Porcelain buttons
by Earthenwood Studios
$3-8 each, depending on size

From smaller than a dime to large enough to cover your palm, Earthenwood has been making buttons of all sizes for many years. Popular with knitters everywhere, they offer a beautiful way to finish your handknit creations!

Strong but very light, they're a perfect compliment for handknit fabric and can be made in almost any color in the lovely variety of patterns they offer. Leaves, vines, flowers, abstracts. All lovely.

Sez their website: "Our porcelain beads, charms, and buttons are fired to high temperatures, which make them very strong, similar to glass. They are very unlikely to chip and break with normal use." They also caution that, because they're ceramic, they're not invincible -- so treat them with care when washing.

AS

Lacy Little Knits: Clingy, Soft & A Little Risque
by Iris Schreier
Lark Books
$19.95 hardcover
SR= 32-45"

Iris Schreier is the creative genius behind Art Yarns, delectable, beautifully hued luxury yarns. So she, better than anyone, knows how to showcase them to their fullest. In this third book featuring her yarns, she doesn’t disappoint.

The designs feature her yarns beautifully, but her designs are, more importantly, interesting to knit and flattering to wear. Her signature directional knitting is still evident, but this book focuses on lace. From a tiny dollop of lace on a directional tank to garments that are cascades of lace. Lovely.

JM

Finishing Techniques for Hand Knitters
by Sharon Brant
Trafalgar Square Books
$24.95 hardcover

A good basic finishing book. It begins talking about finishing long before you actually finish a garment, with choosing, substituting yarns, garment fit and alteration. Then it delves into the actual knitting – casting-on, short row shoulder shaping, buttonholes and bands, etc. Best, not often found in finishing books, Brant discusses mitred corners and the lining of garments.

Instructions are short and to the point and illustrated with photographs – you can actually see where to pick up, pin, etc.

JM

Charmed Knits: Projects for Fans of Harry Potter
by Alison Hansel
Wiley Publishing
$14.99
SR: 28 –54"

Pardon the pun, but this is a charming book. If you are not a fan of Harry Potter, move along, this isn’t for you. For the rest of us I’m happy to report that the patterns in this book are so clearly developed and executed with the ardor only an obsessive fan can generate.

There are patterns for garments in the movies – the initial sweater, quidditch sweater, Ron’s animal cracker hat ; things inspired by things in the movie, Molly’s robe, a blanket based on the Weasley clock, and things I hadn’t thought of, that make me smile, like a wand cozy.

In fact I smiled the entire time I spent with the book, since it captures the magic creativity of childhood.

JM

Kitty [circ, shown in Dutch Treat, left]
& Betty [straight, shown in Viona, right]
knitting needle cases
by Lexie Barnes
$50 each

It's no secret that I love what Lexie Barnes makes. She has an inner coolness that seeps into every project she designs, plus as a mama, she gets that we want practical bags that can survive knitterly abuse and still look great.

New from Lexie are her needle cases. Kitty holds circs [see interior below left] and Betty [below right] is for straights and/or crochet hooks. That doesn't mean you couldn't use 'em for anything else that you see fit. DPNs in Kitty, maybe? Kitty also comes with sturdy cards that you can label as you see fit. I put my wood, bamboo and plastic circs on the left and metals on the right, and one indicator card per row tells me at a glance what I've got and what's gone missing. It also zips up tidily, even when fully stuffed [see pic at left]. Beautiful, bulletproof storage for your needle collection.

AS

Flip Knits
- Combination & Western Knitting
- Combination & Western Purling
- Right & Left Slanting Decreases
- "Grandma" Knit & Purl Increases
by Annie Modesitt
$4.99 each

Anyone who has ever taken a class with Annie Modesitt, or even just looked at her patterns, knows that this is a woman who wants knitting to be fun.

For Annie knitting is fun, but not frivolous. You will always learn something from her because the fun makes it stick in your head. Her new set of books are a perfect example of the marriage of fun and learning.

Remember the little animated flip books when you were a kid? I think I spent an entire summer making them when I was 10. These flip books are filled with up close photographs that teach you knitting skills instead of how to do a cartwheel.

Knitting features Annie-style combination knitting and western style knitting; Purl, both ways too;
Left and Right Decreases; "Grandma"Knit and Purl Increases (knitting in the stitch below) are laid out in old-school flip animation in each compact volume.

