Alice Starmore Book Shark

Those of us who knit have long been aware of a truly exceptional knitwear designer, Alice Starmore from Scotland. Her exquisite books offer breathtaking color combinations and illuminating insight into the inspiration behind her designs - whether it be nature, history or a geographic journey. Being in the midst of Nihon Vogue, Year Two - her design process from inspiration to finished product is what I find most fascinating and can't seem to get enough of. For reasons that are complex and somewhat of a mystery to me, almost all of her books are out of print. Many of her books were out of print before I began knitting 6 years ago. Prior to the resurgence in knitting the last 5-10 years, I suspect there may not have been as much of a market for traditional knitting books in contrast to books or patterns which focused on fast, glitzy, bulky yarn projects such as scarves. As such, Alice Starmore books are exceedingly difficult to come by for less than a king's ransom at an online auction site. A few years ago, I purchased two copies of "Tudor Roses" and "The Celtic Collection" at publishers prices at my local yarn store - I gave an extra copy of each to Scottie because I was so enamored with the books. Scottie, (who has been knitting for over 30 years) had never heard of Alice Starmore - can you imagine?). I hope Scottie is as fond of the books as I am, because I try not to think of how much yarn I could now buy with the price those books are currently selling for! I also purchased "Fishermen's Sweaters". Surprisingly, all those books are now out of print too. I paid a chunk of change for a used copy of "Stillwater" online but that is the the only time I have given into the temptation of online resellers. I did order a delicious book by Alice's daughter, Jade from their Virtual Yarns website in the UK which sells books, yarns and gorgeous kits. Many of the kits use patterns from the original books and I see myself treating myself with a kit once Nihon Vogue is over. My local library used to have a few copies of Alice Starmore books but as the demand for them went up, so did the offering price. Then the books started disappearing from library shelves because an unscrupulous person would steal the book for themselves or to sell online at a significant profit. That is why I am less than amused when I see online listings for these treasured books that mention library stamp or markings on them. Unfortunately, the books I really covet:

• Aran Knitting" $294 and up
• Pacific Coast Highway $142 and up
• In The Hebridges $221 and up
• The Fair Isle Knitting Handbook- Encore coming soon!
  

are too pricey for even my *sometimes* spendthrift ways. That is why I was so delighted when searching Amazon.com recently and discovered that one of Alice's books is going to be reprinted in August. Meaning, it will be available to many and sold at a reasonable price! Certainly far less than the $999.99 some book shark was asking for the original version in the Amazon.com screen shot below! There is a Ravelry group who implores the reprinting of these books and while I would be over the moon for that to happen, I also respect the decisions Alice Starmore must make in order to run her business the way she wants to. For whatever reason the Fair Isle Knitting book or some form of it came to be offered again, I am grateful.