Book Week
Posted by limedragon | Filed under books, knitting
A quick note to my dear readers, I’m declaring this week “Book Week” because there will be a series of bookish posts. While these posts won’t be knitting-oriented, they might still be of some interest, so stop by and check them out. Next week, this blog will return to the regular knitterly content.
I love to read, and I love to knit. But it’s tough to do both at the same time. I’ve tried putting the book on a table, or on my lap, even sitting sideways in my armchair. But this doesn’t work very well for me, especially when I’m reading paperbacks. I tried using a bookweightą to keep the pages flat. This worked on a flat surface; however, the reading angle was not ideal and my neck/back tired quickly. Both the book and bookweight would slide down if I used my lap.
Eventually, I stumbled across the Thai Book Rest from Levenger.˛ It’s a triangular shaped pillow with a folding ledge. When open, a book sits on the notch and is supported by the triangular piece. It works very well whether on my lap or on a table. However, I still need a bookweight to tame pages, especially when beginning or ending a book.
Last year, I read about ReadUpon at Chris’ blog and my interest was renewed. Unfortunately, they weren’t available for purchase anymore (www.readupon.com is defunct). I decided to investigate hands-free book holder options, specifically, those that would help make reading while knitting (or is it knitting while reading?) easy and effortless.
I selected three affordable types of holders to try out and review.
UPDATE: Since then I have managed to acquire an elusive ReadUpon; they can be found on eBay every few months.
1Levenger has a bookweight category (it does include paperweights). You can also easily find them at booktores (e.g.: Barnes & Noble, Borders).
2Thai Book Rests aren’t currently available at Levenger, but the Peeramid pyramid-shaped book rest is very similar.
Tags: book-holders, books, reading, review
January 29th, 2007 at 7:53 am
Hmm, looks like this would be a good week for me to post my bookweight pattern. :)
January 29th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I have been looking for a solution to this problem as well – review away!
January 29th, 2007 at 7:24 pm
I too have been looking for a good hands free way of reading. I can’t wait.
January 29th, 2007 at 11:44 pm
Congratulations you won the contest on my blog. Email me and I will send out your prize this week.
Louise
January 31st, 2007 at 3:24 am
I guess I’d have to wear my glasses while using that. I have a tendency to bury my nose in a book instead of putting on reading glasses, like I ought.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:15 am
[...] Several years ago, I wrote a pattern for a felted bookweight. When Limedragon declared this week the week of the book and started reviewing some book gadgets (including bookweights), I decided this would be a fun project to share. [...]
April 10th, 2007 at 7:48 pm
Hmmm…being an unsophisticated and poor college student that I am, I use my buterfly hair clips most of the time. Not perfect, but it works.
January 13th, 2009 at 4:02 am
[...] described the process of teaching myself to read while knitting. A good bookholder is critical; Limedragon has a great list of various bookholders and how they worked for [...]