An odd and somewhat distressing juxtaposition:

Thomas is a physicist at Cern who knits in public at lunchtime.
Anna is a physicist at Cern who envies Thomas but can't knit in public at lunchtime because she feels bad enough already that she is a girl without adding to her woes by typecasting herself even further.
Maybe Thomas can afford not to give a fuck and Anna can't.
Or maybe Anna is just being paranoid.

Women began denigrating knitting as part of the 'feminist' thing which involved rejecting everything their mothers did as being unworthy. Men had already denigrated such things since they stopped doing them centuries ago. Women, oddly, saw that being feminist involved thinking the same way as men did on these things.

Maths. Elegance is not optional.

This book's introduction:

My inspiration doesn't come directly from mathematics. I'm unlikely to knit a Fibonacci pattern, use cellular automata, or think of ways to incorporate crazy topological spaces. But my entire approach to life involves abstract thought rooted in maths. An elegant proof is one that is simple, involves a bit of insight that isn't considered obvious, and proves something that is greater than the sum of its parts. An inelegant proof is one that is done by brute force or is overly complex. I find exactly the same to be true of knitting. Taking simple components and combining them in a way that is greater than the sum of is parts is the essence of good design.

What are those components? 'Everything boils down to three actions: wrap yarn around needle, stick needle through loop, and pull yarn through loop. Depending on the order or the direction of these three manoeuvres, infinite possibilities exist.'
( )

Gorgeous layout and great pictures. Cookie's patterns are lovely in this collection and I can't wait to start knitting some of them. The into section which discusses the layout of a sock and different toes and heels is well written. All in all, love this book and think it's a great addition to a knitter's library. ( )

Cookie A. lienee tuttu käsitöistä (ja sukista) kiinnostuneille. Kirjan ohjeet vaikuttavat selkeiltä (en ole vielä ehtinyt neulomaan yhtäkään!). Kirja toimii myös mainiosti inspiraatioteoksena, kuvat ovat kauniita. Tällaisia käsityökirjoja pitäisi olla enemmänkin. ( )

The first part of the book explains techniques for designing socks. The second part contains many patterns for socks. ( )

Some lovely designs in this book, one to keep if you love knitting socks. ( )