Just Nicky

When not buying yarn… July 7, 2006

I buy books about knitting! Books about knitting socks to be specific.

A couple of weeks ago I caved into temptation and ordered some books on Amazon.com because I really, really wanted them and I’m convinced that it’s cheaper to buy them from there and ship them here, rather than buying them locally. They arrived while we were away.

The first book is Nancy Bush’s Knitting Vintage Socks. I heard Nancy interviewed on a knitting podcast (can’t remember which one) and read some really good reviews of the book. I hadn’t seen it in Borders here, which is about the only place I’d expect to stock it. Essentially Nancy has taken a 100 year old book of sock patterns and reworked them using modern yarns and more realistic needle sizes (eg. one pattern for children’s socks was originally worked on 1mm needles in crochet cotton and she’s adjusted it to 2mm needles in sock yarn).

The other book is Sensational Knitted Socks by Charlene Schurch. I originally saw this one in Borders and it cost about $55. At US$16.47 - about AU$23.00 by my guess - it was definitely cheaper to buy it from Amazon. This book is a kind of DIY guide to knitting socks. It gives the reader a breakdown of sock antomy, yarn weights and gauge (not that I ever swatch a damn thing, something I must get into the habit of) and a series of stitch patterns with instructions on how to use them.