Knititude: Sherwood for grownups

Press

More Big Girl Knits
About the No-Gap Wrap Pullover: "We love clever, and this sweater is clever."
Interweave Knits Summer 2007
About the Lutea Lace Shell: "...what appears at first glance to be a standard tank top knitted in flat pieces turns out on closer inspection to be an ingenious piece of three-dimensional sculpture." Pam Allen, Editor in Chief, Interweave Knits

Rec reading

Barbara G. Walker: A Treasury of Knitting Patterns
Barbara G. Walker: A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns
Barbara G. Walker: Charted Knitting Designs: A Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns
Adam Haslett: You Are Not a Stranger Here
Most of these stories are decent, but the collection is worth buying just for the first one, "Notes To My Biographer." Wow!
Toni Morrison: Beloved
One of my favorites.
Beverley Jackson: Splendid Slippers: A Thousand Years of an Erotic Tradition
Fascinating look at an extremely disturbing tradition. One of my great-grandmothers (on my mother's side) had bound feet. I saw a pair of handmade slippers for bound feet in an antique store in Nantucket, and had to have them--the most expensive shoes I own! Anyway, after that I bought this book. As for "erotic," a chapter called "sacrifice at the altar of beauty" explores some of the many notions of sexual attractiveness which require painful bodily alterations or embellishments.
Michael A. Dirr: Dirr's Hardy Trees and Shrubs: An Illustrated Encyclopedia
I would love this book even if I lived in a studio apartment (maybe even more so). You always know exactly where Mr. Dirr stands: "... I have never recommended, at least when conscious, a poplar," or "[the oakleaf hydrangea] is one of the most handsome plants that landscape designers have at their disposal." For a picture of the latter, see my photo album.
Mark Haddon: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (Vintage Contemporaries)
Nicky Epstein: Knitting on the Edge : Ribs * Ruffles * Lace * Fringes * Floral * Points & Picots - The Essential Collection of 350 Decorative Borders
If this doesn't get those creative juices flowing...but why does the author reference a symbol for borders in which "both sides are the same or equally attractive" in the introductory notes, then not use the symbol once? (If she did, I missed it). A minor quibble, to be sure.
Jeffrey Eugenides: Middlesex: A Novel

Now, I couldn't tell from the photo at left (both are from Harper's Bazaar, September 2006) if the jumper shown is a knit, but it could be; the one below is definitely not, but it has a sort of heraldic, medieval feel to it that makes me think of...Sherwood. The rib and braid pattern I used in Sherwood makes me think of tunics and halberds, chain mail, that sort of thing, and now I'm picturing Sherwood sleeveless, mid-thigh length, worked in a gorgeous gray wool-silk combo, something that has a sheen to it, not metallic so much, or at least no more than that metallic glint you might catch from some bird's feathers, around a pigeon's neck, say. Those ribs and the "V" effect of the braid arrangement are very figure-flattering; much as I like the idea of a white blouse, I would probably end up wearing it over a turtleneck. You could put tights under it, or those %$#! leggings that are seemingly back in style. Size 14 has a 36 inch chest circumference, and size 16, 39 inches. Just keep working until it's long enough, a little armhole shaping, a little ribbing around the armholes to match the neck...yum. Wish I had time to do it myself.