The best part (besides feeling 10 again) is that you can stop on any single image and study it until it makes sense to your brain.

JM

Venus
by Della Q
15"w x 5.5"w x 10"h
100% Silk
$79.95

Della Q has made beautiful silk bags that knitters love since launching her company in 2004. This one is jaw-droppingly gorgeous.

Made of pure silk, embroidered on the front with flowers and vines, this is the most luxurious of knitting bags. You could wear it as a purse with a formal outfit and not be out of place.

Pockets inside will hold notions, cellphones, whatever -- and there's a big zipped pocket on the opposite side for extra safekeeping. Metal feet keep the pretty bag off dirty surfaces.

Different colors are available at different retailers. Yarnmarket has it in green or purple. Della Q shows it in brown. Yum.

AS

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting
by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
Storey Publishing
$14.95

Tired of trying to explain our world to your non-knitter friends? Have you taught someone to knit, but they're not quite sure what's normal and what's freakishly obsessive? [Hint: obsession is normal.] This book validates our knitting world, putting into amusing prose the lessons we've learned the hard way, or are in the middle of learning right now. I'd suggest you keep your copy with you so you can pass it around when someone gives you that look the next time you're knitting in line at the movie theater.

Steph says everything we're thinking -- or have yet to put into words -- better than anyone. You'll find yourself nodding as you read, which can't be any weirder sight to a muggle than sock knitting.

AS

Knitting Never Felt Better:
The Definative Guide to Fabulous Felting
by Nicky Epstein
Sixth & Spring Books
$29.95 hardcover

This book is made up almost entirely of photographs of swatches which demonstrate the properties of felted knitting better than any other book on felting, simply by showing everything up close and personal. There are before-and-after swatches using different fibers; swatches showing dimensional felting; a big section on shibori; swatches for texture stitch patterns featuring cables and lace; appliqué felting; color felting with intarsia, embroidery and entrelac; even bits on felted-and-sewn felting using sewing patterns; and fruit and veg sculptural felting.

Sprinkled through the book are tips from Nicky and her readers. My favorite? A list of the best yarns for felting.

JM

Knitting bags by Timeless Totes
Knitting duffel:
[above, shown in Stitch Leaves]

Darla tote: $22
[top left, shown in Teal Damask]

Knitter's travel case:
[bottom left, shown in Kiss 'N Tell]

These bags are tantalizing...utility and affordability! But they're a tease, because right now, they're not so easy to find. [I saw them at the needlearts trade show but have yet to see them for sale in person anywhere.]

The Knitting duffel is a spare bag inside, with one simple zipper pocket -- all lined in nylon. But its shape is unique, it's not too big and the angled zipper allows it to open really wide so you can get into every corner. The handles are leather-look vinyl. This one is my favorite, though I'd love it better with a light-colored lining so I could see inside more easily.

The Darla tote has a zippered pocket and two slide-in pockets on the inside -- all pockets are lined in vinyl! The straps are simply nylon webbing, colormatched to the bag.

The Knitter's travel case [despite the not-my-taste lip-print fabric] is a brilliant design. The structure of the bag is expandable, so the two outside vinyl pockets will hold a LOT of stuff! There are also two slimmer inside vinyl pockets for thinner things. A very handy bag.

Their website doesn't show any of the new fabrics I saw at the show [like Teal Damask and Stitch Leaves shown above], but if you click "Distributors", you'll find retailers in almost every state in the US and one in Canada. Or try this: call their toll-free number and see what they've got in stock and what it costs. A cryptic website shouldn't keep you from a good bargain. Call 877-909-3020.

AS

The Best of Vogue Knitting Magazine
Sixth & Spring Books
$29.95 hardcover

100 articles gathered from the first 25 years of Vogue Knitting. Useful, helpful and fun [the covers!]. Remember the Threads magazine collections of knitting articles from the early '90s? It’s like that but better and bigger.

I must include a caveat for the two knitters out there who do not find Elizabeth Zimmerman’s or Meg Swansen’s ideas useful, helpful or fun -- 33 out of the 100 articles are either by or about them. For the rest of us [especially those of us who missed them the first time around], this is a special treat.

JM