Rippit! Rippit!

We went to a little barbeque at our friends' house today, which involved driving about 45 minutes each way. Jacke was happy to accompany me. Here's the progress I've made so far on sleeve #1... nearly a skein's worth. So quick to knit, such a lovely yarn! Sadly, I'm going to rip all of this out and start again. You can't tell from this picture (dang flash), but the center ribbing is not symmetrical. I want to start the cuff ribbing one stitch over so that the center column of ribbing between the diagonal stitches will be even. Right now it's P1, k2, p2, k2, p2, k1. Which is fine, but to blend in properly with the sides, it should be p2, k2, p2, k2, p2. Get it? And it's probably a very small thing, but the gauge is huge enough to be obvious to me. And so, I'll start again.

I'm glad I started with a sleeve; it gave me a good chance to get used to the charting, the yarn, etc.

New Project

Since Mariah is practically finished, I need a new project to alternate with Lucky. Lucky is great, but I'm knitting it on size #2 needles, so progress is slooow. I need something that's worked at a larger gauge. Enter Jacke in Aprikot. I know, everyone and their mother has either knit this or fantasized about knitting it, but I love it so and have had it in my queue for months and months. I've also had this gorgeous bag of Rowan All Seasons Cotton in my stash specifically for this cardi, and it was exciting to liberate the first skein today in order to make a swatch. What you see here is what I was able to knit while watching my husband grill turkeyburgers for dinner: a few inches of the first sleeve. I am adoring this yarn. Adoring. This beet red color I'm using is called Kiss. The yarn has a great sproing that reminds me a little of knitting with Karabella Aurora 8. I *will* be using ASC again, lemme tell you.

Guess what? I got a package in the mail today! What fun! This one was a little surprise pack from my new friend, Atouria, at Yarn Yoga. Such a good pal! We've been finding all kinds of things in common with one another. She sent a little wooden massager, which I went right out and used on Mr. Goodkarma, who had just finished mowing the lawn in the hot sun. He definitely approved, and said it made him all tingly, which is kind of creepy of him since I only used it on his back. :) Anyway, pally also sent me this pretty bar of soap, which will look so great in my bathroom. Here's a picture of one of the walls in our main bathroom. Can you dig the mango walls? And mediterranean accents? I love me some citrus and "water" colors. Mmm hmm. I brought the glass dish home from Venice and it has a little mini friend that we use as a soap dish. So the soap, which is cruelty free because Atouria is vegan and loves finding fabulous animal friendly products, fits in perfectly and has a nice fresh scent that I love. Thank you!!

Finally, everyone must see this little animated movie that's making its way around the web: Store Wars. "Cuke, I'm your father..." Very funny.

I just re-read this post and realized that it made Mr. Goodkarma out to be quite hard-working while all I do is check the mail for goodies, knit, and blog. Lemme tell ya, we both earned our supper tonight. Whew. Lots of work to be done at the casa, and it was another warm day. Around 80 degrees. Better than the last two days, which were hovering close to 90 degrees! In May! In Seattle! I really do worry about global warming. This is not normal!

Thanks A Lot, Guys!

Thanks to everyone for voicing their opinions about colors for the Rebecca cardi. The votes were really evenly spread, which didn't made my decision any easier. I showed the magazine to Mr. Goodkarma, and all he noticed were all the super cropped sweaters on all the super skinny German models ("She's not that skinny," he said, and the conversation ENDED before we even got to the color options.) I just went ahead and ordered the Soho Summer in Sailboat. I was undecided until just then, when I went back to WEBS to look at the colors and realized that today was the last day of the sale. There is another, more bluey blue (sailboat is a bit greeny grey blue), called cloudless, which I seem to pick out a lot, so at least sailboat will be a bit different, spring/summery, and neutral enough to wear a whole lot.

Lolly mentioned that a friend of hers tried to knit this cardi and had to put it down. I admit that the directions are more vague than I'm used to (let's face it, Rebecca ain't no Bonne Marie), but I think I want to give it a shot.

In super happy news, look at what came in the mail today:



Go Zipperstop! Go Zipperstop! It's your birthday! Get busy! Sorry, that's annoying. It took only 3 days from the time I placed my order (including a custom length zipper) to the time my zippers arrived, cross-country, in my mailbox. Yippee! My only beef: I paid about $4 for the zippers and about another $4 for shipping, and the package cost $0.60 to mail. I hate being overcharged for shipping. But anyway, if it weren't 88 degrees out today (seriously!), I'd be putting these zippers in right now! But the cardis are wool and I'm already sweaty. We'll see how the weather shakes out this long holiday weekend.

