Thursday

So here it is. Thursday again. The weekend is just one sleep away. It means only one day left to prepare for Gansey Class number two and that means another marathon day. I have, as usual, left things to the last minute. Its like Christmas knitting, only not Christmas.

I'm taking the easy way out and will tell you about some lovely new books in my collection. The store is rich with books right now, and the only thing harder to resist than yarn is books

Books are serious business and I'm trying to build my knitting library with care. I focus on books that expand my knitting skills, pattern collections and the boundaries of the very deep rich history that is knitting.

My long awaited copy of Clara Parks 'Book of Wool' came in. I can't wait to find time to delve into its woolly rich resources. If it is anything so full as the Book of Yarn is, I will use it over and over again.

I had promised that when the Book of Wool came I allow myself a copy of Knitting Brioche. Knitting Brioche is a book about a single stitch, but deep within that single stitch pattern is a wealth of history, technique and variation that is almost as endless as the combinations of the knit stitch itself.

And then there was that Omnibus knitting magazine, Knitting Traditions. If you like historical knitting, this pricey but absolutely stunning collection of knitting patterns from past issues of Piecework magazine is for you.

And then as if these riches were not enough, a shipment of books from Schoolhouse press come in. Besides the stitch libraries, and the Elizabeth Zimmermann books there were copies of Twisted Stitch Knitting, by Maria Erlbacher. This is an English reprint of a book published in 1982. Schoolhouse Press unerringly choose to republish a collection of patterns and stitches that will enrich my knitting for many years to come.

All these books are riches beyond compare, but this last book is the true gem of the collection. Looking in this last book was like dipping my feet into a history that I don't quite remember, a knowledge that lingers just below the surface but that affects everything I do. It is completely new and unknown to me and yet familiar and comfortable. It was wanted before I knew it was there to want.

As good as the others are, this last book eclipses the rest. The riches within its pages will be personal history as soon as the Olympics are done.