I love days like this; I don’t have any chores that are too pressing, I’m not at work, and I can simply relax and do whatever I want! I love it when I can just have fun on my days off! Aside from having to do a bit of laundry and go grocery shopping tonight, I plan on knitting, spinning, and maybe taking a little day trip.
My weekly knitting group meets at Borders, every Wednesday and Friday. Last night I went, but instead worked on my novel. All is going well; I’ve already passed the 10,000 work mark – so I am way ahead of schedule. It would be great to finish up before the 30th so I can do some editing.
In addition to socializing and writing, I picked up two new knitting books. The one I really wanted, The Joy of Sox (which Tina reviewed on her blog recently) was not in stock, but I can order it if I really want it.

The first time I heard about this book, I must admit … I was ready to pass. It didn’t look very promising to me from first glance. I’m here to tell you how wrong I was about this book.
There are some really fantastic patterns ( The Absinthe Sweater and Linden Wrap are my two personal favorites) that I can see myself knitting. It’s also a fun read; the commentary is fantastic! One of my favorite parts of how this is written is the way they rate the patterns by way of how much you can drink while knitting them. I know there are times when I want to knock back a few beers or stiff drinks while knitting, and this book takes that notion to heart. It reminds me of living in New York and going to the pub with Tina, Katie, and Michelle.
There are sweaters, scarves, and hats. There are felted items, socks, and other small quick knits. I know that this book is going to become a quick favorite of mine and I highly recommend it!

I’ve been reading Wendy’s blog for some time now. Not only do I LOVE her sock patterns, but her cats is pretty cool, and I can appreciate the love for all things feline. I longed for this book when it first came out, but put off purchasing it for myself, knowing that it would cause me to want to buy MORE SOCK YARN! But now that my stash is less than half of what it was a year ago (due to selling most of my yarn to buy my wheel), I thought I would be safe now.
I love that Wendy has clear instructions and diagrams for various cast-ons, bind-offs, and other sock knitting techniques. She goes into each method of sock knitting (DPNs, Two Circs, etc), to give the reader the clear view of one’s options. I prefer DPNs, but that’s just me.
The photos are wonderful and really capture both the patterns and yarn used to create the finished socks. I can safely say that all of the patterns in this book appealed to me, especially the Serpentine Socks, Van Dyke Socks, and Diagonal Lace Socks.
I’m pretty picky when it comes to what knitting books I purchase, often opting for just buying a single pattern if I can. But I can safely say that both books I mention above are fantastic; full of wonderful patterns that will tempt every knitter!