Lastly, Bonnie noticed my bikes in Amsterdam photo this week and thought she'd start a little revolution: International Bike Pics on Blogs. Go see hers. It was taken in Costa Rica, and she's getting ready to move there! So, check out your photo files and post your own!

Wanted: Rebecca #38 Pale Blue Jacket

Because I don't have enough projects on my wish list (insert sarcasm here), I thought I'd add this one. I could use another non-wooly cardi in the mix, something that could work most of the year-round. Now I'm thinking of using the Jo Sharp Soho Summer that's on sale at WEBS right now.

Which color do you like best:

1. sailboat


2. currant


3. rockpool


4. paprika


I'm leaning toward sailboat, but is that just because a) I'm in love with light blue lately and b) the original picture is in light blue? I also like rockpool; I don't have a lot of green in my wardrobe, but then again my Lucky cardi is being made in a peacock color, which is more blue than green. I love just about every shade of purple. And I always get compliments when I wear things in the rose-coral-salmon spectrum.

I polled a couple of my second graders and they agreed that Rockpool would be a good choice. One of them also suggested that black would be good. You see, 8 year old girls are good yarny fashion advisors! :)

What's a girl to do? :)

goodkarma go again

Someone asked if I'm a "real Karma" or if "Karma is my stage name". As much as I like the idea of a stage name, I am a real Karma. That's really my name. Usually when someone meets me, they ask one of two questions:

1. Were your parents hippies?

2. Are you Buddhist?

I get these kinds of questions a lot, and it's okay, it comes with the territory. I usually mess with people and tell them that my brother's name is Dharma. (It's not.) Yes, I guess you could say my parents were hippies, or at least very, very young when they had me in 1971. I'm not officially a Buddhist, but am very interested in eastern religions and Buddhism in particular, which might be precipitated by growing up with my given name.

Here's another travel photo. This one is from Amsterdam in 2003. I've been to Amsterdam a few different times and love it more and more each time. It's a really diverse city with a completely different experience for each visitor. I've done the "museum Amsterdam" with a girlfriend, a more "red light Amsterdam" while traveling during my honeymoon, and this last time it was more of a "snapshot Amsterdam" while on a day-long layover on the way home from India. There are bicycles all over the place (parts of the Netherlands are made up of reclaimed land, and are therefore very flat and condusive to bicycling), and flower pots on everyone's doorstep or window.

Zipper Order

Psst... I just ordered my zipper for Mariah (18", color #916, deep brown) and for Ribby Cardi (21, color #546, sky blue). Please, Mr. Postman, bring them to me soon!

Sneak Peek

The fact that I haven't posted for a whole week means that a) my work world has been shaken up and busy, and 2) I wanted to post a finished Mariah the next time I posted here (let's get real!). The weather this week has been fantastic, though, with thunder storms, hail, wind, heavy rain, and sunshine inbetween it all. I get really excited during thunder storms! ooh! ahh!

I spent the week (knitting-wise) finishing Mariah's hood, which I thought would take an evening in front of Law and Order, but who was I kidding, it took several sessions to knit. Hoods are big. Yes, they are. But guess what? I not only finished that hood, but I also got about 1/3 of the seaming done. I'm planning to order a zipper for it and for Ribby today, and have a couple of finished sweaters soon soon soon.

I was out and about yesterday and took a chance at my neighborhood Hancock Fabrics to see if there was any more Cotton Ease. It's now 30% off, so I got 6 skeins for around $17. Not bad, eh? This color is called Blue Ice; it's a soft blue with a little lavender tint to it. Periwinkle? We'll see what it decides it wants to become.

I took an even bigger chance and dropped by my neighborhood yarn shop, Seattle Yarn Gallery, to see if they had the new Rebecca. I've been dropping by or calling every week or two for a couple of months, just for this reason. They finally got it in! The day before! I was so happy. I don't know why the whole Seattle area got their magazine shipment so much later than the rest of the world, but I'm over it now. :)

This afternoon I'm taking my grandma to see a play... The Seattle Shakespeare Co. is putting on an all male version of The Taming of the Shrew, and I've heard good things about it so far. We'll have lunch somewhere first... should be fun!

