Books and such

After teaching today I walked to the library near Trafalgar square to borrow some books. This library usually has a good selection, unlike the library close to where I live. My local library seems to mainly stock chick-lit, 'romance' novels and thrillers. When I got there, it turned out that it was closed for refurbishment - maybe the council could have advertised this on its libraries page, rather than the fact that they put some kind of video on Youtube? So I ended up going into Waterstones and buying three books in a three for two deal with a gift voucher and some loyalty points. I haven't bought novels in ages - I've been going to the library instead, - so I'm feeling a bit guilty, as I am bound to end up giving one or two of them to charity. Still, books aren't that bad value compared to cinema tickets or even DVDs.

I bought the Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini - it is quite surprising that I haven't read this one yet. I haven't seen the movie either. The second book is the new Alexander McCall Smith book, The World According to Bertie, which I was planning to buy anyway. I like his novels when I am in the mood for something light and for beach holidays. The third book is On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan, which I am hoping will be very good.

It was sort of silly though to buy three books, when I was planning to order some off the internet as well. I started reading a library copy of A Suitable Boy, but since the book is about 1000 pages, I felt that maybe I should get my own copy. I might just re-borrow it from the library now. I am also planning to buy Reason For God, because it was recommended by one of the pastors at my church. And my book group picked Diving Bell and Butterfly as our next read. It sounds thoroughly depressing and neither of the libraries I go to stocks it. At least it's cheap on Amazon, but it may just go straight to charity after the book group meet...

At home I had a package waiting for me: I finally got the two old Rowan magazines I ordered about two weeks ago (or was it just last week?) I really liked the designs on Ravelry, but I think if I just picked them up in the shop, I wouldn't buy them. Maybe it's the styling? At least now I have quite a few 4ply cotton patterns, which is what I wanted. And there are definitely a couple of patterns here that I would like to knit. Still, unlike Interweave Knits, leafing through them is definitely an anticlimax. But I do love the Kaffee Fassett blanket in Magazine 37, even though I haven't even seen it online.

The postman rings again

Lately I haven't been wanting to shop for yarn like crazy, so my knitting budget for this month looks a lot more healthy. So I decided to try and find the autumn 2007 issue of Interweave Knits before it was too late and ended up buying it from a lovely lady on ravelry at a very reasonable price, which is great, given that others have apparently spent a fortune on ebay on used copies. Originally I wanted it for the minimalist cardigan, but now I really like the look of the placed cable aran. It would be the perfect weekend pullover for next autumn. Whenever I get an actual issue of IK I always like different patterns than the ones I like looking at their web site or ravelry. It is just different seeing the large glossy printed pictures.

I also bought Knitting on the Road by Nancy Bush, because someone was selling a damaged copy on Amazon at a reduced price. The damage turned out to be minimal both to the book (dent on the cover) and my budget. And I love, love, love the patterns.

I promise I will post about knitting and not shopping soon.

Mail surprise

There was an Amazon package in the post today. I suspected an order on my husband's part, since I haven't ordered anything lately. But then again, he uses the my amazon account to place orders and I probably would have noticed an email thanking me for ordering 'A Very Boring Book on Finance'. So it was almost like a surprise gift - although it turned out it was a gift from me!

I ordered Vogue Ultimate Knitting about two months ago and it was out of stock. I must have somehow missed the email notifying me that it was finally dispatched (I ordered a few gifts for others recently so I probably thought the email was for that...) I haven't had that much time to look at it yet, but this book looks brilliant. Pages and pages of techniques all clearly laid out. It seems like it will be a reference book I'll use over and over again.

We were also away on a brief sailing trip to Greece and when I got home I had my sock yarn of the months, some stitch markers and needles from a ravelry karma swap waiting for me. What fun!

Instead of joining a sock club, I thought it would be nice to try a different brand every month. This month I ordered some lovely yarn from the yarn yard in the one-off colour "surprise": a heathery, brownish, reddish, purplish variegated yarn. It seems like a perfect colour for some autumnal socks when the seasons change again... Delivery was ultra fast and the yarn feels gorgeous.

The stitch markers are from See Jayne Knit look beautiful and appear very well made. They already grace one of my knitting projects :-) Finally, the double pointed needles from BatOutOfHell are the result of a swap on the UKarma group on Ravelry. So despite the fact I haven't been doing much knitting related shopping this month (only the stitch markers and the sock yarn - doing well!) I can't complain about a lack of packages.

Spring is in the air (and in the mail)

After a cold miserable Easter (perfectly spent having leisurely meals with friends and knitting on the sofa) it seems like spring is finally here. And to complement the weather on Monday the spring edition of Interweave Knits has finally landed in my mailbox.

I subscribed to IK over the winter and I was looking forward to my first issue. Which never arrived. IK extended my subscription by an issue and I ended up buying the magazine from Amazon US, as this was still cheaper than ordering it from an online store in the UK. Sometimes Amazon US stuff takes ages to get here, but this time it was quite fast (just over one working week). I quite like the printed silk cardigan and the auburn camp shirt. There is a good likelihood I will knit printed silk. I am waiting to see a few finished examples of the camp shirt on ravelry before I commit to knitting another garment on tiny needles. Oh and I might knit the leggings from skinny knits as a pair of knee-high socks. People on ravelry were complaining about the sizing, but how different from normal sock sizing can it be? Just increase and decrease like in the Nancy Bush patterns or in Knitting Without tears.

Which reminds me of my vintage me-shaped summer top project. It is going well. I put the stitches on some scrap yarn (ok, the end of a ball of yarn from another project that is currently not in use) and tried it on. It fits. I am happy. However, I did decide to rip a few rows back, since I wasn't happy with the pattern / position of a contrast colour stripe I decided to add. But as I promised myself that I will not be afraid of ripping back in order to get a great looking top, I ripped. It shouldn't take me long at all to get to the waist shaping. There the fun starts - I can see more ripping in the future.

Mental note to self: Add a lifeline of scrap yarn before I start to decrease for the waist!

I'm so excited...

As I said before, I have gone on a yarn binge. But - I am really excited about what I bought and my urge to shop seems to have lessened.

What I am most excited about is the colourmart superfine merino dk that came in the mail today. I got it at a good price and it feels so soft. It is a lovely colour too. And I bought it with a purpose in mind: to knit a cardigan that caught my eye from the Debbie Bliss cashmerino DK pattern book. I bought the pattern book specifically for this pattern (although there are some other nice ones in it too - like the lovely, lovely Alpine cardigan).

The Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns by Barbara Walker that I ordered of Amazon US also came in the mail this week. Packages from Amazon US seem to take ages to arrive. I love it already - I want to knit a scarf for my dad's partner for her birthday and I think I am just going to pick one of the lace patterns for it.

So with all the cotton and sock yarn I bought this months, I am more than happy with my stash acquisitions and have lots of lovely projects to look forward to.