Our Crack Reviewing Staff has informed us that we might expect reviews of several of the latest Austen-related books very soon, so keep an eye out for them; we’ll also be giving away copies of several of the books being reviewed.

Alert Janeite and avid knitter Katie noticed that several knitting pattern designers have been inspired by Jane Austen’s characters.

Along the lines of us all painting tables, covering screens, and netting purses, Jane is showing up in the knitting world (beyond Knit the Classics…)! The newish book Fitted Knits has the Elizabeth Bennet Cabled Cardigan [Use the "Search Inside" feature to find a picture of this pretty sweater, along with a spencer-like shrug that the author suggests could have been worn by Jane Bennet or Caroline Bingley--Ed.] and the Chic Knits Website just published the “Miss Dashwood” pattern (a shrug). Yarn Love, an independent hand-dyed yarn purveyor, has two colorways named for Austen’s characters: Elizabeth Bennet and Marianne Dashwood (they have several other literature-inspired yarn names like Anne Shirley and Guinevere; who wouldn’t love those as well?)

One of my favorite activities is to curl up with a good knitting project and (re)watch the Austen adaptations… now I can take it to a whole new level of Austen-ness.

Sounds like an excellent set of projects.

Alert Janeite Cindy C. wrote to tell us that she is reading an advance copy of The Deception of the Emerald Ring, the latest volume in Lauren Willig’s Pink Carnation Series, and found several Austen references.

First, the main character, Eloise, says “It is a truth universally acknowledged that time moves differently for men.”

And a few pages later, when her grandmother calls to tell her she has a blind date for her, and where the man works, Eloise, a modern character, says “And Bingley has five thousand a year.”

A Texas A&M English professor is writing a book with the absolutely brilliant title of Jane Austen’s Mafia (there apparently was a film with that title, which was a spoof of gangster films and had nothing to do with Jane Austen). The book is about Jane Austen in popular culture. (Hey! That sounds kind of familiar…)

O’Farrell’s book title reflects Austen’s appeal to both genders. These days Austen is considered “the mother of chick lit,” but a Rudyard Kipling story tells of World War I soldiers taking her books along. “In the movie You’ve Got Mail, they make the comment that women like Jane Austen and men like The Godfather,” O’Farrell says. “I sat there thinking, ‘What about me? I like both.’ So do a lot of people. What they have in common is interest in a code of conduct.”

As the saying goes: Leave the parasol. Take the syllabub.

And lastly, if you’re looking for something to read this weekend, Chapter 8 of There Must Be Murder, “Most Alarming Adventures,” is now available for your reading pleasure. (The Editrix’s bodice-ripping alter ego, Penelope Smythe-Featherstonehaugh, might have helped with some of it.)