Goodies from Knit Picks!

I've been expecting a package from Knit Picks (Thanks for the gift certificate, Mom! Would you know... for Christmas, my mom got me a gift certificate for Knit Picks and... for Christmas, I gave my mom a gift certificate for Knit Picks! Imagine that!? Great minds think alike. We even picked the same snowman design on the gift certificate). Yesterday, a storm front blew in from the North. You could see it snowing in the mountains and hills not too far from us. I happened to peek out the front of the house toward the mailbox at the end of the street and noticed the mailman pulling up to the mailboxes. My husband braved the wind and cold and rain to gather my package. It was a treat to tear into it! Check out my goodies. A book entitled "Andean Folk Knits", Susan B. Anderson's book entitled "Itty Bitty Toys", a kit to make two blue and white stockings, more blocking pins, two balls of gorgeous sock yarn, and a pattern/chart keeper.

I was most surprised by the "Andean Folk Knits" book. I think it was on sale for $5.99 on http://www.knitpicks.com/. I expected the book to be small since the price was so low, but the book is huge with tons of patterns and colorful photos. The book contains personal stories from the author (what I've picked up on so far is that she and her family lived in South American as Mennonite missionaries). She goes into great detail about the history of this part of the world and the tradition of knitting as part of the culture. The book contains a number of pattern for bags or purses, many of which are shaped like animals. So many patterns, so little time... okay, enough procrastinating... I need to get moving on that baby boy sweater!