Can a day be bad when it includes new books?

I can’t decide if today is a good day or a bad day.  On the plus side, a former coworker that I absolutely adore stopped by for a visit today; lunch was yummy (Green bean day at the cafe!  Woot!  Sounds weird, I know, but they make good green beans, trust me!); I finished all my projects this week, so today is slow enough that I was able to peruse one of my new books (more on that later) and catch up on my favorite knitting blogs; and, um, I think that’s it.  On the minus side, there’s the uber-pain in my back that wasn’t there yesterday; my throat has that I’m-getting-sick-and-you-can’t-stop-me feeling; one issue I wanted to handle today can’t be handled, because I don’t have the necessary paperwork with me; another issue is being ignored by an online entity for whom I have no phone number (Can I vague that up a bit?  Probably.); and yes, the whole throat thing sucks enough that I feel it should be mentioned twice.  So you can see my dilemma as I try to decide, is this a good day, or a bad day?  (Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?)

The Happy Hooker
 
Knit 2 Together

Since the jury is still out, and probably will be until I wake up tomorrow either sick or relieved not to be sick, I’ll move on to the books that arrived from Amazon yesterday: Knit 2 Together and Stitch ‘n Bitch Crochet: The Happy Hooker.  (New books! Squee!)  My first impression was, Damn, these books are heavy!  I had no idea the K2T book was going to be so dense!  I’ve since leafed through each book cover to cover, and even managed to read a bit (“hooking” is no longer an innocent term just because it refers to crochet!), and I can say that I don’t regret buying either book.  I am glad I only paid $5.50 for the K2T book, as most of the patterns are really not my cup of tea, but I think I might actually make a pair of those slippers (no DPNs required!).  The Happy Hooker, on the other hand, I’m positively gleeful about!  I can’t wait to expand my crochet horizons beyond the Log Cabin blankets I’ve been focussing on.  Crochet is so much quicker than knitting, which is a huge plus for my instant-gratification needs.  And, no DPNs!  I can make all kinds of cute hats (I assume) without DPNs or seams!  Yes, I love this book, and as always, I love Stoller’s writing style, and I can’t wait to try all the techniques beyond the single and double crochet stitches I’ve already mastered.

So bottom line is, when I get home tonight, Knit 2 Together will join my other pattern books on the shelf, and look very pretty there, and I’ll probably take it out every once in awhile when I’m looking for inspiration; and The Happy Hooker and I will be spending some quality time on the couch with a few boxes of yarn while I look for the perfect project to take on.

So maybe not such a bad day after all?

One reply on “Can a day be bad when it includes new books?”

i bought k2tog to make the green doctor’s bag inside; also bought the yarn (both from knitpicks, if memory serves). it was fun to read for a tracey ullman fan, but i almost never knit from book patterns–they’re too clunky. we’ll see.
i’m curious about crocheting, though. i want to learn to make ami-blahdeblah–you know, the little animals? they’re sooo cute. but i haven’t successfully taught myself by looking at two internet videos, so i’ve put that project in time out for now. keep us posted on how you find the stoller book!

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