And how could I possibly end this post without the big news of the week? Mr. Goodkarma and I finally bought our tickets for our vacation in Hawaii this July! I haven't been to Hawaii yet, but Mr. has. His parents have a condo on the big island, so we'll stay there with them for a week, and we're also going to visit Oahu for a week, where I have a dear friend to visit. Are we excited? Oh yeah! I'm already starting to think about airplane knitting. But mostly, I've had a rough couple of months at work and am really ready for some beach time. This will be my first relaxing summer in a few years... the last two years I've done major travel that hasn't been very relaxing at all. Hawaii, here we come!

Field Trip

Saturday rocked. I drove alllll the way up to Everett to find Great Yarns. It took me an hour to get there, and on the way I was hoping it would be worth it. It was so worth it!

The shop is housed on a very busy street amidst strip mall quality businesses (check cashing company, day labor business, car parts shop, smoke shop, etc.) in an old craftsman style house. On the porch were racks of bagged up sale yarns, and as I made my way inside I felt like I were in a less glamorous version of Hilltop Yarn: green shag rug in the old living room where the cashmeres and Debbie Blisses were, all the sock yarn and novelty yarns were in a side bedroom (lots of Koigu! none on sale!), another bedroom had baby yarns and lots of books and magazines, the kitchen had sweater kits, Noro, more Debbie Bliss, bulkier yarns, and the dining room had a great big table full of sale yarns as well as a good assortment of all kinds of fibers on the walls and on the floor in bins. The shop had a good assortment from cheaper acrylics up to fancy lux cashmeres and all things inbetween. Sale signs were sprinkled throughout the store. The staff and customers were all very friendly, approachable, normal unassuming people. It was a great experience.

Score #1: 6 skeins (660 yds.) of La Lana Del Cigno Nero Tatiana 2 100% Egyptian Cotton from Italy, reg. price $28.50, mine for $15. I'm thinking Soleil, maybe?




Score #2: 10 skeins (appx. 1360 yds.) of Schachenmayr Extra 100% superwash wool. I have no idea what I'll do with it, but it was marked down from $45 to $25, it's a color I like, I'll think of something.



Score #3: 10 skeins (1380 yds) of Classic Elite Waterspun 100% felted merino, in Aqua Ice. Marked down from $62.50 to $32.50. This was my happiest score; I've seen this yarn before and felt lust but didn't buy. I *adore* the color and will definitely find something to make with this!!

So for $75, I think I did pretty well. I don't know that I'll be going to Great Yarns very often, because of the distance, but it was a great little shop with good deals. If they have another sale in the future, I'll be there. On my way home, I was feeling the need to get a pedicure. Much better.

Later that evening, I met up with 4 of my girlfriends at one of their condos downtown... we had a fabulous dinner, lemon drops, did facials, read trashy magazines, stayed up late and watched Saturday Night Live. Here's a snap Kristina and I (that's me on the right in all my green glory) with our LUSH Mask of Magnaminty faces (so fresh and so clean!). We stayed the night and woke up to a fabulous Belgian waffle breakfast and discussion of our book of the month, Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner. Next month, we'll go to a real spa for massages (to celebrate V's birthday! to celebrate the end of the school year since most of us are teachers!) and discuss Joanne Harris' Holy Fools.

I could not have asked for a better weekend! Now I need to get some knitting done. Mariah, here I come!

Kindness Revisited

Things that made me a happy girl yesterday:

1. Grumperina sent me this sweet little thing as a thank you. It's a drawstring bag, in case you couldn't see from the picture. She's really been paying attention: she said it was a little something for goal #5. That means organizing my house. :) It's perfect for me! Now I just have to think of the perfect use for it. Thank you, Kathy! I love the colors.

2. Karen sent me this:

I noticed that she used the Knitpicks Andean Silk for Branching Out (go see her blog, it's soo pretty!) and I asked her how she liked the yarn. She promptly offered to send me her leftovers to knit and play with! The cute thing was that her husband so very generously cleaned up for her, so all that was left was the ends that she had to weave in, but you know what? IT WAS ENOUGH. I'm sold. This yarn is soooo soft. I even adore the color she used. Is that Sangria? Too bad there's something wrong with my camera right now and I can't use the macro. Anyway, I'm thinking an Hourglass Sweater (need to buy the book) or else Subway Knitter's V-Neck Bell Sleeve Top. Oh. It would be like buttah. Thank you so much Karen, for enabling me! You are so sweet! And we both have K names; the notecard was v. cute.

3. Becky came by and told me not to frog my Purple Peppermint Twist. The Becky who designed it! Wow, how in the world did she find my little blog? Anyway, after reading several comments suggesting that I try to save PPT, I think I will. But Mariah is *still* number one on the hit parade, and I'm going to try to finish her up this weekend.



