Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Knitting Book Read Along: Our First Book Begins!

I'm very excited to say that there was enough interest expressed in the Knitting Book Read Along that I'll be starting it within the next few weeks. Hooray! Thanks everyone! This will be a great motivation to get my reading mojo on and learn some fantastic stuff.

The Approach
This is a no pressure Read Along!
  • I'll be selecting the first book we'll be looking at based on overwhelming popular support, but all subsequent books will be picked from the top suggestions via a vote
  • There'll be plenty of time allotted to getting a copy of the book and reading it (as thoroughly or lightly as you please).
  • We'll be taking the discussion over to the Canary Knits Ravelry group, where the format will support a great back-and-forth discussion between us so we can get as in depth or lighthearted as we wish.
  • While there'll be an approximate finish date, the discussion thread will never be closed

The Goals
That's totally up to you!
  • As this is a relaxed Read Along, you set how much or little you'd like to read of the book, and what you'd like to get out of it.
  • I'll be posting my own goals prior to reading the book in the Canary Knits Ravelry group, where there'll be a thread devoted to the particular book.
  • Participate in any way that you want! Read on your own, pop on over the the Ravelry group to discuss or just read other people's thoughts on the book. It's up to you!

The Books
There were plenty of really wonderful suggestions! The top ten books/authors noted, in no particular order, were:
  • anything by the Yarn Harlot
  • anything by Elizabeth Zimmermann
  • any of Barbara Walker's Knitting Treasury Stitch Dictionaries
  • Knitting in Plain English by Maggie Righetti
  • Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague
  • The Stitch n' Bitch series by Debbie Stoller
  • The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes
  • Domiknitrix by Jennifer Stafford
  • Mason Dixon Knitting: The Curious Knitter's Guide by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne
  • Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard

and our first Knitting Book Read Along selection is....

Knitting Without Tears by Elizabeth Zimmermann!

I selected this book because not only was it by the most-suggested author, it's a short and easy read that's fairly easy to find (through your local library, inexpensively online or at your local bookstore, and maybe even already on your bookshelf!)

It makes for great lake-side reading!

If you're interested in joining, just hop on over to the Canary Knits Ravelry group and comment in this thread with "I'm in!"

We'll have til July 7 to get a hold of a copy of the book. After that, the Read Along will "officially" continue in this thread until August 15.

3 comments:

pdxknitterati/MicheleLB said...

I'm in! It's worth another read; it's been a few years!

kingshearte said...

You know, I've never actually read any Zimmerman. Perhaps this is a good excuse to do so.

Heather said...

This was the first knitting book I bought when I picked up knitting for real this year. I liked the writing but it didn't click with me. I'm willing to give it another go!