You want books? I got books.

Here's what I've learned since my last post: Don't think you can cross those Mason-Dixon ladies quietly and get away with it. It turns out they have strong ties to the blog-commenter mafia, and they know how to mobilize; within hours, your inbox will be flooded -- with hundreds of friendly comments! They will also use their Photoshop skills to create a representation of why you are crossing them -- but they'll put white wine in your hand when in fact you'd rather have a beer when in the tub. (See slightly revised image, above.)

One result of the huge response to my little contest is that, instead of the usual one-in-50ish chances of winning the book, each commenter ended up with just a one-in-370ish chance. However, another result is that I saw the opportunity to unload a few other, older books as well!


The book-to-space ratio in my office is way off, and I just don't have room to keep books that only have one or two patterns in them that I may knit one day. So there is more than one winner today. Drum roll, please...


1. J. (baad medicine) wins Mason-Dixon Knitting: Outside the Lines!
2. Steph (Bits of Happy) wins Twelve Months of Knitting!
3. Anna (photoknitnerd) wins The Yarn Girls’ Guide to Knits for All Seasons! (Anna, please e-mail me, since Blogger won't send me your info)
4. Susan (Our Daily Thread) wins The Knitting Experience: Book 1: The Knit Stitch!

(If you're one of the winners, and you don't want the book you're getting, please let me know!)

I'd asked for your favourite knitting books of the year, and I was very interested to find that Elizabeth Zimmermann is number one by far. Of more recent pattern books, Cat Bordhi's New Pathways for Sock Knitters and Lisa Lloyd's A Fine Fleece were recommended most often -- as well as everything written by the beloved Yarn Harlot. These were followed by The Knitter's Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes, Knitalong by Larissa Brown and Martin John Brown, Knitting New Scarves by Lynne Barr, Favorite Socks from Interweave, Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard, Inspired to Knit by Michele Rose Orne, and Knitting Nature by Norah Gaughan. (There were many others, too; if you're looking for new books, have a read through the comments.) I'm really glad I asked that question, because there were books I'd never even heard of in there. Plus, even though I'm off socks at the moment, I feel like I should probably look into that Cat Bordhi book. And clearly I should spend some time with EZ.

Thanks for playing, everybody! This was fun.