Twitchin' for Knittin'

Only 1 day of not having a knitting project on hand, I was already itching to knit. I know my afghan isn't done yet but it's more of a long term project. Yesterday was spent mostly looking through patterns for inspiration to design a matching bag to my mom's bolero. I made a stop at Bouclair to check out the fabric selection for the purse lining and to see if they sold purse handles, clasps, etc. They did not. Their fabric selection was somewhat disappointing, maybe it was the way things were displayed. It's also more of a curtain/upholstery fabric type of place. A lot of it were heavy and "duller" decor fabrics. Unfortunately the only other fabric store around here is Fabricland, it's pretty messy but hopefully it'll have what I am thinking of. A run to Michael's will also be neccesary for purse hardware.

I also picked up 2 reserved books from the library hoping there would be something of interest in there.
1) Nicky Epstein's Knitting for Your Home: Afghans, Pillows, and Accents - by Nicky Epstein




2) One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet - by Leigh Radford


Alas, it was not what I had hoped for.


I am frustrated by the projects in a lot of books or online. Granted I have never paid for a pattern just yet but with all the knitters out there, you'd think there would be more decent free patterns available or is everybody too busy selling out, writing books? I mean, those books are very well put together with lots of nice pictures but many patterns in them aren't really worth buying. The design of the project isn't that creative and the stitch pattern is far from difficult.

When you knit for yourself or other people, you want them to actually wear it out, right? Knitting, while it has that wonderful sentimental value, shouldn't be for just that. A lot of these projects would only be proudly worn & used in public by other knitters. I just don't think this should be such a closed circle. Maybe that's why the art of knitting is dying. The designs just aren't that appealing. The very nice patterns on sale seem far too difficult for novice knitters to aspire to make. The goal just seems too far fetched. In reality, a few small but interesting projects teaching & building on specific skills geared towards a better understanding of knitting as a whole would allow for a faster "graduation" to more complicated projects.

There needs to be better books & websites out there. Actually, the magazines in circulation aren't bad, like Vogue, Knit.1 & Interweave Knits. Wendy Bernard designs some very practical but beautiful pieces and her blog Knit and Tonic is a good read. I wish someone would write a book of patterns/projects designed in lessons.

(ps. Before I started ranting, I meant to say that in 1 day of NOT knitting, I realized I needed to make 3 bags as my next projects. 1 - mom, 1 - yoga mat, 1 - best friend in UK)