Books for the Busy

[library_mama]

Why is it that a librarian who works weekends finds herself so attracted to weekend books? I remember raving in the past about The Weekend Garden Guide and The Weekend Baker. Probably with less weekend to go around, I am intensely attracted to the idea that I might still be able to do something fun and soul-satisfying like baking, gardening, or knitting. I’m not so sure about The Weekend Mechanic, which came up when I was checking on the last two titles…

Weekend Knitting by Melanie Falick I checked this out mostly for knitting porn, and also for a chance to chat with my friend the clerk who only works on Wednesday evenings. The bad news about the book is that, to my eye, many of the projects looked like fast projects only for an experienced knitter. (Lace socks on size 2 needles in one weekend? When it took me the better part of a year to knit a single plain sock?) The good news is that they were really, really cool projects and I now want to try approximately half of them. I have a previously undiscovered need for turtleneck sweater egg cozies and am heart-broken that the curly-toed elf slippers are only in children’s sizes. amnachaidh wants the lace chair bottom, knit from hardware store twine. Plus assorted socks, sweaters, mittens, hats, scarves and finger puppets. I guess that makes it the very best kind of drool-matter, that inspires me to try to knit better than I do now. Oh, I forgot the lists of books and movies about knitting, for your further weekend enjoyment.

Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson We were getting in a rut with my weekly no-chop bean soup, and saw this. It is beautiful inspiration – not just soups, not just beans, but also vegetarian roasts, cheesecake, granola, and lots more. I still want to try the granola, ‘cause it’s way too easy to burn granola in the oven. amnachaidh didn’t like the pho recipe, but I think that’s more to do with pho being a beef-based soup that doesn’t translate well to a vegetarian version. The author has had very different experiences cooking beans than we have – she wants you to first soak beans overnight, then put them on high for 12 hours or so, then put them in the rest of the recipe on low for 6 to 8 hours. I usually put my dry, unsoaked beans in the slow cooker on high for 6 to 8 hours with everything else, and they cook just fine. I followed her recipes using my regular procedure and the recipes worked fine, though. All in all, this is a fine book for inspiring good day-to-day cooking, with some yummy special stuff thrown in.

Comments

[charles-midair.livejournal.com]

I have yet to find a knitting book (or sewing book), that has projects and goes through them in excruciating detail. So much is assumed, and I realize that eventually it wouldn't be a problem, but right now it is annoying.

[sapphireone.livejournal.com]

Yeah... I think I have, but they're few and far between. I think I saw a book aimed at teen knitters that had pictures and instructions for increases, say, right in the pattern where they wanted you to do it, rather than all at the beginning or the end. The book I gave to Alison, "The Knit Stitch", has three books - one with just knitting, one where they add purl, and the last where they add color. And the Stitch 'n' Bitch books have all the instructions in one place, but each pattern tells you up front which stitches/skills you'll need - increasing/decreasing, color work, lace, etc. - also convenient.