Discarded

About twice a year, the public library holds a crazy-super-wonderful-funtime sale to raise money and make room for new aquisitions. My heart goes out to all those poor, unloved, unwanted books...I just want to take them all home and under my wing, to nurture and care for them...I'm like the Angelina Jolie Mia Farrow Mother Theresa of orphaned books.
You could spend anywhere from $.25-$10.00, but the average price for craft books is $2.00.
I am extraordinarily compulsive when it comes to cheap books (If I had more money, I'd have a huge problem) It must be hereditary, as my mother is the only person I know who hoards them even more than I do. Some of the wonderful finds I managed to adopt this year included a coffee table book on Francois Truffaut, biographies on Jackie O, and Marlene Dietrich, some books on the social history of fashion, and a few knitting, craft, and cooking books:


My favourite find was Alice Starmore's Fair Isle Knitting, for $1! And Kid's Knits, by Lesley Anne Price. And see the big book at the bottom of that stack? Well, it's a facsimile reproduction 0f an 1882 edition of an encyclopedia of every type of needlecraft you can imagine. I love it. The illustrations are amazing, and just look at these needles:


They're stumpy! And I love that there are illustrations of men's hands as well as women's holding needles. Not only that, there is a whole section at the front of advertisements. Check out these lovely ladies:
Ask me anything about needlecrafts, from Abaca (The native name for the manilla hemp) to Zulu cloth (A closely woven cloth, twill-made, designed for Crewel Embroidery or Outline Work)
I've got the answers, now!