BEA 2008 in LA

I went to Book Expo America last weekend for work. I checked out a lot of the craft book companies to scope out what's coming for fall. Here's a recap with reviews based on either the pages from catalogs or samples I saw at the show.

RANDOM HOUSE - POTTER CRAFT
Mason Dixon Knitting Outside the Lines: Patterns, Stories, Pictures, True Confessions, Tricky Bits, Whole New Worlds, and Familiar Ones, Too
$29.95 | HC | September 2008
Kay Gardiner & Ann Shayne

This book looks promising. I was very inspired by the first Mason Dixon Knitting and the little I've seen of this one doesn't make me think they will ever disappoint me. The Potter Craft catalog includes a witty excerpt describing the dos and don't's of knitting for kids.

Knitting Noro
$27.50 | HC | October 2008
Jane Ellison
I've always been fascinated by the colors I've seen in Noro, but it alway seems I try to use the wrong Noro. Kureuon or Keuron sock are probably not the best yarns for me because I'm such a sucker for softness. Oh wait this is supposed to be about the book. Well, the book looks like an expensive 128 page Noro booklet. Which makes sense since the author is the designer of like six Noro books.

Continuous Cables
$32.50 | HC | October 2008
Melissa Lapman

While I admit I haven't knit anything out of Cables Untangled yet, I will admit to having looked at it and wondering where I was going to find the time to knit all of that. I'm totally enamoured with cables, so these two books are very much up my alley. It looks like the author came up with some of her own cable motifs for the book which is both innovative and so difficult that she might even get me to buy the book for just that reason.

INTERWEAVE
Knitted Lace of Estonia
$24.95 | PB | November 2008
Nancy Bush

GOD! I have to wait until November for this to come out!? I got to see a few pages of it at the Interweave booth and it was just tantilizing. There was a lilly of the valley pattern that i was getting close to literally drooling on. Nancy Bush is nothing but a genius with wool and I'm sure that this title is no exception.

Knitting Socks with Handpainted Yarn
$19.95 | PB | February 2009
Carol Sulcoski

I'm not quite sure how a book publishing in February 2009 makes it into their Fall 2008 catalog. As we all know, the challenge with handpainted yarn is to show off the awesome colors while maintaining stitch definition in a pattern. I'm not sure if they just picked a bad example or two, but the photos in the catalog kind of scare me that Interweave might have missed the mark on this one. Also, the cover looked much different in the catalog than it does on Amazon.

It Itches: A Stash of Knitting Cartoons
$12.95 | HC | October 2008
Franklin Habit

I definitely don't read the Panopticon enough. Actually, blog reading is the first thing to drop from my schedule when life gets busy (which means i haven't been reading anyone's blog as of late). I am, however, just as familiar with Dolores as the next knitter, and am quite happy to see these cartoons come together in a book! Publishing in October means this book is well poised to be just the relief a holiday knitter will require after they've never fully finished those slippers for mom....

There were also a couple of books listed in the back of the Interweave catalog that I saw and feel a growing urge to buy:

• Inspired to Knit - I think this should be coming out shortly. Flipping through an advance copy at the booth, there were certainly quite a few knits that fit my style quite well.


• Knit so Fine - I actually went out and bought this last night at The Point on my way home. I couldn't get the image of the pink cowl sweater on page 81 out of my head. There were about five other patterns in there I can see myself actually knitting as well, although, I recognize that I look better in finer gauge knits.

STEWART, TABOORI & CHANG
Custom Knits
$27.50 | HC | September 2008
Wendy Bernard

I used to read Knit & Tonic habitually . Wendy blogged quite a bit about the process of creating this book and I can't wait to see what she's come up with. The synopsis makes it seem like there are tip b oxes along the way to tell you how to make the garment your own. Between Wendy's down to earth writing style and the sample photographs in the catalog, this book is definitely going on my birthday list!

Alterknits Felt
$24.95 | HC | October 2008
Leigh Radford

I hope the photographs for this Alterknits book are in focus. Felting isn't really my thing, to be honest, but there was an ottoman that caught my eye. I imagine that if I did like felting, I might like this book.

CHRONICLE BOOKS
Picture Perfect Knits
$19.95 | PB with Wire-O | November 2008
Laura Birek

This might even get me to knit with color! Some of the projects really looked awesome, and there were bunches of hip charted designs in the back that you could use for whatever project you wanted. The instructions were fairly well illustrated and looked to be in real English (as opposed to knotted and complex English).

WORKMAN - STOREY PUBLISHING
101 Luxury Yarn One Skein Wonders
$18.95 | PB | October 2008
Judith Durant

I wasn't thrilled about the first One Skein Wonder book. the second one is pretty good though. Both of them, I thought, were better than Interweave's One Skein., though mostly because the One Skein Wonder books actually do keep their projects to one skein. This luxury yarn book, however, is probably where the series should have started. Firstly, it will make an amazing gift paired with a luxurious skein of silk yarn (for example). Also, if one wants to splurge on nice yarn, but are constrained by publishing salaries. All in all, though the quality of this book is going to be determined by the patterns held within, which I'm personally hoping are more like 1010 Designer One Skein wonders.

The Essential Guide to Color Knitting Techniques
$29.95 | HC | December 2008
Margret Radcliffe

You know, it's hard to knit with color without knitting something that ends up homely looking. I think that's one of the reasons I don't really knit with colors. this one does look like it tries hard to be too homely, though. It does look like the color pairing guide I saw looked pretty cool, but eh overall feel of the book just didn't feel like the kind of stuff I would want to knit. It did seem like threw were some kind of cool techniques that were a bit different than intarsia and fair isle, which could be cool to read about.

STERLING PUBLISHING
Lost Sock: 200 Clever ways to use Your Single Socks
$9.95 | PB | August 2008
Cynthia L. Copeland

I know it's not specifically a knitting book, but whether that sock be lost to the washer machine, or lost to your stash (you know what I mean!), this book seems to have witty, instead of practical solutions to the age old problem of what to do with that single sock.

Nicky Epstein's Knitting on Top of the World: The Global Guide to Traditions and Techniques
$34.95 | HC | November 2008

I've never bought a Nicky Epstein book, but I respect her work quite a bit. THe edge books are rather ingenious. I'm curious to see what this book has between its pages.

Sterling also has a couple more Vogue Knitting On the Go books coming up. I so rarely find anythig knit worthy in them, but figure they're worth reporting. There's one on Granny squares and one on shawls.

so I hope that's enough for you...