Things I'm happy about today:

1. Laura emailed to say she got her Cotton Ease in the mail today! She couldn't find any left in her city, nor online, so I did the neighborly thing and went shopping for her! Hey, sometimes it's easier to go hunting for yarn when you're not spending your own dough. Go check out her blog; she has a finished Soleil that's gorgeous.

2. I just went to yoga tonight for the first time in months. I've been doing other kinds of exercise, so this was a good switcheroo and it helps me meet Goal #4 (getting back into yoga).

3. I'm having a slumber party with my girlfriends Saturday night! One dear friend is going soon to live in Tanzania for two years; another is coming up from Eugene, Oregon with her little 5 month old sweetie, Anya. Five of us are getting together to read magazines, paint our toes, drink lemon drops, you know. We have to start Anya out on the right foot in life, right? Gratuitous Anya shot:

4. A new (to me) yarn shop, Great Yarns! is having a sale right now and I'm going to drive up there in the morning and check it out. It's about 35 miles north of me in Everett, and that sounds like just the thing for a solo Saturday morning jaunt.

Hopefully, my next post will be announcing the completion of Mariah.

Second Thoughts

Comments about Purple Peppermint Twist are causing me to have second thoughts about frogging. I think I'll spend a few minutes with the pieces I have and see if I can make it work. I was most concerned about the stretch factor. I know that twisted knits stretch less than untwisted ones do. But the place I would most need the stretch would be in the bust, and I'm not up to the bust yet on the piece I've got started. Maybe that piece could be the back, and a new, more perfect piece could be the front? We'll see. Mariah and baby bootees are top priority this week.

Talk amongst yourselves:
a thigh-master is neither a thigh nor a master. Discuss!


Carolyn tagged me with the book meme this weekend. Little did she know, I am a book fiend. (Especially B.K.... before knitting!) I even used to write reviews for MostlyFiction.com. Anyway, I have a lot of books. :)

Here are the questions:

1)Total number of books in your house:
There must be 1000+. Most are literature, some are travel guides, cookbooks and knitting books, and there are a few other how-to or reference books. Mr. Goodkarma mostly reads business or investing books, but only 1-2 a year.

2)The last book you bought was:
Fodor's Hawaii. We're going in July. Yay! I told you my blog is called goodkarmago for a reason!

3)What was the last book you read?
Hotel Du Lac by Anita Brookner. I've been in a book funk or a rut of some kind, and nothing I've picked up over the past year really rocked my boat. I've probably been giving too much of my free time/attention to knitting. Anyway, this book renewed my love affair with literature. Brookner's language is elegant. Her observation of characters, human behavior and social mores were both intelligent and subtle. What should a woman hope for or strive for? Social acceptance or integrity? A businesslike marriage or independence and a career?

4)Write down 5 (or 6) books you often read or that mean a lot to you.

Well, that's tough, but here goes:
Possession by A.S. Byatt
A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry
Corelli's Mandolin by Louis DeBerniers
Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston

A few of my favorite authors:
Margaret Atwood
Barbara Kingsolver
Salman Rushdie
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni
Philip Roth
Jhumpa Lahiri
Ian McEwan
Kate Atkinson
Joanne Harris

I love to read about different cultures, especially Latino, African American, African, and Indian literature.

5)Who are you going to pass this onto and why?

I've seen this meme at many blogs lately; if you haven't been tagged yet, please consider yourself IT!

Purple Peppermint Twist, aka: I Need a Ballwinder

One of the first "real" projects I attempted was Becky's Peppermint Twist from SNB. I loved it and I thought it would be a great challenge for me. I'm not usually a pink girl, so I chose black, white, and two shades of purple (Lavender and Antique Plum) Endless Summer Collection Lara from elann, which is actually back for sale this week.

I put the project down when I left for a month in eastern Europe. Before I left for that trip, I learned that I had been twisting my knit stitches. I relearned the knit stitch and brought a different project along with me.

That Purple Peppermint Twist(ed stitches) has been languishing in the bottom of my knitting basket ever since:

See here one finished 3/4 sleeve, another sleeve on a needle, and about half of the front piece. Looking at it today, I'm proud of how even my stitches were, even that long ago. I'd only been knitting for a couple of months at most when I started this puppy.

I almost asked for advice re: would you rip it out and start over, but I already knew the answer. Not only am I a better, more uniform knitter now (who doesn't twist her knits!), but I'm also more privvy to the importance of gauge. I don't think I paid enough attention to gauge a year ago.

