sharing...

At TNNA I was fortunate enough to flip through some galley copies of up and coming books set to be released this fall.

By far one of my favorites was this little jewel by Linda La Belle above. It is available for pre-order now at Amazon.

It truly showed the variety of ways to dye yarn and the stunning results you can get from all kinds of different techniques. The section on natural dyer Hand Jive was really great as well.

This book I have now added to my wish list although I know little to nothing about it. I have wanted to learn the magic loop method for awhile now and this seems to be even better.

I wonder if learning the magic loop bit would be better first and then moving on to 2 socks at a time. Hmmmm. Any advice on that one?!

As for patterns I must share what I saw as trends...

Look for some fabulous Fair Isle from Rowan and a thicker weight version of Kidsilk Haze this Fall. I really think overall it seemed the pendulum was swinging back to traditional knitting methods, Fair Isle, traditional/ethic patterning and designing inspiration etc. and far, far away from anything even remotely resembling fun fur.

Comments

[mk]

Hey Girlie,

You feeling any better?

I just added that Magic Loop two at a time book to my wishlist. Enabler!

Let's get together and do Magic Loop this week. We can find some coffee shop between us. It's a date!

Did you get my e-mail? Did you hate it and didn't know how to tell me?

Call me.

[knittingphilistine]

Oh, yes. Magic Loop a single sock first before tackling the two. Unless you're more patient and able than me, in which case you could handle two at a time from the very start. And so very pleased to hear fun fur is on its way out--I'm still confused as to how it got in in the first place.
x o

[Jen]

Magic loop is great once you get the hang of it! I will never go back to anything else!

[Laura]

Those both look like great books. I always Magic Loop my socks, but I've never attempted doing two at once. The idea of working with two balls of yarn at once seems fiddly to me, but I guess it's no different than colorwork. Hmmm...may have to give that a shot!

[Angeluna]

After avoiding Magic Loop for ages (DPNs were fine with me) the first time I tried it, I was an instant convert. Absolutely zero problem switching. Tried 2 on 1 Magic Loop and just found it fiddly. Plus had a tendency to knit sock 2 with sock 1's yarn. Went back to doing 2 socks simultaneously on 2 Magic Loops. Works better for me. And sometimes I use 2 circs. There is a knitting group in Fort Worth that all use Magic Loop method and are all sock fanatics if you ever need a helping hand.

BTW, I put that dyeing book on my wish list the moment I saw it. Glad to hear you had a look through and recommend it.