First, the facts:

Title: All Wound Up: The Yarn Harlot Writes for a Spin

Author: Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Published by: Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2011

Pages: 235

Type: Knitting Humor.

Chapters:

No chapters, exactly, just essays

The In-Depth Look:

I’ve been a fan of Stephanie-the-Yarn-Harlot for years. I’ve been reading her blog since long before her first bookbookbook was published, have bought and read every one of her books, and generally find her writing style and sense of humor (not to mention her love of knitting) an enchanting combination.

There’s nothing I like better, though, than when she sits down to tell a story, and this book is basically a collection of them. I count 29 in the table of contents and have stretched reading the book over weeks because I don’t want them to end.

The blurb on the cover says, “With the trademark humor and wit that have sustained her through thick and thin, including a few misshapen sweaters and an indoor water balloon fight among her otherwise darling daughters, Pearl-McPhee deftly examines knitting, parenting, friendship, and–gasp!–even crocheting in essays that are at times touching, often hilarious, and always entertaining.”

It’s true. Some of these stories made me laugh out loud. Watching Stephanie try to justify her right to closet space for her yarn stash, or explaining how she sent her daughters to bed in the middle of the afternoon one memorable day is simply funny. Listening to her tell about her husband getting his truck stuck in the snow is just as funny now as it was when I read it on her blog, and the tribute to Sir Washie brought tears to my eyes. (Well, maybe not outright tears, but you know what I mean.)

Because yes, a couple of these essays are “repeats” that might be familiar if you’re a long-time blog reader, but who cares? They’re pure entertainment gold–well worth making the book last. As good and helpful as Stephanie’s books on knitting technique or tips might be, her true talent lies in her own specific niche–her self-invented genre of Knitting-Humor Writer. Nobody does it better, and this book is one of her best.

If you’re looking for an entertaining read, you’ll want to check this one out.

Other posts for this author:

• Free-Range Knitter
• Never Not Knitting 2008

First, the facts:

Title: Craft Activism: People, Ideas, and Projects from the New Community of Handmade and How You Can Join In

Author: Joan Tapper, Photography by Gale Zucker

Published by: Potter Craft, 2011

Pages: 159

Chapters:

1. Crafting a Statement
2. Recrafting the Past
3. Crafting for a Cause
4. Crafting to Recycle, Renew, and Reuse
5. Crafting a Community

Pattern Size Range: Text

The In-Depth Look:

Gather round, children, because I have a different kind of book to tell you about.

It’s a cynical age we live in. Trying times, hard times as we deal with a faltering global economy, weather systems run amock, natural disasters by the score. Selfish, entitled people who can’t be bothered to look for oncoming traffic when they cross a street. Children who expect to be simply given everything they want in life …

Or, is it? Maybe things aren’t really all that bad.

Knitters (and other crafts-people) have known for centuries that there’s nothing more comforting than something warm and woolly, or a gift made just for you with love. Things to catch your eye and make you think.

Crafts aren’t just about dressing babies and making things cute, after all. With the right mind at work, they can become powerful tools for making the world a better place. It’s not just about knitting, not just about quilting or recycling.

It’s about making a difference.

The author begins by saying, “When I am asked to define craft, I don’t and I won’t. I like to think of it as undefinable–with no rules–and that is why I was drawn to it in the first place. Craft is a way to connect with people, a way to create a community that you are inspired by. I have come to realize that once one’s hands are in motion, ‘making’ is difficult to stop. … We make to provide. We make to give. We make to share. We make because we love. Making is marketable, it’s ‘green,’ it’s local. And when the fad passes, we will still be making. Because making things by hand has never stopped, and it will never disappear.”

One woman says, “Craft is a social form, and quilting has been a way for women to get together to discuss events, disseminate information, and commune with each other. When you get a gathering of women, it’s like a homecoming, a reunion. It’s powerful.”

Powerful, indeed. Crafters are channeling their talents to draw attention to multitudes of issues–whether giving former foster kids beautiful scarves, drawing attention to endangered species, or just doing what they can to help save the planet–people who work with their hands are creative. And they bring their passion and creativity to everything they do.

This book is filled with amazing people who are doing remarkable things by using their Craft–by which I mean not only the skill in their hands by their native wit and craftiness. Along with the interviews and the stories, there are patterns–knitting patterns, quilting patterns, embroidery and sewing patterns. Even instructions for making flowers out of recycled tin cans. I rather love several of the knitting patterns, but that’s almost beside the point.