So... I need a ball winder and a martini so I can tear this baby up! In the meantime, I'm working on Mariah's hood and want to finish her up this week.

Kindness

Have you read grumperina's blog this weekend? I think she has a really good point. I think that Secret Pals and RAOK are really cool games to play, but I'm kinda glad I didn't sign up for them because I keep seeing these very extravagant packages being swapped and I'm sure I would be nervous that my gifties weren't generous enough, "right", useful, etc.

She received the vintage needles I posted here a couple of days ago (the #5s are still available! anyone? anyone?) and guess what? My karma is instantly returned: I casually asked another blogger today how she liked using the Knit Picks Andean Silk that she's just finished using, and she offered to send me the piece she had left over from her project, just so I could play with it myself!

The people in the knitting community are just so kind.

Baby's First Meme

From Yarn Yoga:

Please list 5 things that you may or may not have done before that you would like to learn or try again. This may just get you to try them or give you some renewed interest!

1. Parenthood. Mr. Goodkarma and I are hoping to start this new hobby within the next year. There's a lot of preparation and practice involved, which we are thoroughly enjoying at the moment.

2. Running. For the past year, I've dabbled in a little jogging and I've found that I need to do a lot of building up and training if I ever want to run a marathon or anything insane like that.

3. Composting. I have a friend who's a Master Composter and she has inspired me to want to learn more about making my own compost so my yard (I just typed yarn) and garden will be super extra healthy and rich.

4. Yoga. Last year, there were several months where I was going to a yoga class at my gym every single Friday night. It really didn't take too long before I felt much more tall and strong. One thing led to another, travel, life, etc., and I stopped going. I want to get back on that wagon!

5. Staying Organized. I've never been good at having a clean, tidy house for a long period of time. It's not filthy, just cluttered. I think I get easily overwhelmed if there's too much to do and I find it's much easier to procrastinate than to deal. One day last month, Cara blogged about housekeeping and joked about FlyLady. I had no idea who that was, so I googled it and now I'm hooked. She's helping me get my house in shape in really easy steps each day. So thanks to Cara's joke, I'm already working on Thing #5.

Who will I tag? Hmmmm... How about loulou, CJ, and Knitin Chick, three of my partners in Mariah, all of whom I would like to get to know better. Did you see Knitin Chick's FO today??? Ooh la la!

More Book Reviews and a New Project

Oh how I love my library system! I checked out two more sock books this weekend:

Socks Socks Socks: 70 Winning Patterns From the Knitter's Magazine Contest

Hmm. All the winners are very talented, but who is really wearing all of these crazy socks?? Did you see all the cutesy intarsia sockies with little piggie toes or the striped rainbow socks with 24 colors? Woah. There were a couple that I would consider making, but nothing that I couldn't find somewhere else (like Knitting on the Road! I think I'm falling in love with that book!)

50 Baby Bootees to Knit, by Zoe Mellor

Cuteness! Cuteness! I've heard criticism that there really aren't 50 patterns, just several variations on a theme. But dang, the variations are sweet. I don't like paying $25 for this book, but on the other hand, it would be really handy to have around for baby shower inspiration. Must keep an eye out at Overstock.com.

Another good thing about this book is the package... it's hardback with a spiral binding. I love that.

I'm going to make a pair of the teddy bear booties from this book for my dear friend Stasie's boy, Dylan, who was just born Friday. Here's the yarn I ordered for Dylan's teddy bear booties; I tried a new online yarn shop called Fuzzy Mabel and my package arrived super quickly, contents packed with a cute purple ribbon and then wrapped in purple tissue paper. This is an 8-ply washable wool. Of course the colors aren't accurate; use your imagination!

Geez, how many times is Law and Order on in one day?

I had a gloriously uneventful weekend, no plans, so hubby and I got lots of house and yard work done, and I got to knit a lot. Especially on Saturday. There were a couple of times when Mr. Goodkarma came upstairs and noticed that I was watching Law and Order and knitting. After a few hours, he huffed, "geez, how many times is this show on in one day???" Come on! You know it's a great show to knit to! All that snappy dialogue is great for those times when I have to look down and just listen. And besides, I *finally* finished the back of Lucky. Here it is in its unblocked and side-curly glory:

Binding off Lucky's back felt like hitting a major milestone. Lucky is not a quick knit in any stretch of the imagination. The fabric that elann's Baby Cashmere is creating is soooo yummy. I can't wait to wear this. And the rich teal peacock color is so beautiful... hard to photograph, though.






