Knit one, purl one, slurp one

Based on the blogs from the other Deweys, you would think that we are always reading ... right? Well yes, but we do other things too. I am a knitter. I feel sometimes like I should confess "My name is Anne and I am a knitter!" In my travels I can't seem to pass a wool shop without at least one quick browse. It's never to buy anything you understand. Most recently, in Vancouver for a conference, I found myself with my face pressed up against the window of a closed wool shop in Burnaby, British Columbia. The poor salesperson was trying to cash out when she looked up and found us, my trusty Dewey knitting buddy and I, looking sadly through the glass. She very kindly let us in and we had a quick look. Next morning, one minute after the store opened, my friend and I were already racing through the door to buy the yarn we had lusted after the night before, in spite of any unfinished projects sitting beside my favourite chair at home. Now, having a lovely bag of luscious new yarn has so much promise....but what about a pattern? One would think that a pattern should come first but that is too logical. Sometimes the look and feel of the wool clouds your thinking. I now have a lovely new book that I can now count on to help me continue to feed my passion for knitting but temper my sometimes unrealistic visions of the amazing creations that will fly from my hands. The title is Classic Knits by Erika Knight. The collection of projects in this book are things you would and could actually wear! This has not always been the case. "Is that a garage you are knitting from the volkswagon honey?" Now when I travel to different Canadian cities with my work, I have less guilt about cruising into a welcome woolshop with creative visions of grandeur in my eyes. I have a better vision of what is actually possible. A couple of my favourite wool shops are Wool Revival in Edmonton, Alberta, Mad About Ewe in Nanaimo, British Columbia and Ram Wools in Winnipeg, Manitoba. You can't beat it when you are on the road, a new bag of wool, the clack of bamboo kneedles, good mystery on television and a lovely glass of full-bodied shiraz and life is pretty much perfect.