This morning I started to write a post about my favorite knitting books. I was going to begin by telling you that the books I've bought over the last five years were a good investment, but I don't plan to buy any more for a while because they tend to be pricey and there are plenty of free patterns available on the Internet.

But something funny happened. As I was writing, I realized how much I love my knitting books. I return to them again and again for inspiration, to revisit favorite patterns, refresh my memory on how to do certain techniques, and sometimes just to look at the pretty pictures. They are particularly useful late at night when I'm too tired to read a novel but not tired enough to fall sleep.

It was difficult trying to pick my favorites because almost all of them have something special to offer. They're like comfortable old friends. The worn out Leisure Arts books I bought when I first learned to knit have a special place in my heart. The Louisa Harding books are simply gorgeous, and the Knitting for Baby book has some of the cutest babies I've ever seen (the patterns are quite nice, too).

The more I thought about it, the more I recognized the value of knitting books and began to rethink my decision not to buy them.