I don't have any novels I am working on right now, so before bed I decided to read through on of them to get myself back into the book review mood. And after reading through the whole book, I decided that I really need to knit more socks!
Toe-Up Socks for Every Body by Wendy D. Johnson
Likes:
-This book is really comprehensive. It explains construction, technique and everything in between for both the novice and experienced sock knitter.
-Wendy is such a great writer!
-The photos are just lovely.
-She really explains her reasoning for what she does, such as why she recommends 2 needle sizes for cabled socks.
Dislikes:
-I wish I liked more of the patterns.
-A couple of my favorites are designed for men's feet....
-Even though her first book (Socks from the toe-up) has plain vanilla socks, I wish this did too, so that newbies/designers could have that as a reference.
Favorite Patterns:
Overall, I love this book, just as I do her previous one. The photos are gorgeous and there are so many stunning patterns. Plus, I love toe-up socks so this is perfect! She really explains everything so well and allows the knitter to do what they want with her patterns.
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After putting this book down last night my brain started thinking about all the sock yarn I still have that I could be knitting socks with. Me and socks have a love hate relationship. I love to knit them and I love to wear handmade ones, but the process always drags on and on and usually after I finish one pair I just need a break from them before I can start another. Which is why my sock yarn stash isn't really going down.
It also doesn't really help that some of my favorite bloggers are knitting socks right now:
Andi has some amazing striped socks going on right now, as always!
Pumpkin just finished the Belle Epoque Socks from the book I just reviewed, and boy are they lovely!
More stripes from Karen, man I love these!
Alicia has the cutest booties (and hat) on her needles right now.
And who can resist Pinkundine's textured rainbow socks??
So... what does this mean for me? Well I really want to use up some of my sock yarn this year, and I really want to have more pairs of handknitted socks as well, especially since a couple of my pairs right now don't fit me the way I'd like anyways. That is one of my mini-goals for the year- figure out how to make socks fit my foot better.
What's first on the list? I have no idea. There are so many yarns and socks I want to knit! But I do have a couple of designs in my head I want to experiment with also, so maybe that can be my jumping off point for the year of socks.
~Lisa
I love knitting socks, and love wearing them even more, good luck with your goal to knit some sock, and choose a pattern!
ReplyDeleteYay! Socks! I understand the love/hate feeling, although most of the time it's love/guilt for me when I don't finish them!
ReplyDeleteI hope you design more sock patterns! You are so creative! Have you tried making shawls out of the sock yarn? Although you are probably tired of shawls now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the book review. I have her first book, but I've never knit a pattern from it. I like toe-up, too, but find it gets kind of painful to knit with tiny needles. Hope you are enjoying the last week before school begins.
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