Book review: Knits from the North Sea

I haven't done much blogging lately but I have been doing a ton of knitting. Lace knitting. I owe many explanations and photos and I promise I will post them, but I'm a bit distracted right now by a new lace knitting book that was just released, Knits from the North Sea: Lace in the Shetland Tradition by Carol Rasmussen Noble and Margaret Leask Peterson. Sandy, my LYSO showed us a flier from the publisher at our lace knitting group a couple of months ago. From the flier the projects looked wonderful and based on the success of our spring KAL using a book group members agreed that this new book would be wonderful as the source for projects for our fall KAL. We decided to go for it, sight unseen. Note to self: never ever commit to a book or pattern for a KAL sight unseen ever again. PS. Wait to see what the real contents a book are before blowing big bucks on a copy. PPS. Don't trust that a book labeled Shetland lace will indeed contain Shetland lace projects. PPPS. Never buy a lace book authored by Carol Rasmussen Noble ever again---it is bad for one's blood pressure and quality of sleep. That woman has some mighty crazy ideas about lace knitting.

I have spent a serious amount of time over the past week trying to decipher, decode, and or otherwise make sense out of the content of this supposed Shetland lace book. It hasn't been easy. I forgot to take note of the author when making the initial decision to use this book for the LK group Fall KAL. I was reminded very fast when I turned the introductory Tips and Techniques section and saw the recommendation to only use straight needles (not circular) when knitting lace. GROAN! Oh no, that crazy lady. I didn't purchase her previous lace book as a newbie lace knitter based on that blanket statement. The consensus of the online (international) lace knitting community is that using circular needles is not only perfectly fine, but frequently necessary to accommodate the large number of stitches in a project. My current shawl project, the Aeolian Lace Shawl has ~450 sts at present. That just ain't gonna ever fit on Ms. Noble's 10" straight needles. But I digress.

I knew right away I was in for trouble upon looking at the first project, Carol's Mountain Stream Scarf. The knitter is instructed to use US1/2.25mm needles to knit a popular kid mohair/silk lace yarn, Douceur et Soie. Huh??? I have always used either a size 5 or 6 needle with the yarn as it has such a lofty halo from the mohair content. Trying to knit this stuff on a sz 1 could make a sane lace knitter suicidal, really! The whole book was filled with cra* like this. To make matters worse, very few of the designs used distinctive Shetland motifs, most were either plain vanilla, simply nice, or worse, from the Orenburg Russia lace tradition. If you can explain how that fits in a Shetland lace book I'd love to hear it. Don't tell me it's because both countries touch the North Sea cuz Orenburg is a far cry from the North Sea..like the whole of the Ural Mountains away. To make maters worse, all of CRN's designs are labelled and presented in such a way as to more closely reflect her Reno, NV home--not the Shetland Isles. Go figure?

My first reaction/recommendation is to save your money and don't waste it buying this book. Nothing in it is worth even the Amazon price of ~$17. But I have already committed to using this book for my KAL and the announcements are out so I have the unpleasant task of editing the errors and just plain nonsense and turning the projects into something my newbies can manage and my intermediate knitters will enjoy. Translation: much swatching and many long conversations with my LYSO on how to guide customers who plan to knit projects from the book. Martingale Press should pay me for all the work it has been fixing this mess. Never again I tell you.

I am knitting a couple of scarves from the book just so I can know how to guide the knitters in the group. The projects will be nice once I have finished editing the patterns so all is not lost. It's just a whole lot more work than I had planned on and the projects aren't what I had hoped for. Lesson learned. SIGH!

Simple Pleasures

You know, it doesn't really take very much to make me happy these days. I think I demanded much more of my self (and others) when I was younger. Perhaps that's just the way it is as one gets older. Maybe not. Either way, I'll take my joy wherever and whenever I can find it. More often than not, I only have to look in my own yard to find joyful things. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I capture those images with my camera. Today was one of those days. The first photo shows a Spicebush Swallowtail butterfly nectaring on one of my most loved wildflowers, the Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis). The spicebush swallowtail is a large butterfly (~4") and the iridescent blue hindwings glow in sharp contrast to the vivid crimson red of the cardinal flowers. (Can you believe I took that picture! Yowser!!!)