The point to this book is to take a look at the things you can already do, and the things you already know about what’s right and what’s wrong in the world, and then using your own native creativity to put them together to make something remarkable.

Really, you must take a look.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by Potter Craft. Thank you!

First, the facts:

Title: A Life in Stitches: Knitting My Way Through Love, Loss, and Laughter

Author: Rachael Herron

Published by: Chronicle Books, 2011

Pages: 144

Type: Memoir.

Chapters:

20 essays, followed by one pattern.

The In-Depth Look:

Rachael really is a lovely writer, and this book of pieces about her own life is the perfect illustration. This book tells 20 stories, all with the common theme of how knitting is a vital, burning part of her life–one that has kept her warm, sane, and comforted through some of the most difficult (and joyous) times of her life.

Now, there’s no question that knitting is a popular literary theme lately, or that “knitting memoirs” are all the rage. So, Rachael’s isn’t exactly on its own in this category, but what makes it stand out are the stories themselves. It’s easy to get caught up in life’s truly dramatic moments, like a raging hurricane, or the death of your mother–and she does tell those stories. But life happens in it’s quiet, sublime, and ridiculous moments also, and those are here, too. Trying to knit her first sweater, spinning in the airport, acknowledging good friends.

The truth of the matter is that knitters mark moments in their lives by what they were knitting at the time–much the same way that I can tell you what book I was reading the first time I went to Martha’s Vineyard with my mother, on the way to my grandfather’s funeral, or the day we brought Chappy home as a puppy. They were all pre-knitting events for me, but it’s the same idea. Rachael begins,

“People measure their lives by many things. Some measure their days by how many races they’ve run. Some mark turning points by the songs they’ve loved…. My life can be measured in lenghts of yarn: what kind I held, at what time. Always, as far back as I can remember, I’ve had a knitting project somewhere close by, and no matter what emotion I’m feeling, I put some of it into the stitches I make. Grief translates into tighter stitches more likely to stand up to wear, while happiness makes my knitting a looser gauge. It’s more likely to pill later, but I think pills show character. Luckily, more of my knitting is the happy, pilly kind.”

Ultimately, this isn’t a book to rush through. It’s a book to savor. It sat on the pile of current books next to my bed for a couple of weeks because I didn’t want it to end too quickly. (And if you know me at all, you know that I’m a read-it-quickly kind of girl.) I can’t force myself to read slower, but I can at least force myself to stop between chapters–especially when it’s worth my while by making something last longer. Some of these stories make me laugh out loud, some made me cry, but all of them made me feel like I knew Rachael better, and that we have more in common than I’d realized. Like this paragraph:

“I mean, sometimes I trip out just driving my car. Oh, heavens… what a commute–how weary I am of sitting in a comfortable seat and pushing a pedal with the muscles of my big toe. Even as a kid, I’d look out the car windows and pretend that Laura Ingalls Wilder had just teleported through time to sit next to me–what would she do? Scream? Faint? I’d point out the wonders of traveling at sixty miles per hour in a closed environment, and she’d be my best friend forever. Our world would fry her lid.”

And here I thought I was the only kid who used to imagine just exactly this thing!

Ultimately, this is a delight of a book. The writing is witty, wonderful, and wise, and the stories are the kind that speak right to your heart, with a tug at the funny bone or a nudge at the tear ducts as they whisper through. There’s even a knitting pattern to go with the story of how she discovered the beauties of hot water bottles. (In central-heated U.S.A., they’re not as common as you might think.)

Yep. Highly recommended. DO check it out–you won’t be disappointed!

Other posts for this author:

• Interview with Rachael Herron
• How to Knit a Love Song
• How to Knit a Heart Back Home

First, the facts:

Title: 10 Secrets of the Laidback Knitters: A Guide to Holistic Knitting, Yarn, and Life

Author: Vicki Stiefel and Lisa Souza

Published by: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2011

Pages: 166

Type: Patterns and guidance.

Chapters:

1. Find Yourself a Wise Woman
2. Discover Slow Knitting
3. Become a Barefoot Sock Knitter
4. Take the Color Leap of Faith
5. See the Souls of Fibers
6. Listen as the Yarn Speaks to You
7. Value the Partnership in Knitting
8. Learn to Soar Patternless
9. Do it with Hooks
10. Connect the Dots

The In-Depth Look:

This isn’t so much a knitting book (though it’s that too) as a state of mind.

