73 Simply red

I was invited to a book launch, but North Wales to The London College of Fashion is rather a long way to travel for a press junket, so I didn't go. I was promised a review copy of the book. Nothing came. Review copies, it seems, were only available at the launch party, to be purchased (!) at a 30% discount. But no matter, the Mr. bought me the book for my recent birthday, from Amazon, for less than I'd have paid at the launch.

Sandy Black's Knitting: Fashion, Industry, Craft: a curious hybrid, too wordy to be a coffee table tome, too chunky to be much else - it weighs 3½ lbs, no wonder none were posted out! This is a wide ranging, informative, and fun read, just don't mistake it for a rigorous, exhaustive history. The academic in me keeps wanting to shout at it, but the knitter is silenced by the sumptuous images of knitted fashions and artefacts from the V&A's extensive collection. The pics alone justify the cover price. Bonuses are a decent 'further reading' list and a useful index. But there's not a single mention of a muffatee!

I've written about muffatees before. And of course I designed a muffatee pattern, a free muffatee pattern! Just click on the updated link in the sidebar to download the PDF directly. The hot off the needles pair you can see in the photo above have since been posted off to Gillian, who won them in my last giveaway.

These muffatees are begun with a provisional cast on, as is the Demne baby jacket, and I've been asked more than once to detail my favourite method. I cheat I'm afraid! I cast on just as I normally would but with contrasting waste yarn, knit a few rows before switching to the garment yarn, knit a row with the garment yarn after the switch (that's important), and then proceed with the pattern. When I'm ready to release the garment stitches from the provisional cast on I simply unravel the latter, catching those garment stitches on my needle as I go - a small pair of scissors comes in handy here if used with care. There will be a last loop of garment yarn, not a stitch, through which the waste yarn passes. Pick that up too, to compensate for the stitch you lose to the offset. And hey presto, you'll have the same number of stitches you cast on, ready to go. Not the most commonly recommended method perhaps but one of the tidiest I know.

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Thank you so much for all your comments on my recent posts, truly appreciated m'dears.

I've been following a fascinating debate about commenting, over at Fizzle. It seems not everyone thinks comments are a good thing. And I know some folk are totally befuddled by their 'commenting etiquette' concerns. If you have a blog how do you acknowledge the comments readers leave? I visit the blogs of the bloggers who join the conversation here - and you are mostly bloggers - rather than email my appreciation or comment on your comments. You've taken time out of your day to pop by and visit me where I hang out and I like to return the compliment. And of course if you don't have a blog I'll respond by other means, as I will if you've asked a question. But I guess we should all do whatever works for us, this commenting thing should be a pleasure not a pain in the proverbial. I've never expected, still don't, a single comment here, so every last one is a delight.

Quick edit: we're having a natter about this in the comments, everyone's two pennorth more than welcome, and for once it might be worth popping back to see the comments on the comments.

I shall be calling on these kind folk as soon as I have time. Jessica at Rusty Duck, Lizzie and Clare at The Vintage Bazaar, and Anna at Beep Beep, welcome!

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I've been asked about the post's title. In the immortal words of Terry Pratchett, it's "a pune, or play on words".

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