The Picture Parade Continues

My brother, it would seem, was having fit of Christmas Spirit and purchased every single thing I could point at in Borders. He bought me four knitting books. Three of which are pattern books. (It would also seem that I am a pattern whore. Some people stash yarn, I hoard patterns. Then, I organize the priority of which one to do next. I even go so far as to locate the cheapest yarn, be it the called for kind or a substitution and figure out the cost of the pattern, notate it and move on.)

He also got me Adorable Knits for Tots by Zoe Mellor (again). One would think that I am expecting, but I have just decided small clothes are easier. And less expensive.

Her patterns can be intricate, but they are certainly colorful and exciting knits. She states in her prologue that she has two boys (the oldest of which is pictured in the pirate photograph below), so not suprisingly, most of her designs are for boys. More surprising is the fact that my favorites are the boys designs. She makes the sweaters with the most fun colors and designs and completely ignores the boys-must-be-dressed-in-drab rule. Great for women bored stiff with green and blue sweaters and unwilling to knit anothe cable. Yes, the skull is smiling.










I read all of Yarn Harlot by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee the day after Christmas. It was an easy read, and quite entertaining. I won't go into afull review, because most of you have heard about this book before. Just go get a copy and read it. You'll be glad you did.

Debbie Bliss's book Special knits for Babies is filled with elegant knits using her specialty yarns (DOH!) Baby Cashmerino and Cashmerino Aran, both costing in the $8.00+ a skien. The yarns sound very soft, merino wool, cashmere and microfiber, and are labeled machine washable. And no one can doubt the gorgeous pieces they produce, so I'm glad to have the book, but I might have to mortgage the house to afford knitting all the pieces I like: (click to enlarge)













However, some of the patterns in this book involve sewing on velvet piping, organza edging ( both not shown), beading and lace ruffles. One pattern involves sewing a whole bag. These patterns are not for the arts & crafts impaired. Some of my MOST favorite patterns (top right and left) involve the most adorable child ever. You can't see it, but her eyes are this exotic blue-grey color. I just want to keep her. Do you think it's affecting my pattern judgement?

Itty Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson was the surprise book. It has the most adorable patterns. They all use more than one color of yarn, so you get to use multiple techniques. Some patterns use crochet, such as the turtle and chicken hats. A few patterns involve felting. All hats are three dimensional. NO boring baby hats here. Here are some of my favorites: