In-Depth Review of Knitting Yarn

Knitter's Review
August 29, 2013

I have a new book coming out next week. It's exciting and scary and utterly different from the ones I've written before, and I dearly hope you like it.

The book was born out of a simple notion: We are what we knit. I'm not suggesting you're a pullover or a pair of socks. But over the years I've realized just how deeply knitting itself—our stitches, materials, techniques—is a metaphor for who we are and the lives we live.

It began while I was sitting at a table for two, waiting for a friend to show up and suspecting that I'd been stood up yet again. I wondered: Is this how a dropped stitch feels? Or consider the traveling stitch, that blundering Winnebago swerving from lane to lane without so much as a how-do-you-do. Or garter stitch, that robust and wholesome friend who's always overlooked in favor of the slender homecoming queen, stockinette?

The stories became more personal as my mind turned to my grandma, terribly self-conscious of the skintags that peppered her neck yet obsessed with adding bobbles to everything she knit. Or my parents' divorce, a poorly worked steek that caused my young self to unravel.

The Yarn Whisperer is about my own unexpected life in knitting, but it also explores our collective lives in knitting. I've left many blanks for you to fill in. My hope is that it may help you see your own story, and your knitting, in a new, more meaningful light.

May I read you a chapter?

Book Tour!
Mark your calendars! In early October, I'm packing my bags and heading across the country on a real live book tour. I'll be stopping in Seattle, Portland, San Francisco, Pasadena, Denver, Minneapolis, Chicago, Nashville, Rhinebeck, and Portland, Maine. I would love nothing more than getting to meet you and say hi in person. Here's the schedule.

Coming Up
The Monterey County Wool Show got underway on Wednesday and runs through September 2nd at the Monterey County Fairgrounds in lovely Monterey, California. Meanwhile, if you love the tradition of American wool, you'll want to be in Reed Point, Montana on September 1st for the 25th annual Running of the Sheep sheep drive. Hundreds of sheep will parade through town, followed by the Shriner's Band, covered wagons, antique cars, horse groups, and more.

In the Forums: Next?
The season is changing. Jane has noticed, and she's been squirreling away patterns for weeks now. What about you? What's waiting to be cast on?

Need help logging into the Forums?

As ever, I thank you for letting me be a part of your knitting life.

I'll talk to you again on September 12!