A friend of mine, Heather, has been threatening to give me “a bag of knitting junk” for a really long time. Apparently a friend of her mother’s had been about to donate all her knitting things to Goodwill, when my Heather’s mom took the bag to give to her daughter, who is an occasional knitter. Unfortunately, Heather lives in a tiny apartment with a dog and two cats, and thus, did not really want the big bag of “knitting junk.” So, she decided to give it to me. (Woo.)
I tried not to take it, since these sorts of situations usually result in me having to pretend to ooh and aah over a half-dozen skeins of fun fur and three mismatched knitting needles. But, Heather was persistent and last Thursday she brought along the big trash bag full of craft supplies to our evening practice. I tried to appear appreciative as I opened up the bag.
When I actually looked inside, I was totally floored. More than a dozen almost-full balls of crochet cotton, about 20 pairs of antique knitting needles, and the best gift I have received in a really long time: The Bantam Step-by-Step book of Needlecraft by Julie Brittain.
It’s an amazing all-encompassing needlecraft book with pictures that are awesomely eighties, but instructions that are totally timeless. It’s got knitting, crochet, embroidery, tatting… everything. It covers the history of needlework, as well as including patterns and techniques.
And best of all (this is actually making me tear up a little), it’s the same book that my mom had when I was a kid. I spent hours and hours (probably days… maybe even weeks) pouring over this book. I taught myself so much from its pages. It’s the reason that I know what Turkish Crochet is, how to do the Bobble stitch, and the recipe for my favorite mittens. It was simply amazing to receive something so dear to my heart, and that I had totally forgotten about for years. I’m pretty sure the rest of my team thought that I was a little crazy, the way I was carrying on.
But, you knitters understand! Here are some of the fantastic knitting contents of this book:
Awesome eighties sweaters!
Delightful lace patterns!
Classic mitten and glove recipes!
Do you have a pattern or book that is particularly close to your heart?
On the Needles 
That is really cool. I definitely recognized the pages, but my cover is different. I love this book. I use every time I have to do an invisible seem. I opened it just yesterday to remind myself how to do a blanket stitch (embroidery.) My husband gave me this book in 1995. He including this inscription: “Weave seam this book, sew we thought you would needle it. Happy 38th birthday!” Isn’t he clever.