasant selection of patterns but none that knocked my socks off (even if I was wearing sandals). The photography is run of the mill and tends to be of the front or of 1 side of the knitted piece. There are a few pieces that I liked but the sizing was too small. Okay, yes, I admit to being, ahem, ample

Ms. Modesitt's book, on the other hand, is spectacular. The designs are inspired and novel, beautifully executed and photographed. There are good photographs of the overall garment and of the detail - often of the back of the piece. Her patterns are written for a full range of sizes (Woohoo!!). Just looking at the book and reading her narrative makes me think I could knit any of the patterns and they would all make me look good and feel sexy. Very cool!

In case you didn't know, Annie and her family recently relocated from New Jersey to Minnesota. Somewhere in the move and settling down, her husband was diagnosed with a rare (I think) and painful type of cancer (Multiple Myeloma). She is selling a beautiful pattern on her website to help support the family during this time of need. Also, if you go to this site, you can enter contests and contribute to the cause. All proceeds go to help support the family while so much of their time and energy is spent dealing with Gerry's cancer.

Obviously, I've finally learned to put links into the posts. Enough for now. Next lesson (I hope) will be photographs.