The authors say at the beginning, “Nowadays, we knit for the joy of it. We have fun. We don’t compete. We’re relaxed, even giggly, about knitting and our love of it. We really wanted to do a book that was more–more than patterns–more than yarn–more than style. A book that spoke to all levels and types of knitters; a book that enhanced and expanded any knitter’s experience in both joyful and substantive ways.

What follows is, well, a delight. Bright colorful illustrations, cheery tidbits in the sidebars, and lots of friendly chit-chat about the pleasures of knitting. And they don’t mean your finished pile of knits at the end of the day, either.

No, the authors are all about knitting being a pleasure. Something you enjoy doing, something that enriches your life and makes you a happier, more satisfied human being. I mean, not that they’re making these grand claims for it as if it were the newest wonder drug, but you can tell they truly feel that knitting is GOOD. It’s good for you in the same way finding time to sit on the beach or laugh with your best friend is good for you.

Truly, this is a delightful book. And did I mention the patterns? Fun, cheerful patterns of all types–men, children, women, big projects, small projects.

Honestly, go check it out. You won’t be sorry.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

First, the facts:

Title: A Knitter’s Home Companion: A Heartwarming Collection of Stories, Patterns, and Recipes

Author: Michelle Edwards

Published by: Stewart, Tabori & Chang, 2011

Pages: 156

Type: Stories, patterns, recipes

Chapters:

1. Motherhood
2. Home
3. Community
4. Legacy

The In-Depth Look:

I want to tell you that this book was sweet and touching and delightful to read. In fact, I need to tell you that (because it’s true).

Yet, every time I’ve sat down to write this review, I’ve been speechless. Words just refused to come. How many times can I tell you that a book is sweet and nice and good and filled with heart-warming little stories and patterns? You’re going to stop believing me–they can’t all be that good, can they?

But, really, this IS a sweet book. And it says “heart-warming” right on the cover.

This is a collection of stories, recipes, and patterns centered around knitting, family, friends and what it’s like to be connected to each other. Which, really, is what it’s all about.

Here, I’ll let her tell you:

“Knitting is like belonging to a tribe complete with initiation rituals, customs, rites of passage, and language. After knitting a while, you acquire strong opinions about thumbs, gussets, and heels. And when you have been knitting for a long time, like I have, knitting shapes your worldview. Reading a picture book about a chair a family buys for the mother, I think about the chair I knit in. The main character in a movie appears in a handmade hat, and I stray from the plot, lost in the hat’s cables… Knitting is not just a metaphor. Knitting is a life. And because my knitting flows into what I draw and write, what I cook, and what I read, this illustrated gathering of my stories is connected to recipes, patterns, and books.”

Firstly, I’m glad I’m not the only one who gets distracted by knitwear on TV and in movies.

Secondly, there are some delicious-sounding recipes in here. Foolproof frosting. Tomato sauce. Deviled eggs. Latkes. Soup. Jam. (Though, for the record, you don’t need your oven for the soup, even though it tells you to preheat it. I asked.) They all sound delicious.

Third, the projects are adorable. A baby blanket. A clutch purse. Slippers. A scarf. Even little soft-cooked egg warmers shaped like chickens. Nice little warm and woolly things.

But ultimately, the reason to love this book are the STORIES. The author talks about teaching her daughter to knit. Finding a perfect skein of yarn to cherish. Making the perfect blanket to keep a dying friend warm. The stories are about the things that pull us together as people, not just as knitters.

The beauty of this book is that–like many of the books that I love–it’s not just about knitting. It’s about bringing warmth and grace to the world through the wool on our needles and the bonds they make between people. This is a book to cherish in small doses, not one to rush through. It’s nourishment for your knitter’s soul, not just something to keep your needles busy.

This sweet and lovely little book can be found at Amazon.com.

This review copy was kindly donated by Stewart, Tabori, & Chang. Thank you!

First, the facts:

Title: Freddie’s Blanket

Author: Joanna Johnson

Illustrator: Eric Johnson

Published by: Slate Falls Press, 2011

Pages: 45

Type: Picture book with patterns.

The In-Depth Look:

Like their last book, Phoebe’s Sweater, this book is just adorable. (Yes, that really is the first thing you need to know.)

