Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Bargain Book Bonanza

But first, some thinly sliced cucumbers:


Ok, now that the pretty food moment is over, I found this book at B&N for $6.98 (all prices are in USD unless otherwise stated. Which isn't likely because I don't think I'll be going out of the country any time soon). It's from the blogger who does Yarnstorm. I did not know about Yarnstorm until I picked up her book. It's very very pretty, and calming at night as I read it. Plus, she's got some AWESOME projects - knitting, baking, sewing, and otherwise. (also, I saw this book on sale for $9.99 at Williams Sonoma, so if you're not near a B&N, a WS will do)



I found this book - also for $6.98 at B&N. Which rocks, because I've been really wanting a Built By Wendy book, and they're usually in the $25 to $30 range. And in that range I usually buy knitting books (with Borders Bucks and major coupons). It particularly rocks because this book is about sewing with stretchy fabrics and using a serger (which I have, and shamefully have never used, not once, since my awesome husband bought it for me for Christmas more than four years ago. Boy, do I suck sometimes.)


Anyway, the above book particularly rocks because I am lusting after this dress from the Garnet Hill catalog, and honestly haven't spent $48 on a piece of clothing in, oh, forever. (it was in 2008, and I used a $50 gift card to buy a pair of jeans from Banana Republic. Thank you Jen BuckDaniels!) And I can totally make this:


Today at Borders, I bought these books for $5.99 and $7.99 respectively. Happy for No Reason because, as I said in a comment on Perches blog today, the cover is yellow and it has the word Happy on it. And happy for no reason? That almost NEVER happens to me. (ok, it happened once when I was pregnant with Georgia. I was suddenly filled with a total sense of well being and happiness for about ten minutes. It was awesome.) It will be an interesting social experiment. On myself. Also, I'm a total sucker for self-help books:


And I got this one, because I've been wanting to try out a Nigella book, and I like the words "Feast" and "celebrate life." Also I'm a total sucker for cookbooks. In the interest of total disclosure, you could probably make that sentence more true by eliminating any qualifier around the word "book."


Plus, Nigella and I have similar coloring.

Anyway, the Villane is going well, although I discovered that I screwed up a wee bit. You know, it's probably good to do one of the following two things:
  1. Read the pattern. I hear this is helpful. Oh, and then after you read it, check it again as you approach major completion points.
  2. Listen to your husband (a non-knitter) when he says things like "Gee, that sleeve looks really short. [I show him the picture of the sweater on a model] Huh, maybe the model has really short arms. Look, the cuff is halfway down her hand in the photo. I think your sleeve is too short. No? It's not too short? You followed the pattern? Really? Ok. Well, you're the knitter."
Yeah. So it is today, a good four days after I "finished" the first sleeve that I actually, you know, read the directions and it said to do five repeats of charts B1 and B2 after the one repeat of chart A. I had remembered the instructions as "do five repeats total, including chart A."

oops. Yeah. So sleeve one is about five inches too short. Maybe less. It's too short, regardless. Also, I have really long arms.

Sleeve two needs 1.5 more repeats to be actually complete. And one more repeat for sleeve 1 to finish that one. Sigh.

8 comments:

  1. Aah, the misery of long arms. You and me and our poor ape-like child. At least she likes bananas.

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  2. Looks like you had a good day at the bookstore. Thanks for the info about Gotham Fine Yarn you left for me.

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  3. Great bookstore haul! That clearance section over at B & N is AWESOME...I took home 8 books the other day for $15, no joke.

    Also, I have long arms, too. I have to add at least 3 inches to every sweater pattern to get something that covers my wrists. Glad I am not the only one! :) Seriously, though, I never thought I was a freak until I started knitting. Does the average knitwear designer have shorter arms than the average fit model for places like the GAP or something?

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  4. Oh god I love the Gentle Art of Domesticity! It's one of my favorite books! When I first got it I forced myself to go through the book s l o w l y so I could soak it all it. What a great find!

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  5. I love book-shopping!

    Isn't it strange how you can get so wrapped up in the knitting that you lose touch with it? I do that, too. And when I do hand-lettering, I can't spell, although normally I'm a good speller.

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  6. What great finds! I myself want a copy of Jane Brockets books for such a good price. I also want her book of recipes from children's books to come back in print or become easier to find. I would like to re-create the tea from the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe for myself.

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  7. I love good book shopping too - nothing is like a pile of unread books :-) Love your pretty food photo too - looks like we are equal in the cooking stuff. ( I suck...) Lol, and we are pretty the same in reading pattern too I think :-) My DH do not longer ask when I frog... He just say; oh so now you are finished reading pattern and are about to start knitting. And that dress in the magazine is beautiful - totally beautiful, you must make one for yourself!

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  8. The Gentle Art of Domesticity looks fabulous! I predict a trip to Barnes and Noble is in my future. Also, thinly sliced cucumbers.

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