Recommended books

Knit edgings & trims, 150 stitches

I had better confess straight away: Harmony Guides are my knitting bibles. I have two of the older editions of the Guides to Knitting Stitches and hardly a day goes by without using these books. So I’m not an impartial reviewer, but an enthusiastic fan. There. You’ve been warned.

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The truly terribly horrible sweater … that Grandma knit

For his birthday, little Cameron gets a colourful hand knitted sweater from his grandma.

Have you ever received a present that was made with love especially for you – and you didn’t like it?

When I was a girl, my grandmother gave me huge underpants that were supposed to keep my kidneys warm. With mini skirts en vogue, warm kidneys seemed to be a major worry for my gran. I hated the ‘tents’, as I called them and always hid them at the back of my drawer.

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25 bags to knit: Beautiful bags in stylish colours

I’ve always loved making my own bags, and I’m one of those women who think one can’t have too many bags.

Some of my handmade bags have been rather hasty projects for (almost) instant satisfaction, some took some more time to make and turned out to become much-used favourites. I make them mostly from natural fibres, so they’re washable.

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The organic pharmacy

In her introduction author Margo Marrone, a qualified pharmacist, herbalist and homeopath, illustrates the fact that all aspects of our lives are connected to each other. When she was pregnant with her first child she took a closer look at her lifestyle and realised that what she had regarded as her perfectly healthy diet so far wasn’t so healthy after all.

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