houseelf: A line drawing of Dobby the house elf holding a skein of yarn and knitting needles. (Default)
[personal profile] houseelf
I bought a copy of Big Girl Knits from Amazon.com earlier this week. I've had my eye on it ever since it came out, and this seemed like a good time to give in and order it. I needed a Spanish/English dictionary that wasn't older than I am, and I hate paying shipping when I can spend the money on another book instead.

(I highly recommend the Pocket Oxford Spanish Dictionary, by the way, even if "pocket" is a questionable description for a book weighing nearly 2 kilos. It comes complete with a section on common abbreviations in text messaging.)

...Knitting book, right. What sold me on this is that it's honest. They say right up front that the patterns aren't ones to make you look thin. They're patterns to make you look good. It goes on to give a crash course in measuring yourself, what sort of clothes looks good on different body types, what not to wear, and how to modify patterns to fit. There's a difference between knowing how to knit shortrows and where to use them, and the explanation of how to use them to make clothing fit is enough to make me glad I bought the book.

As for the patterns themselves, there are a few I really like, several that I like but can't see myself wearing, and a few that I do not understand the purpose of. Yoga pants? That's what Target is for. I'd guess that someone whose fashion sense runs more feminine than mine would find more patterns she'd want to knit.

On the knitting front, I have very little to show for the last two weeks. I've been occupied with the first stages of remodeling my bedroom (read: packing) and with a sick dog. A lap blanket that enjoys batting balls of yarn around is not conducive to getting anything done. The packing is finally finished(ish) and the dog is mostly back to his hyper self. Pictures next week once the latest square actually resembles a square.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-14 09:36 pm (UTC)
ext_2594: (Default)
From: [identity profile] ozreison.livejournal.com
My mother-in-law has a copy of that that I saw over thanksgiving at her place. It looks pretty well done. I may check it out once I progress to sweaters.

(no subject)

Date: 2006-10-15 03:26 am (UTC)
havocthecat: the lady of shalott (Default)
From: [personal profile] havocthecat
My knitting front...kinda meh? Finished a drawstring bag, started another panel for my cotton afghan (I went easy this time, with single ribbing), and frogged the entire shawl I had started for my friend, and restarted in on size 17 needles, instead of 13. Because it's a) faster and b) the 17 needles are circs, and the 13 needles are straights, and this thing is bulkier than I'd realized it'd be.