Two tried and true knitting resources.

A heavy box came this week, filled with books. Not exciting new pattern collections, not hot off the presses – each of these titles was first published 15 years ago. These are the tried and true knitting resources we use and recommend again and again, some of our humblest bestsellers.

365 Knitting Stitches A Year is a perpetual calendar. It lists only dates, with no days of the week, so you can use it for years on end. Ours has been sitting on the desk at the shop since we opened our doors, and one of my opening-time rituals is flipping the page and seeing what the day’s featured stitch pattern is. Today, it was good old reverse stockinette stitch, a simple one, though it is often the cause of a certain lightbulb moment for new knitters – knits look like purls on the back, and vice versa!

We often turn to our perpetual calendar when we’re swatching new yarns or creating shop samples. It provided the stitch pattern for “Sherri’s Cowl,” and also for our sample scarf in Swans Island Natural Colors Merino Fingering.

The other book in this order is Nancie Wiseman’s Knitter’s Book of Finishing Techniques, a practical resource for seaming, blocking, picking up stitches, buttonholes, weaving in ends, and more.

Each time I prepare to sew a seam, and especially as I prepare to guide another knitter through their first seam, I pull out this book to refresh my memory. The diagrams are clear, the text is thorough, and I feel I’m in good hands with Wiseman’s instructions.

Look for these and plenty of other resources here at the shop, where we love our books almost as much as our yarn. See you there!

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