I did take a wee nap after posting yesterday. It was lovely and by the end of the day, I felt so much better, human, almost even adultish (translation: no longer whining for her mama).
Because there was not a lot of knitting or other work going on, and because my mind was thinking about all the books spilling all over here for Christmas, I started thinking about my library. Specifically I started thinking about my library of knitting books. More to the point, I started thinking about how I ought to put away the stack that has piled up in front of the bookcase on the floor. If I ever mean to put up a tree and get these gifts wrapped, they need somewhere to go and that somewhere is right there, where the stack of books was.
I took the one book that was on my coffee table, and wandered over to the pile. You saw the Japanese Stitch Dictionary I got earlier this year. I started to put it on the shelf, but
it reminded me of my other Japanese stitch dictionaries. I hadn't seen them lately so I searched and there they were.
As I was finding them, the thought crossed my mind that I had a lot of stitch dictionaries, and I wondered if I had ever really looked at them en masse or if I ever talked about why I love stitch dictionaries so much. If I did, it probably was a long while ago.
So I will begin with the Japanese books, any of them, all of them, even the ones I don't have. These are fantastic books. There is a distinctly Japanese sensibility to the design of the stitches, the calm ordered approach to something where a small change can make an old stitch extraordinary and utterly creative in ways that change what you see and do with them. Unique happens in each of these volumes and I highly recommend them. There are a couple of others I wish I had, but you can't have everything, though I do try. :)
If you were looking for good basic dictionaries you cannot go wrong with the classics. I bought these early on in my knitting life and I have never regretted it. On a Saturday afternoon when my hands are tired, and my mind is done with thinking, I will sometimes have a cup of tea and just sit back and pull one of these off the shelf to thumb through.
I usually spend a lot of time mulling the first two volumes, though I may have to change that up a little. With my recent forays into slip stitches, I find myself becoming fascinated by what happens when you use them. There are a lot of designs out there lately where slip stitches play a big role, and familiarising myself with one of the best sources for them may be a thing whose time has come. All the volumes have significant sections of slipped stitch goodness.
And one of my oldest groups of stitch dictionaries.
I had a full complement of the Harmony Guides but one crochet volume has gone walk about. Good basic stitch guide and an entire volume of knitting techniques too. Sadly these are no longer sold in this format.
I have one more basic stitch dictionary , though to call it basic in any way, under rates it in the extreme.
This is a truly fantastic book, all texture all the time. It verges on lace without being lace. It verges on cables without being strictly cables. Like my lovely Japanese stitch dictionaries, this too, has a very particular sensibility about it.
This books makes me think I heard about something I read about Bach. "
It was within the "confinement of the law" that Bach burst out with unprecedented creativity. This proves, against all expectations, that the "finiteness" of the law leads to infinite riches. What Bach proved as nobody else was that it is not in novelty that one reaches the deepest of all human creative experiences, but in the capacity to descend to the depths of what is already given. Bach's works were entirely free of any innovation, but utterly new in originality. " (from an article by Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardoza )
This isn't a book that colours outside the lines. This book isn't one that colours the leaves of the trees anything other than green. This is a book that makes you see and feel every single shade of green with every, nuance and variation and hue under heaven. It plumbs the depths and heights that green can be all the while staying within the lines of green and leaves you feeling utterly sated and pleased with the world as it is given to you, in stitches. This book is a masterwork.
And then my favourite old stitch book, or rather encyclopedia.
I love this book. It has a nice beefy section on knitting and some wonderful stitch patterns. It's only limitation is the patterns are all written only, no graphs, but I go to this again and again. When I cannot decide, it is sometimes helpful to have fewer to choose from.
Then there are the technique based dictionaries. There is lace.
This Barbara Abbey book is a particularly fine collection of edging stitches and insertions or what we more commonly use them as today, borders. It does have a few patterns in it, but on my bookshelf, it is all about the edgings. A serious lace lovers book to be sure.
If I could have only one book that I viewed as a lace stitch reference book, I would go with one of the Haapsalu books, any of them, just for the sheer beauty of the book. There is a third one out recently too but it hasn't quite made it to my shelf yet. So many books, so little shelf. I have to keep telling myself this.
Technically neither of these are stitch dictionaries, but that is how I use them and think about them. They are a superior resource of tradition and of stitch patterns. These books are really works of art, with knitting inside and at least one ought to grace a well curated shelves. My must be doubly well curated then. I do have two. So far.
There are oodles of nice little books out about sweaters for what we generally call a gansey. This is one of the oldest and while some of its history may be suspect, the stitch patterns are some of the finest ever collected. There are smaller collections of stitches in every other book on traditional ganseys, but they all refer to this one.
If you are talking stitch techniques, one of my favourite dictionary type books is this one.
This marvelous resource of twisted stitch knitting made me dream of a sampler. My large project that once was a tube and now is a wrap was knit using stitches from this book. There will be many more things using this book down the road.