I fell in love with Cardinal flowers the first time I saw them in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park maybe a dozen or so years ago. I attended a plant sale my 1st fall (9 yrs. ago) back in Tennessee to complete a graduate school assignment. The gardenistas (is that a word???) were hauling 1 gal potted cardinal flowers out by the little red wagonload. I just had to have one so I carefully chose the perfect plant, a splurge at the time, and took it home. Given a nice shady or semi shady spot, a little compost, and plenty of water and in a few years you too can have dozens of cardinal flowers to brighten your yard in August and September when everything else is withered. You'll have enough to transplant to every shady spot you have and more to share with friends and family. Add a few Lantana to the mix and the butterflies and hummingbirds become your daily companions (esp. if those butterflies cocoon in the trees and bushes around the house). I never said joy didn't require a little work!


I'm delighted beyond words that this photograph turned out. Let's just say I tested the limits of my camera's ability to focus at maximum zoom. This is a juvenile Cooper's Hawk perched in a very large tree in my neighbor's yard. The tree may be in his yard, but from our deck & patio we get maximum enjoyment from it. This summer we've had an unusually high number of visits from a pair of Cooper's Hawks. This tree is a perfect place to scan the underbrush for prey like chipmunks, rabbits, field mice (eek!), snakes (yikes!!!), and even squirrels and groundhogs. And to think I live in a subdivision in a very populated area of town! These large raptors look quite massive when they decide to drop by my birdbath. Needless to say every one else vacates the premises in a hurry. I'm grateful to have such a natural form of rodent control nearby :-)

So, that's what's happening in my garden, now for the knitting content (this is a knitting blog, right?). I dropped in at Loopville yesterday to chat with Jinka, the owner, and see if I could exchange the 2 balls of Kidsilk Haze I bought 2 weeks ago. Long story short--do not expect KSH purchased now to match in color/dyelot the KSH purchased last winter. I tried and it didn't so rather than keep the mismatched balls I figured I trade them in for another color and maybe add a ball or two to knit another project. Jinka was a sport and I left with 4 balls in a yummy deep burgundy color called liqueur. So now I have 3 balls of Trance and 4 balls of Liqueur and decisions to make on which 2 shawl patterns I want to knit. Maybe I will finally knit something out of VLT

I ran into Judy Sumner, our local famous designer and the woman behind Knoxsocks Designs, while at Loopville. She does walk-in tutoring 3 afternoons a week but no one showed up yesterday. That was great for me because Judy had just received one of the new Japanese Stitch Dictionaries she had ordered and she was anxious to share this newfound treasure. I was practically speechless this book was so good. These stitch designs, which included cables, lace, edgings, and the like, were so far superior and creative way beyond anything I have seen coming out of the United States or Europe. I left the shop drooling and chanting "I want, I want, I want!!!" Better yet, the price point was no worse the buying the Barbara Walker Treasuries according to Judy. That means I can afford it if I plan well. I have the ISBN# and where she ordered them so maybe next month. Judy was busy designing a sock pattern for a popular handpainted yarn company, so keep your eyes open! While I'm at it, you should check out her website. There are some very nice sock patterns there and you would be supporting one of the most kind and generous ladies I've ever had the pleasure to meet.

Whew! I'm getting long-winded here, but I just have to share my used bookstore find before I shut up and call it a night. As a part of my dejunking endeavors I gathered up a bunch of gardening and flower arranging books to trade in at McKay's, my favorite used book store. I knew I get pretty good credit for these books and I was right. It was a good thing cuz' I scored a copy of EZ's Knitting Without Tears in superb condition! I've been trying to slowly acquire all the Elizabeth Zimmerman books for my knitting library as I consider them to be among the bones of a good knitting library. You know, right up there with the stitch dictionaries and lace books like AGOL and VLT. So while I'm standing there in the craft section I meet a couple of ladies from a neighboring town and one lady points to a book on the shelf and tells me it's on her must own list, especially if you ever want to design your own sweaters and such. She said the magic words, design your own, so I grab the book and start thumbing through. I can tell right away that she is correct and I decide to splurge even though the price point ($8) was a bit much, I thought, for an old book. Later i decided I had made out like a bandit with this book: The Complete Book of Progressive Knitting by Ida Riley Duncan (c)1940. This little green book has it all, from how to knit to how to design a skirt or sweater with the proper proportions to a small stitch dictionary at the back. I just love vintage books--another simple pleasure in life.

