A celebration of easy, fast projects by colorwork master Mary Jane Mucklestone, all using Icelandic yarn.

A handy reference guide to identifying and working with more than 200 knitting stitches, from stockinette to Orenburg lace—for beginner and experienced knitters alike There are so many intriguing ways to knit yarn that it’s often tough to pick the right stitch. Help is on the way with Field Guide to Knitting, the stitch dictionary that belongs in every knitting bag. This handy go-to reference book takes a comprehensive look at knit and purl stitches as well as cables, laces, ribs, and edge treatments. Learn to tell k2togs from ssks and to differentiate between ribbed basketweave and basket cable. Each entry reveals the history of the stitch, the best stitch gauge for achieving pattern definition, the garments most suited to the pattern, and more. Complete patterns for executing the stitch (and its variations) are also included. More than 200 full-color photographs make it easy to compare how stitches will look before committing yarn to needles. Whether you just need to know if moss stitch is the same as seed stitch or you’re planning a complicated Aran sweater, Field Guide to Knitting has all the answers.

At last, a field guide to baking and identifying virtually every cookie imaginable, from Snickerdoodles to Pfeffernusse—the ultimate cookie cookbook! Field Guide to Cookies is the definitive guide to cookies from around the world, with more than 100 recipes and variations on such tried-and-true classics as gingersnaps, whoopie pies, and pinwheels as well as traditional international favorites like pizzelles, baklava, and alfajores. This delectable guide introduces readers to the best techniques for creating drop, bar, molded, rolled, and sandwich variations. Every cookie is photographed in glorious full color, with step-by-step instructions on how to prepare, bake, and store your creations. Entries include fascinating historical background, helpful baking notes, and serving suggestions for each delicious variety. Whether you’re a baking novice or veteran pastry chef, mouthwatering home-baked confections are just minutes away with Field Guide to Cookies!

Take Control of Your Destiny! From the good luck provided by shamrocks, rabbits’s feet, and horseshoes to the misfortune caused by broken mirrors, black cats, and umbrellas opened indoors, our lives are filled with signs and superstitions that guide our destiny and influence our fate. Fortunately, Field Guide to Luck can help you recognize dozens of influential charms, dates, sayings, and symbols wherever you encounter them. Learn what objects are on your side, which practices are best avoided, and where these curious beliefs come from. This indispensable guide reveals their fascinating origins and offers tips for putting them into practice. With Lady Luck on your side and a lucky penny in your pocket, you’re sure to lead a charmed life!

In the West, we have everything we could possibly need or want—except for peace of mind. So writes Linda Leaming, a harried American who traveled from Nashville, Tennessee, to the rugged Himalayan nation of Bhutan—sometimes called the happiest place on Earth—to teach English and unlearn her politicized and polarized, energetic and impatient way of life. In Bhutan, if I have three things to do in a week, it’s considered busy. In the U.S., I have at least three things to do between breakfast and lunch. After losing her luggage immediately upon arrival, Leaming realized that she also had emotional baggage—a tendency toward inaction, a touch of self-absorption, and a hundred other trite, stupid, embarrassing, and inconsequential things—that needed to get lost as well. Pack up ideas and feelings that tie you down and send you lead-footed down the wrong path. Put them in a metaphorical suitcase and sling it over a metaphorical bridge in your mind. Let the river take them away. Forced by circumstance and her rustic surroundings to embrace a simplified life, Leaming made room for more useful beliefs. The thin air and hard climbs of her mountainous commute put her deeply in touch with her breath, helping her find focus and appreciation. The archaic, glacially paced bureaucracy of a Bhutanese bank taught her to go with the flow—and take up knitting. The ancient ritual of drinking tea brought tranquility, friendship, and, eventually, a husband. Each day, and each adventure, in her adopted home brought new insights and understandings to take back to frantic America, where she now practices the art of "simulating Bhutan." This collection of stories, impressions, and suggestions is a little nudge, a push, a leg up into the rarefied air of paradise—of bright sunlight and beautiful views.

This book is the first basic guide for aspiring fashion designers. It fully explains the fundamental concepts surrounding the business of fashion design from both a creative and marketing perspective. Designed as a flow chart, the book walks the reader through the steps necessary when developing a collection and highlights the key points in the process, from the genesis of an idea through to the production of a final design. A complete reference, this book also includes a listing of the major fashion schools around the world, and illustrates the paths taken by some of the most distinguished designers that got them where they are today.

Offers advice on the challenges of modern dating, including setting up an online dating profile and sexting, and navigates individuals through dating's ups and downs with lists, infographics, stories, and checkpoints.

Take your knitting knowledge to the next level with this helpful guidebook from two professional knitting tech editors that sets much-needed standards for writing clear, accurate instructions—perfect for those interested in writing and selling original patterns. Knitting patterns are notorious for inaccuracies in measurements and confusing directions—but no more! The Knitting Pattern Writing Handbook sets new standards for clear, accurate pattern writing, walking aspiring and experienced designers alike through each must-have component of a thorough, well-written pattern, including how to devise and present gauge, charts, and sizing information that is correct and easy-to-follow. With a focus on how to make patterns accessible to contemporary knitters—especially beginning knitters—this much-needed reference book is destined to become a classic in an industry that is beginning to professionalize after decades (even centuries!) of informal and home-based instruction. With 90,000 patterns being sold annually on the popular knitting community site Ravelry, there's a burgeoning group of indie knitwear designers eager for this guidance, provided by authors Kristina McGrath and Sarah Walworth, who host a monthly live broadcast on the technical aspect of knitting design.

Avoid inadvertently offending or alienating anyone by following six straightforward communication guidelines developed by a no-nonsense linguistic anthropologist and business consultant. In today's fast-moving and combative culture, language can feel like a minefield. Terms around gender, disability, race, sexuality and more are constantly evolving. Words that used to be acceptable can now get you cancelled. People are afraid of making embarrassing mistakes. Or sounding outdated or out of touch. Or not being as respectful as they intended. But it's not as complicated as it might seem. Linguistic anthropologist Suzanne Wertheim offers six easy-to-understand principles to guide any communication-written or spoken-with anyone: Reflect reality Show respect Draw people in Incorporate other perspectives Prevent erasure Recognize pain points This guide clarifies the challenges-and the solutions-to using "they/them," and demonstrates why "you guys" isn't as inclusive as many people think. If you follow the principles, you'll know not to ask a female coworker with a wedding ring about her husband-because she might be married to a woman. And you'll avoid writing things like "America was discovered in 1492," because that's just when Europeans found it. Filled with real-world examples, high-impact word substitutions, and exercises that boost new skills, this book builds a foundational toolkit so people can evaluate what is and isn't inclusive language on their own.

Learn how the meditative practice of knitting can evolve in to a spiritual discipline. One third (53 million) of American women know how to knit, and knitting is becoming increasingly popular with men as well. Many of these knitters belong to social knitting circles, charity knitting groups, or knit with others in churches, cafes—and even in bars! This book shows how knitting creates connections and communities, and ties the repetition of knitting to the consistent recitation of prayer. It also compares the act of knitting to the spiritual journey, from starting something new to how we handle mistakes. Many people would like to incorporate a spiritual practice into their frenetic lives only to become discouraged and give up when they try. Those who knit are able to experience its calming effects and dedicate time to their craft each day.