The first half of the book is the beautifully illustrated story of little platypus Freddie as he outgrows his baby blanket and moves up to his “big boy bed” with the new blanket that his Mom makes for him. It’s a sweet little story, inspired by the authors’ son’s experience getting used to his new bed. It’s sweet and charming.

And the illustrations? I adore them. Their gentle watercolors and elaborate detail are really beautiful. This is not a book to rush through just for the story. You have to savor it and really pore over the pictures. I love all the details–titles on book covers, the jumble of goods at a yard sale, the crowd at a Christmas party–even the recognizable knitting patterns for the slippers Freddie’s parents wear. I even spotted a cameo from Phoebe. It’s the best kind of eye candy.

This husband-and-wife team aren’t done there, though. After the story is finished comes the cream–the patterns so you can make these knits for yourself. There are patterns for a Freddie doll (and his sister), his baby “envelope” blanket, his new blanket, and knitted coveralls (complete with a knitted hammer) for your own little one.

This beautiful little book is available at Amazon. Do yourself a favor and check it out!

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by the author. Thank you!

Other posts for this author:

• Phoebe’s Sweater

First, the facts:

Title: Phoebe’s Sweater

Author: Joanna Johnson

Illustrator: Eric Johnson

Published by: Slate Falls Press, 2010

Pages: 38

Type: Picture book with patterns.

The In-Depth Look:

This is an adorable little book.

The first part is the story of a cute little mouse named Phoebe whose mother knits her a special sweater while waiting for her new baby sister or brother to arrive. It’s a sweet little story, and the illustrations are wonderful. (Apparently Phoebe’s mother uses a sewing thimble as her knitting basket, which seems oddly appropriate.)

But then, the second part, are actual knitting patterns, so you can make the sweater for your little girl. There’s also a pattern for Phoebe’s little toy mouse doll (who is very cute), with her dress and a matching sweater for her, too.

All in all, it’s a complete package of cuteness.

It can be yours, too. The book is available from Amazon.

Want to see bigger pictures? Click here.

This review copy was kindly donated by the author. Thank you!

Other posts for this author:

• Phoebe’s Sweater

First, the facts:

Title: Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously

Author: Adrienne Martini

Published by: Free Press, 2010

Pages: 220

Type: Memoir.

The In-Depth Look:

This book is being referred to as “Julie and Julia” for knitters, and I can see that point. Here, the author decides to challenge herself to knit Alice Starmore’s “Mary Tudor” pattern in one year, even though she’s never done fair isle knitting before, never tackled a project this big before. The book then follows her struggles at finding the pattern, the right yarns, and her effort to find the time and the stamina as a mother of two young children and a full-time freelance writer.

All of which is very interesting–especially to another knitter. Most of us do have jobs of some kind or another, and very few of us are sitting around all day with bon bons. Finding the time to knit can be a struggle. Finding the time to knit something of this complexity AND write a book about it, all within 12 months while handling all the other necessities of daily life? Definitely intimidating.

It’s not just for knitters, though. The author takes the time as she goes along to explain some basic knitting techniques (like steeking, or how a fair isle chart is read and recreated in knitting, using a printer color cartridge as an example). The actual sweater isn’t even the ultimate point, either, as the entire quest evolves into a knitter’s existential question of “If I change the designer’s instructions, is it still the designer’s sweater?”

Mostly, I enjoyed this book. I enjoyed following the author’s journey not only to her finished sweater, but her question about what makes a Starmore sweater a Starmore sweater, and not just something she inspired. It was all about her personal journey, and I enjoyed that–following her on her travels as she talked to other knitters.

There were some times when she made side comments that I found jarring, that pulled me out of the narrative. For example: “With all that excitement, you’d think I’d rip into the package once I got it home from the post office. Yet the box is still here, unopened. Acting very 2001 monolith-like but more nonchalant. It makes me wonder if I should throw a monkey into it. Or was that a bone? I never did get the point of that movie.” I love a good aside as much as the next person, but there are times when they get in the way, and this book had a few too many.

Did that make me dislike the book, though? No, not at all. There’s nothing more enjoyable than reading a good quest story with personal growth and and goal, and if it involves knitting? That much better.

This book is available from Amazon.com.

First, the facts:

Title: How to Knit a Love Song

Author: Rachel Herron

Published by: Avon Books, 2010

Pages: 318

Type: Fiction, Romance.

The In-Depth Look:

You DID know that our very own knit-blogging friend had her new novel published, didn’t you? It came out this week. How to Knit a Love Song.

