Never Enough Stitches

I just picked up the book, "400 Knitting Stitches", by Potter Craft. It was one of the gifts I gave to myself using a Michael's gift card I got for Christmas.

 I've been looking for a stitch dictionary for awhile. They help greatly when you find yourself stuck in pattern design. And just like yarn, you can never own too many.

I love the detailed images of the stitches in this book. On many of the patterns they even show how it looks from the back, giving another dimension to pattern design.

I'm not very fond of the charts used. They are a bit too small for my taste, but I'm able to manage.

I do hope in the new year that I will be able to add a few more of these books to my collection. Already, I have two designs on the needles based on thee stitches found in this book.

What I'm Reading This Week

My bi-weekly trip to the local library resulted in the find of this wonderful book- "Super Stitches Knitting" by Karen Hemingway.

First of all the author's last name is Hemingway. After reading "The Sun Also Rises", when I was 10, I was convinced that people with the last name Hemingway must be related to Ernest and therefore are cool by association.

So, the point is, that the book was cool before I even opened it. But when I did start to read it, the cool factor increased.

Yes, this is yet another stitch pattern dictionary, but its not set up the way most are.  Instead of endless black and white pages crammed with little window squares showing a portion of the pattern, you get the whole pattern still on the needles! That's right, each pattern is pictured still active on the needles and in nice glossy full color. Karen uses various yarn weights and colors to help bring out each stitch pattern to its fullest.

More then 300 stitch patterns are presented in this book. It's just one of those books that you want to keep going back to when you want a clear idea of how a pattern will look on your needles before you cast on. I may actually cry a little when I have to return the book to the library.

(Hey, Santa Claus, if you're listening, I'm putting in an early request. Please let me get this book for Christmas. If you're still on vacation and don't want to deal with Christmas orders this soon, feel free to pass along my request to the Easter Bunny. He can give it to me in place of the hollow chocolate bunny I usually get. Thanks!)