In the technique dictionary class, I also put these lovely books from Nicky Epstein. These are a dictionary of shapes and cool interesting things you can do with the shapes of your knitting. There are some truly amazing things inside each of these. Take a basic shape and see how you can play. It's a fascinating way to look at your knitting. I remember Nicky Epstein from the pages of McCall's Needlework magazines in the 80's. Nicki Epstein made me dream of knitting. She still makes me wish...well that is really for another post. Meanwhile, I am just thrilled that I had the chance to meet her in person. One of the highlights of working at the yarn store, without a doubt.
But there is another much admired person I recall from those selfsame pages of McCall's Needlework, Kaffe Fassett. I got to meet him too, at the yarn store, which was another truly lifetime thrill. I got to chat with him on a quiet afternoon. What a nice man.
A couple years ago, he published a book of forms from his knit designs. Many of these are like old friends, some having been published in those same McCall's magazines and in the many books published by him over the years. A lot of intarsia if you were trying to nail down a technique, but you know what I think of this book as? A dictionary of colour bravery, for that is how I see his work. His colour forms shapes and those shapes turn into things and fabrics and movement and life and art. This is a dictionary of inspiration to the colour timid.
Before I get into the last category of technique dictionaries, there are a couple others I have that I have very mixed feelings about. Each of these are on my 'if I need to make room on my bookshelf' list. I often think about giving them away. It isn't that they are bad books at all, but they don't strike my imagination for the most part.
The Up Down All Around book was a disappointment, not because it isn't a great book, but more that I was looking and hoped for something more. I wanted a book to teach me how to take some of the lovely motifs I see in all my other books, and knit them so that the leaf or patterning remained oriented in the same way as in the original presentation, rather than just recharting motifs to present the motif upside down. Some knitters may not feel comfortable doing this on their own, but I do. I was searching for something more, something that would blow my mind to a way to get what I wanted without having to figure out the possibilities and impossibilities myself.
The 400 Knitting Stitches, too. Just an ordinary batch of stitches well presented, well displayed, but nothing that blows the top off my imagination.
This one too. I bought this just as I was learning to knit. It was in a bin at a grocery store, those remaindered book bins they sometimes have. It was 5 bucks, so not a huge investment. I thought it would go the long haul, like my owned since forever ago Harmony Guide crochet dictionaries. Knitting went someplace very different than crochet ever did for me and the book, while nice in every way, just isn't quite enough anymore. I am sure you already see that from the long list of books above!
Now to my last category of stitch dictionaries, the stranded colourwork dictionaries. Yes, ah yes, and entire category of things all on their own, special and unique.
There is something special and unique here to be sure. It is a masterful collection of shapes that work magic in your knitting just by changing the colours within the rows as you knit. But that is one of it's challenges for me. It is simply the patterning in black and white. There is a huge section of colour advice at the back of the book, wonderful marvelous advice, but this book kind of intimidates me. I know that what I need to do is to change my perception of the book so that I see it as a challenge and I am working on that by using a few other stitch dictionaries and oddly enough an embroidery book about colour too.
There is a lot of comfort in seeing how the stitches look laid out not just in different colour variations in the same pattern, but seeing the array of colours used across many patterns to help you gain a feel for what colours choices you would like to see in your project no matter what stitch patterns you want to use.
Though the approach to motif is quite different here, this book does the same thing.
There is a level of comfort in seeing a motif in living colour laid out along other motifs. If you are colour chicken like I am, this is a level of comfort and reinforcement that I am not crazy, that my choice will work, without being weird or overwhelming.
And that kind of takes me back to the beginning of this post, The Japanese Knitting Stitch Bible. A couple of weeks ago, I posted about how difficult a choice it was between that book and Alterknits for my fall book purchase. Well, difficulty no more.
Frazzledknitter had borrowed the library copy and kindly brought it for me to look at one morning. A choice between these two books is simply not possible and I decided that one of my Christmas presents for myself is this. I love this book. I already have serious plans for a sweater featuring one of the sweet little motifs.
I am living If You Give a Mouse a Cookie aren't I?
If you give a knitter a book, well, really if you give this knitter a book, she needs another book.
February was more settling in and lots of sock knitting. There was also a little bit of embroidery and mulling over the inspiration I found in books.
When you furniture at Ikea, you get lots and lots of boxes. And lots. June was a month of dreams fulfilled and plans and so much good and happy things.
and monster socks and fingering weight sweater knitting. August was the fullness of summer and was about twirly skirts
and weddings and more furniture building and grandchildren. It was ripe and busy and I think I started feeling tired.
and wool shawls and wonderful special yarns and knitting and the start of Christmas knitting which didn't really start out being Christmas knitting. October was the month of the start of hand pain and struggling with it. It was also the month I finished the lovely large shawl
and pride that I did. It became a month of winding yarn by the end. 