Romance isn’t my usual genre, but I’m nothing if not supportive of a fellow knitter-writer, so naturally I bought a copy. It came today, and I read the whole thing. (What? Like you didn’t already know that I’m a fast reader?)

The book begins with Abigail driving up to a rusty gate, ready and eager to claim her inheritance. Her dearest friend and mentor has died and left her a cottage … the problem? It’s uninhabitable, and her nearest neighbor (the dreamy cowboy Cade) is hostile, to say the least. His house, her cottage, and the ranch he runs all belonged to his aunt–a woman who seems to have a remarkable similarity to Elizabeth Zimmermann. She, Eliza, is described as being one of the great knitters of the last century, famous for her ingenuity and fearlessness.

Against his will, and hating every minute, Cade lets Abigail sleep in his spare room while she gets her cottage set up, and it doesn’t take long for sparks to fly. Cade is furious about his aunt having broken up his property. Abigail is just relieved to finally have a place to call her own, and a chance to get away from her ex. (Well, more of a stalker, really.) She is determined to turn the cottage into a yarn shop, and Cade is just as determined to prevent it.

Of course, things don’t go as the two of them planned, either of them. There are a series of events that throw them together–a torrential rain, a bat, a stray alpaca, a fire … and they both recognize their attraction.

Are the basic plot points kind of predictable? Well, yes. Except for some minor details like Betty being a natural spinner, and Abigail’s perfect charm for the farmers at Tillie’s, I wasn’t really surprised by any of the things that happened … but that doesn’t change the fact that it was an enjoyable book. You did a great job, Rachel!

But, what I really want to know? What happened to Clara after the scene in the alley? And, did Betty ever come back to spinning?

If you didn’t already know, the book is available from Amazon.com both in paper and in a Kindle edition.

Other posts for this author:

• How to Knit a Heart Back Home
• http://knittingscholar.com/?p=1325

  Sometimes, of course, you want to read about knitting, but you don’t want to read about KNITTING. You’re not interested in patterns. You’re not interested in yet another collection of stitches, or in reading the knitty-gritty of some new knitting technique.

  This is where essays are remarkably handy. Collections of stories, reminiscenses. Tales of sweaters long gone, of learning at Grandma’s knee. Or explorations about how knitting feels, how enjoyable, rewarding, and altogether satisfying it can be.

  Here are five books like that, that you might enjoy. (Alphabetical by title–no playing favorites)

  Knit Lit: Sweaters and Their Stories … And Other Writing About Knitting
  by Linda Roghaar & Molly Wolf
  –This is a collection of essays and stories–each by a different writer–where, to quote the back cover, “knitters of every color celebrate their hobby and share with you the joy it brings into their lives.”

  Knitting Lessons: Tales from the Knitting Path
  by Lela Nargi
  –This book follows the author as she “seeks to discover exactly what it is about the practice of knitting that draws people in and keeps them returning, day after day, to their yarn.” All stories about different knitters, all told by one voice as she follows her quest.

  The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice
  by Susan Gordon Lydon
  –Here, the author “turns to her hobby as a way to rehabilitate a fractured bone in her right arm. Soothing, absorbing, productive, and meditative, knitting becomes more than therapy, more than a way to pass the time, more than a means of creative expression … she finds it a way to discover the stillness within, a way to contact the soul.”

  Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales: A Knitter’s Stash of Wit and Wisdom
  edited by Kari Cornell,
  –Also a collection of stories from 23 wise and well-known voices in the knitting world. “The authors whose pieces are represented here find joy and comfort in knitted pieces and in those who make them. With humor and insight, they have created a charming collection of stories that knitters of all generations and backgrounds will relate to.”

  This is How I go When I Go Like This: Weaving and Spinning as Metaphor
  by Linda Collier Ligon
  –In this book, the author “publisher and lifetime weaver celebrates both the simple pleasures and profound joys of the fiber arts.” “These pursuits are antidotes to haste, impatience, pressure, conformity. The remind us to respect the natural world and the materials it provides. They give us a sense of continuity with our past and a sense of linkage with other cultures…. When you practice these crafts, you end up with so much more than a bunch of placemats or a jaket or a nice wall hanging.”

  
  My Gush: Pour a cup of tea and curl up for some good reading. ]]> http://www.knittingscholar.com/2010/01/10/knitting-lit/feed/ 0