Knit on!

Worth the Wait

After multiple delays and 3 long months of waiting I finally received my copy of Sharon Miller's "Heirloom Knitting" from Amazon in the mail today. All I can say is it was worth the wait--WOW! I've wanted this book for about a year now but just couldn't justify the $56 price tag, so when Amazon finally discounted the price back in February I jumped at the opportunity. I knew to expect a 6 week wait when I ordered, but when the 6 weeks was past, they said it would be another 5-6 weeks. I pouted and groaned, but said I'd wait. I figured I was too busy writing to have time to do anything with it anyhow, and this way it would be a graduation present.

This is one of those knitting books Regenia would say you read "like a novel" because the stories are so fascinating. I love the BIG PRINT charts that you can actually read and the fact that the knitting techniques used to create such beautiful lace are so simple. I also love all the history behind the lace motifs. Knitting my own Shetland Shawl is going to be so much fun, all I need to do is figure out what I want to knit ans what yarn to do it with. I have some excellent candidates in my stash already.

I was hoping my yarn from Richard would arrive today too, but I guess the presents need to arrive one at a time. I'm on hold with the Bugs shawl until I figure out what yarn to use. As it is, I will most likely need to drop down to a size 3 needle as the size 4 was huge with the cashmere. In the meantime I'm having a blast knitting my Flamingo Pink Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Yarn. Can you tell what pattern I'm using from the picture? I''l give you three clues: 1)It's an infamous free pattern from MagKnits, 2) it has ZigZag patterning, & 3) The designer is friends with Oscar the Grouch. Have you figured it out yet??? Yup, it's from our favorite "Yankee" knitter Grumperina--Jaywalker Socks! I've wanted to knit these for some time too, mostly because everyone else seems to have already knit them with either raving success or endless frustration. I'm finding them to be a very easy knit and a perfect choice for the striping of the Flamingo yarn.

And while we're on the subject of socks, I read the funniest comic strip yesterday. Well, maybe not the funniest, but in light of my current addiction to knitting socks, it was humorous. Check it out here

I haven't done much knitting today as I busy sewing a new outfit to wear to graduation. I tried my best to find something new that I could buy, but I totally struck out there so I gave up and hit the fabric store instead. I bought some deliciously rich butter yellow rayon/linen fabric that is perfect for the skirt and short-sleeve jacket I'm making. I cut the jacket out last night and the I cut and sewed the skirt this afternoon. Skirts go so fast it's hardly worth the frustration of trying to buy one. When I do find a skirt I like in the stores, I always have to hem them up, so I'm behind the machine no matter how you look at it. I'll post some pictures once I get things put together.

Getting an Education

So classes are officially underway for the spring semester on Rocky Top and what am I doing? I'm getting an education, not in nursing, but in the fishing communities of Victorian England and Ganseys, the sweaters knitted and worn by those who live by and made their living from the sea. Fascinating! I got into this through my camaraderie with the knitty folks at EZasPi where Liz Lovick is leading an online workshop on Gansey Knitting. So instead of going to the University Bookstore and buying textbooks (Thank God I'm past that point) I went to the used bookstore to snoop through the knitting and craft books. And guess what? I hit the jackpot! I found the top 2 out-of-print (OOP) books Liz recommended for reading about Gansey Knitting. The 1st is Michael Pearson's Traditional Knitting: Aran, Fair Isle, and Fisher Ganseys (c 1984) and the other is The Complete Book of Traditional Guernsey and Jersey Knitting by Rae Compton (c 1985). And in keeping with my lace addiction I also came across a multi-technique lace book called The Gentle Arts which includes both knitting and tatting patterns among its many offerings. It's a good thing I don't need any more yarn for awhile since I just splurged on all these books. While the prices were more than reasonable they still add up and my trade-ins only defrayed a part of the outlay. The sacrifices one has to make for education!