Ocean Breezes

Ahhh, fresh ocean air, a cool breeze, and a warm, soft scarf. The beach and knitting. These are two of my favorite things that come together in a book I got this week, "Ocean Breezes, Knitted Scarves Inspired by the Sea", by Sheryl Thies. The photos and patterns in this book are beautiful and unique. They're wonderfully textured and the variety of styles provide possibilities for everyone. There are scarves that are thick and warm, whispy and lacy, whimsical and fun, dressy, casual, rectangles, diamonds, "Goldfish Tails", a cowl, a collar, and more. Some of the inspiration came from waves, shells, mermaids, turtles, and starfish. It's fun to see how she interpreted the inspiration into knitting.

There are so many scarves in this book that I can't wait to knit...it'll be hard to pick the first one. The patterns appear to be clear and easy to understand. The author provides information about each scarf and the inspiration behind it. And, the book provides information on techniques and helpful advice to get the most from the projects. She says that it's a great skill building book. That sounds great to me...especially, with small projects that can provide learning, fun, and quick rewards. I love a knitting book that has lots of patterns that I love. This is one of those books!

I loved how I got this book too...free! I've been participating in Harris Online polls for years. They send me emails to take surveys. I do the surveys and earn points that I can redeem for merchandise or gift cards. I've gotten quite a few great things over the past few years, including gift cards for Target, Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, and now, Amazon. This time I had enough points to get $20 in giftcards at Amazon and this book is one of the things I got. Fun! I always love free, especially when it's great stuff like this...and especially when it's related to fiber fun!!! :-)

Here's to the sea and knitting, and to Sheryl Thies for bringing these two wonderful things together! :-)