You know the drill: Imagine that you’re about to be stranded on a deserted island. Thankfully, this island has sheep, and we’re going to imagine that you know how to shear sheep and process a fleece and make a spinning wheel and knitting needles or crochet hooks out of palm trees. And maybe you even know how to use the native plants to dye your yarn. Just go with it, okay? However, all you can bring with you is the aforementioned knowledge and three books of the crafting variety. Which do you choose?
I know I’ve been talking a lot about Cookie’s Knit.Sock.Love here lately, but I just received my copy, and it’s definitely in my top 3 Must Have books. The pictures are all phenomenal, from the “ambiance” photos to the close ups, and the patterns are amazing. Cookie’s given clear instructions on how to knit these socks for anyone’s feet; a couple of the patterns have more than 30 possible sizes. So I could knit socks for passing sea turtles or something. Plus, it would be nice to have some of my favorite patterns—Monkey, Hedera, BFF—all gathered together with a few new-to-me patterns to take my mind off the whole “I’m stuck on a deserted island” thing.
My second book would be Barbara Walker’s Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns. With this book and a basic knowledge of how clothes fit on humans (which I’ve learned a good deal about this year with my sweater knitting goal), I can make ANYTHING. Walker’s treasuries are fabulous, rich, and incredibly educational to anyone looking for lace, mosaic, jacquard, cabled, or simply varying stitch patterns. My personal goal is to collect all four, but so far I only have this, the second.
Last on my list is Wendy Bernard’s Custom Knits. There are a good number of patterns in this book that I would knit as-is, but Wendy also included a lot of helpful information on how to knit things for yourself. So I could deviate from the written path and design my own sweaters, which I would promptly parade around the island wearing. You know, to give the sheep a show.
How about you? Which three crafting books could you not live without?
Custom Knits is definitely on my list, as is a Barbara Walker’s treasury. As I have none of them, I can’t specify which it would be.
I would take my Aldon Amos Big Book of Hand Spinning (which includes many instructions for wheels, and other fiber processing items).
And my final book would probably be Ann Budd’s Knitter’s Handy Book of Patterns
Ah, excellent, a fiber and spinning book in case that knowledge leaks out of the brain. 😀
Ann Budd’s book is a great one, good idea!
Would we really want to be spinning and knitting wool on a hot island? Maybe we can make tofutsies type yarn out of chitlin? Or can we be stranded in a deserted antartica? 🙂
It’s a deserted island, not necessarily a hot desert island. It could be in the middle of the North Sea!