There is Nothing Like a Book

I love libraries!  Both the real ones I have visited, and the imaginary ones that I have in my head. Public Libraries that have, or can obtain, just about any book you would care to read.  Private libraries in grand mansions, or even just book cases lining the walls of an entertainment room in my house.

I love the feel of holding a book in my hands when I read it, or putting post it note book-marks in my reference books.

I love visiting old friends, like Alice in Wonderland, and finding new ones like The Raven Cycle. So much inspiration to be found in dusty pages. (And you can't get dusty pages from your Kindle!)

I miss encyclopedias and atlases, but, in the world today electronic is the way to go for those, because the information is changing so rapidly a paper book could possibly (probably) be out of date before it was finished being printed. Not to mention the cost of the paper and bindings, delivery and storage.  With e-readers and computer screens, apps for you tablet and phone, you can read anything, anywhere!  Self publishing is easier, and cheaper than it has ever been.

But, for me, there is still something about being able to hold a solid book in my hand.

Why all this talk about books, you might ask?  What does it have to do with knitting?

Well.....

Today, Knit Picks released a book with one of my patterns in it!

Artful Arches is all about taking that hand painted or tonal skein of yarn and making the subtle (or not so subtle) color variations really shine.








My contribution started months, and months ago with my spying a call for submissions for socks using hand-painted or tonal yarns, and as it happens I love them, so coming up with an idea was easy.

 But, why knit a swatch type swatch when I could just knit a pair of child sized socks...so I did.


And I wrote up the submission and waited.








When the acceptance email came in, I was...well excited doesn't really cover it because, as I said before I love books and now I was going to have one of my patterns in one!

Knit Picks is ever so easy to work with, within a couple of days they had sent me yarn to knit up my real sample and given me the style sheet so I could write up the pattern  and deadlines and a contract.....

Followed by more waiting.  Waiting for their sample knitter to knit the socks.  Waiting for their tech editor to edit the pattern, then the worst wait of all...waiting for the pattern, the photos and all the hard work layout artists and graphic designers and editors and co-ordinators had gone through to actually become, well, a book!

You can buy the patterns included, 12 in all, separately as individual downloads or just grab the book and get lots of inspiration for your next pair of hand painted or tonal socks.

“Will you, won’t you, will you, won’t you, won’t you join the dance?”
-The Mock Turtle, Alice in Wonderland

Starts the write-up on Ravelry for my Mock Turtle Socks...

"You’ll be all set for the Lobster Quadrille with these fancy feet. The slip pattern uses unique stitches to create a paneled look, similar to the shell of a turtle, while still allowing the brilliant handpainted color to take center stage. So slip on these fancy feet, grab your crustaceous partner, and join the dance!"

As is my usual I worked them cuff down, with a slipped stitch heel and standard gusset.

A slip stitch motif is centered on front of ankle, with a ribbing on back of leg.

And while I was waiting to be able to talk about them?

Well, I might have ended up knitting myself an entire set!