silk, linen, hemp, oh my!

we have an independent bookstore 5 blocks away from our house. they valiantly struggle to stay afloat among the chapters/indigo/amazons and their cheap cheap books. i stopped in a few weeks ago to take a flip through amy singer's latest, no sheep for you.

they had it on order and offered to put one aside for me. they finally called last week and i happily went to pick up the book. i've been looking forward to this book. i like wool, i have no wool issues, but how can you not love luxury yarns? i figured the book would have small projects that you could knit with a ball or two of silk or bamboo. some large projects with cotton, hemp, or linen, but i had envisioned lots of little luxuries. maybe because to me, nice non-wool yarns are usually out of my budget and i can only afford one or two balls to make something pretty.

there are a handful of small projects (socks, a bag, mittens, knit collars, a scarf, a hat) but there are also lots of sweaters. unfortunately (fortunately?) for me, there isn't one sweater in there that i was immediately all ohhhhhhhhhh i want that! (which is odd because i'm a fickle bitch when it comes to knitting. oh well, i have a long enough list of must have knits) i'm sure the knitters out there with wool allergies were thrilled to see so many sweater patterns and not another book full of scarves or hats, rather a book just for them full of possibilities.

amy's contribution to the book, the tuscany shawl, is beautiful. wendy wrote recently, you are either a shawl person or you are not. at the time i thought "i am not." but who knows, maybe i need to try a bit of lace and i like the idea of using silk to knit lace.

what i really liked about the book was the first chapter. there is lots of information about the different non-wool fibres, including histories and useful things to keep in mind when using non-wool fibres to create a garment. she may actually have sold me on the idea of washing a swatch before starting any non-wool knitting. i have a new appreciation for silk and the price that comes along with it. and there's a hemp sweater that would look good on my man. i'll see if he's interested...

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i wanted to save this post until after amy's visit to our guild. amy singer! at the guild! last night!

amy is a friendly person but she seemed to recognize me. we've had a few brief interactions over the last few years (including stalking her and stephanie at the knitter's fair in 2005) but enough to remember me? cool. maybe is was my 30 seconds of fame on the yarn harlot's site back in january.

her talk was great. considering she had to be at breakfast television this morning at some ungodly hour, she was remarkably relaxed. even when the microphone died and it took them 15 minutes to find another battery. instead amy happily signed books and let me take her picture.

it was great to hear her speak and expound on the book contents. the patterns in the book were all selected for specific reasons, designed to highlight certain aspects of the various fibres. amy brought all of the garments from the book; it was fabulous to actually fondle and squeeze the lovely lovely fibres. i have a new appreciation for the thrummed mittens (knit with cotton and silk roving) that i probably never would have given a second thought (how woolly of me!) and the bathrobe! oh la la! amy admitted it costs between $400 and $600 of yarn. go big or go home, right? and the tomato pattern is much nicer in person than in the book.

oh, and i have a new button to put on my knitting bag. thanks, amy!