I promise, knitting is not a criterion when I choose books for my little chick! However, we did get some nice surprises when we opened some of the books, with a bit of knitting hidden here and there.

Always gentle and full of kindness, no cliché of the bitter old grandmother knitting a scarf full of holes, thankfully!

• Courage, little rabbit! by Nicola Kinnear (*): the story of a scared little rabbit who loves to knit with his hot chocolate in his cosy burrow, but has to go out and explore the forest to find his friend. He strolls through the pages wearing his dark blue scarf, which looks so warm and cozy that it almost makes me want to knit one (scarves and I are a little upset with each other, but maybe that’ll change!).

• Everything is red by Kazuo Iwamura (*): little Nic, Nac and Noc’s mom has knitted them new red sweaters for the arrival of autumn, so they’ll match the forest that’s changing color all around them. Little sweaters that she finishes late at night when the little ones have gone to bed, hoping not to be too late and that they’ll fit. I think the author knits or has someone who knits around him because the knitting scenes are far too realistic to be just out of his imagination 🙃

• The Mouse Train by Haruo Yamashita and Kazuo Iwamura (again) (*): where a mother mouse uses balls of blue yarn to create a path through the forest to take her (reluctant) children to school. We read this story a lot before my little one started school and logically she then asked me for blue yarn balls (and a blue sweater) to play mummy mouse, logical 🐭

• Les bons amis (Père Castor) by Gerda and Paul François (*): THE book of my childhood, which I still love so very much. Knitting isn’t the center of it, far from it. It’s more about helping and caring for each other. But it makes a subtle appearance because the little sheep has a light blue knitting WIP in his WIP basket at home. Which was of course immediately seen and commented on by the little one 😂 And the other animals also have pretty scarves or blankets whose textures suggest they’ve been knitted. Perhaps by the kind and gentle sheep ☺️

• Poule rousse (Père Castor) by Lida Durdikova and Étienne Morel (*): another classic among the classics, but I couldn’t leave it out! Poule rousse loves to sew, and that’s what saves her from the fox. And her turtle-dove friend likes to knit. The two of them spend their afternoons together sewing, knitting, eating, and chatting 😍 The illustrations are certainly not the most accurate in terms of needle position etc. But that’s just a technicality that wouldn’t prevent me from joining them if the opportunity arose!

I’m pretty much the worst when I walk into a bookshop. Perhaps even more so than in a yarn shop. I can’t go out again without buying a pile of books as big as me (at least!). Do you have any books to recommend for the next time I break down and take a trip there?

5,5 € 4,68 €

Buy >

Calisson, pattern of the month

This pattern is specially designed for beginners in brioche stitch … and for all knitters who want to showcase their yarns without getting into something too complicated! It takes only a few hours to knit this little sweetness, available for young and old alike (7 sizes for head sizes from 41 to 60.5 cm / 16 to 24″).

If you’re interested in the pattern, you can use the code NOVEMBRE2023 to get 15% off on Ravelry or my store until the end of the month (30/11/2023, 23:59 Paris time).