It’s that time again! Here’s the Second Annual Knitter’s Wish List. (Feel free to share or leave this page open on your laptop or iPad where Santa can see it.) I’ve “shopped the world” from my aerie here at The Church and come up with these clever suggestions:
My friend, Andrea is the envy of every sock knitter I know. She bit the bullet and bought herself a set of these:
I’ve envied her ever since. Signature Needle Arts dp’s, (size 2.25mm, 6″, please!) are crafted from aircraft quality aluminum and feature super-pointy stiletto tips. Each size is a different color. Make mine red! (Note: These are ridiculously expensive needles.)
Ever since snippets of Kate Davies’ new book “Yokes” began to make their appearance on her blog along with heart-stopping photographs of her beautiful work, I’ve wanted her book. Elizabeth has pre-ordered it; apparently the shipping cost is out of this world. I bet it’s well worth it.
My hands are dry at the best of times. Add harsh winter weather, dry interior air and working with the drier yarns like lopi and I’m an itchy, flaky mess. Most hand creams don’t help, but here’s one that really does the trick. Crabtree & Evelyn Hand Therapy is the richest, smoothest, most luxurious hand cream ever and the scents are unfailingly wonderful. My go-to fragrances are the lavender and the gardener’s, but this year, two new fragrances make an appearance…English Honey & Peach and Pear & Pink Magnolia. Of course, these can easily be had online or at Crabtree & Evelyn retail stores but recently I’ve found a limited range of scents at Rexall, believe it or not.
For quite some time, I’ve been reading the blog of “Fringe Association” but did not know until recently that it is connected to a neat little online shop called “The Fringe Supply Co.” which carries a unique assortment of sweet gifties, buttons and tools for knitters and crafters. Here’s a cool idea: a knitter’s graph paper journal, perfect for those sudden bursts of creativity.
It’s winter in Canada. It’s dead dark by 5 pm. Thank goodness Ott makes available full-spectrum lighting in both floor and desk-top lamps.
Last time I was favored by a visit from Mrs. Robinson, she pulled out a very nifty little lamp that fits around her neck. Ingenious, no? And perfect for knitting at the movies, in bed, or anywhere else where a knitting light might be disturbing to others.
A couple of weeks ago at our knitting retreat, I was fortunate to sit in a class on lace making with Miss Wendy. I noticed her pretty and sleek little stitch markers while I fumbled with my big clumsy plastic ones. She offered me two pink ones and I was immediately addicted to Halo Snag-Free Stitch Markers from Atomic Knitting.uk. So pretty!
Last but not least…the gift that keeps on giving. Magazine subscriptions will keep the inspiration flowing all year. I’m a huge fan of the Interweave publications. They produce credible, well-researched material and beautiful patterns and cumulatively produce a sort of knitting encyclopedia. The price is right, too!
Then there are the luxuriously published Rowan knitting magazines. These are so gorgeously photographed and produced, they are more like books. Hence, they are available singly. They feature amazing designers and are heavenly to read and admire.
Gosh, I could go on and on…(Carl, dear…if you happen to be reading this, it is NOT NECESSARY to rush out and buy everything on this list. It is meant only as a guide 🙂