Customer Reviews

At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This small gem of a book is just a delight for anyone who knits (or who knows a knitter). It's filled with little essay-like "meditations" about knitting, obsession, family, stashes of yarn . . . all things that any person who knits can appreciate. Each entry is short and sweet--some only a paragraph long, some a page or two--but they're unreservedly fun. Each is headed by a delicious quote, too, by knitters and non-knitters alike, and then summed up in Ms. Pearl-McPhee's own, sparkling way. It's a small little book, but easy to flip through, and I must for any knitter's library.

This little book is so much fun and every knitter who's a little bit serious (I would not call myself obsessed with knitting but I always squeeze some knitting in my schedule - even if my work week goes really crazy and beyond the 80 hours per week :))about her/his knitting will recognise themselves and their thoughts while reading this book.
I like the format in particular - you can pick it up, have a good time reading it, put it away for a while and then just pick up where you left off w/o an issue.
Without a doubt, I would buy it again.

If you're just after surgery, stay away from this book.

If you don't like laughing so hard that you can't breathe, just keep your mouse away from that "buy now" button.

If you actually want to DO something between the moment you lay your hands on the book and the moment you finish reading the whole thing, spare yourself the anguish.

If you've got appendicitis... ...NOT the book for you.

But if you don't mind having a prolonged series of giggles at life's sublime ironies, buy a copy. Buy it because it's the funniest book to be published in 2005. Buy it to encourage Ms. Pearl-McPhee to keep writing. And knitting. Buy it - and drop by her blog to let her know you've done it.

But only if you don't mind some hearty laughter.

Knitters rejoice! Here's a book just for you, small enough to carry in your purse. At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is an inspirational and humorous look at life through the eyes of a knitter. The brief vignettes offer insight into the "hobby" that often becomes an "obsession" with the people who practice the craft.

The Craft Yarn Council of America states that 1 in 3 women know how to knit or crochet. Many of these knitters have crossed over from being well-balanced to an uncontrollable compulsion (what a wonderful compulsion!). Pearl-McPhee's book is a refreshing and entertaining approach to recognizing and accepting this compulsion.

Many of the stories will elicit ah-ha moments. Others will provide relief as you discover someone else thinks about knitting as you do. And still other musings will give you permission to continue the obsession that gives so much pleasure to you and those who receive your loving gift. My favorite musing is on page 297. You'll have to read the book to discover my ah-ha moment.

The author begins the book with a bang as she discusses the miracle that knitting consists of only two stitches--knit and purl. Knitters know this but to read it is something else: "Know these two stitches; rule the world."

Armchair Interviews says: This is the perfect gift for that knitter in your life. The problem is they will be reading rather than knitting. Well, we all need balance in our lives. We highly recommend!

I wasn't at all interested in purchasing this book at first because why would I want to spend money on a knitting book without pictures or patterns? Finally I did buy it, because almost every page is a gem with advice and humour for the frustrated knitter.

This is the book to pick up when you've had it up to here with a difficult pattern, or realize that you need to rip back a day's worth of work. The author soothes the reader with such wisdom as, "the first thing you should think when you notice that you used the wrong color 12 rows back on your complex Fair Isle sweater is that there is no shame in knitting an 'interpretation' of a pattern." She then self-deprecatingly notes that she's so creative that innovative design just happens by accident. On the same page is a quote that states it's easy to stop making mistakes... just stop having ideas. Suddenly, that misplaced yarn-over several rows back seems barely visible, and even better, possible to live with.

With almost every page, I laughed so hard I had to keep dabbing my eyes with tissues. Ms. Pearl-McPhee's quick twists of wit are exquisite. Excellent gift, but you'll have to get one for yourself.

This is a wonderful book. I can relate so much to her "meditations". Today, I was feeling a little down & decided I needed a little cheering up, so I picked up her book & I did literally laugh until I cried. I am not even finished it yet but I am trying to make it stretch because I don't want to read all her funny wittisicms in just a few days.
This book has been worth far more to me than what I paid for it.
It cost me $13.95 Canadian, but what I am getting from it is worth far more than that.
What a terrific sense of humor. I would buy more of her stuff in a heartbeat.

Apparently Ms. Pearl-McPhee crawled inside my head one night and stole all my thoughts and stories and anecdotes and wonders about knitting. There are so many of these types of "little" books that come out, books with little substance published in time to cash in on a trend. This book is not one of them. This is a book that is funny, insightful, well-thought out, filled with anecdotes and ideas that must have taken years for the author to gather, probably her decades spent knitting, during the stockinette sections of really big sweaters knit in the round.

I got this book as a bathroom book, but it is much more. I love it. As a knitter can relate to each and every entry, except for the children stuff as I am single. Every knitter must have, she says things that I have thought over and over again in my head...funny, entertaining and wonderfully true. Good for the knitter and great as a gift for that someone in your life that is a knitter.

Chicken Soup for the Knitter's Soul? Perhaps not, but as you read this book you will be brought to laughter, tears, and given moments where you go "Thank God someone else understands!" The Yarn Harlot gives me something to read when I am away from a computer and can't read her blog. She is witty, insightful, and very, very real.