I spent a lot of my weekend knitting time reading Annie Modesitt's book Confessions of a Knitting Heretic. Much like her class it was entertaining, edifying and empowering. I would highly recommend not only reading it but owning it. I'm anticipating I will refer to it often (its even spiral bound - as all how to books should be!)

I have how-to knitting books by three knitting gurus. Montse Stanley's classic, and bone dry tome, Elizabeth Zimmerman's staccato styled lists of "opinions" and now Annie Modesitt's heretical recommendations that seem to spring from a third dimension entirely.

I have to say, Annie's writing and projects had a similar effect on me as did those of EZ. I want to try them, take them all for a spin. I may even do a swatch of each of the techniques illustrated in the book. (Ms. Stanley's work makes me want to check what I need to know and put it right back on the shelf - its valuable information its just not very entertaining or engaging)

Which brings me to what I now recognize was a wee bit of my own brilliance last week. For the first time I left the acrylic yarn I'm always trying to use up, at home, and took nice yarn to work with in class. It was Sheldridge Farm Soft Touch Worsted left over from last summer's colourwork. It felt great to work with at the time and now it not only displays a bunch of nifty new tricks I did but it also feels and looks great! Very motivating indeed! I even went home and finished it off with the two techniques Annie showed us at the end of class but which I ran out of time to complete. Comparing it to swatches in my collection from other classes, I think in future I'll make a point of investing in nice yarn to work with when I invest time and money in taking a class. It seems to make the results so much more satisfying!

In other weekend news - look who decided to stop sulking and put on her proper June show...

Its hard to believe its real - Just look at that face amid those amazing crepe paper-esque petals!

Have a great day! Thanks for dropping by!