In sad knitty news, one of my coworkers' mothers passed away recently, and I found this little bundle on my desk the other day with a note asking if I could use some of her knitting needles:

Of course I accepted, and then later remembered how much more I love using circs than straights. So if anyone out there is fascinated by vintage pink packaging and aluminum 14" straights the remaining pair of #5 vintage aluminum 14" straights, sans packaging, let me know. Our dear friend, Grumperina, who really isn't grumpy at all, in my opinion, was the first to respond to my offer. There's also an interesting wooden pair of #35s that I will probably hold on to for now, just because I don't have anything nearly this size and I might want to knit a scarf for Shaq someday. haha!


Finally, I submitted to the Cotton Ease craze a few days ago. Here's what happened:
1. I saw this Scoop Du Jour pattern by Bonne Marie.
2. I saw a picture of the pattern, knitted up modeled by Heidi in Vanilla Cotton Ease (she's started her own in Manos and is hosting a KAL, too!) and thought, wow, that looks so cute and comfy on her.
3. I started hearing about Cotton Ease being discontinued, and folks were going out of their way to buy up whatever they could get their hands on.
4. Even though I usually go for natural fibers -- even way before I became a knitter -- I suddenly HAD to have 6 skeins of Cotton Ease.

Isn't it funny how we suddenly want something we never wanted before, just because others want it and it's not going to be easy to get anymore?

I picked up Blue Popsical (sic), mostly because it was one of the only colors the local Joann had that wasn't a (as Jodi says) sucky baby color. It's really intensely turquoisy summery blue:



I figure, the Rowan All Seasons Cotton I got for my Rebecca Aprikot Jacke is a cotton acrylic blend, this is similar but cheaper, no? So we'll see how I like it after all!

Finally, I got my color card in the mail from Zipperstop. I need to order zippers for my Ribby Cardi and my Mariah; I figured I might as well pay for a color card to have on hand for all the future cardis I'm going to knit, right?

Book Reviews

I've checked out three books from the library recently; here are my impressions:

Vogue Knitting On the Go: Socks Two:

Vogue Knitting books always have well illustrated tips/how-to sections, and this one includes tips on short-row turns, kitchener stitch, etc. The patterns are good, nothing really caught my eye enough to buy the book, but it's a good book for someone who wants some cute basic patterns, maybe good for beginners, too.

The Twisted Sisters Sock Workbook; Dyeing, Painting, Spinning, Designing, Knitting: It's obvious that the women who created this book are a) very skilled artisans and b) are from Eugene, Oregon.

a) very skilled artisans: The book is divided into three sections:
1. color and dying
2. from fiber to yarn
3. knitting socks
So you're getting a lot of bang for your buck if you buy this book, if these are things you're interested in reading... There's good info here about dying and fibers that was interesting to read, even though I'm not going to do it. The resulting socks are:

b) obviously from Eugene, Oregon. Okay, so the author lives in Virginia. The socks in this book are very hippy-dippy, wear with your Birks to a Dead (Phish?) concert after the Farmers Market sort of look. The Twisted Sisters are a bunch of women who come together in Eugene to spin, dye, knit and wear colorful, gorgeous socks with their Birkenstocks. The patterns are great, there are discussions about knit as you go heels vs. afterthought heels, etc. There's even a pattern for toe socks! You know, like foot gloves! :) My mom had a stripey pair in the late 70s or early 80s that I remember fondly.

Knitting On the Road by Nancy Bush, is last, but sooo not least.

Let's just say I fell in love with this book and I don't really want to return it to the library, except that some previous borrower let their 3 year old scribble on a page or two and so, of course, I NEED to buy my own, pristine copy.

This book has a hard cover with a spiral binding. So it's going to stay open, nice and flat, to the page you're working with, without any creases or bending. The shape is long and narrow, so if you really were Knitting on the Road, it would easily fit into your backpack or carry-on luggage. (Nancy Bush even includes a photo of her knitterly backpack.)

The patterns are superior, or at least they are presented beautifully. There are patterns inspired by everywhere from Whidby Island (not far from where I live!) to Scandinavia and all sorts of places inbetween. These are finally socks that I could imagine myself and Mr. Goodkarma wearing.

The book also includes a good list of sock yarns, including info about fiber, gauge, yardage, manufacturer, etc., so that yarn subs can easily be made. Without having knit any of these patterns, I can say I've definitely found a sock book that I want to own!