"sensible" knitting books

[Lucy78green]

We used to have a knitting magazine of my granny's from the 40's or 50's with patterns for the basics such as gloves, socks, pullovers etc. Unfortunately last year it went missing and we thing that it may have gotten lost among a pile of newspapers that went out with the recycling (bit annoyed as well as the adverts were also hilarious).
I decided I would like to replace it with a "sensible" book with basic patterns that can be adapted. The local books shops all have either a limited selection or ridiculous books full of stuff I would never make (a whole book devoted to tea-cosies?????) I did see "knitting classic style" by Veronik Avery on sale and was very tempted - but she lists specific brands of yarn rather than weight so I don't know if I would be able to adequately substitute. Has anyone else got it, do they like it??? I only had time for a quick flick in the shop... I also ordered Barbara Walkers "Knitting from the Top" from a shop in the US. Any recommendations???