Customer Reviews

Things I Learned From Knitting: ...whether I wanted to or not

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's small, it's Stephanie all the way, and it's a good read. Probably a bit better spread out over a few days instead of all at once. It circles back on itself, but then so does knitting. There are no patterns--yippee! No space wasted on something I wouldn't knit anyway.

It's a bit like going to a support group meeting where you know most of the people except for a few newcomers, and all the oldtimers smile and nod when someone comes in sobbing about the latest disaster and say, "Yeah, that happened to me too, here's what I did to get around it." I had not thought before to compare my knitting expenditures to what people spend on golf, or lawn care.

If you live in a place that's too warm to support full-time sweater and sock knitting, you'll have to do your own translation. I wish the publisher had sprung for a table of contents. I'd like to read a book that explored the ideas in the introduction more deeply; maybe someone else will write that one.

Four not five stars because I use five for books that change my life, and this one simply makes me feel a bit more grounded in the life I have. Four not three because I'm happy to own this and don't think I would have been as satisfied if I'd only read the copy at the library.

Uncontrollable laughter while you are reading a book is a pleasure, but a tad embarrassing when in a group of total strangers. Worse yet, I tried reading this book while at a conference where I was supposed to be listening to the (rather dull) speaker. Another mistake! She is hilarious. She spells out 45 lessons that she has learned from knitting. Her descriptions of flinging the knitting across the room, using words our children shouldn't be exposed to, and opening another glass of wine while reading a lace pattern, for example, are all things that most knitters can relate to. Read it and LAUGH in recognition!

The book is small (about 6.3 inches by 4.2 inches) and fits in a purse for quick moments of reading just about anywhere you're stuck waiting. There's an introduction and 45 things learned with a few lists interspersed. So, it's a perfect book for short breaks as most of the `things' are on average about three pages. It took me a while to read because I chose to read it in short spurts reading 1 or 2 or 3 things at a time.

If you've read the Yarn Harlot's blog you have a good idea of her writing style. It's simple and down to earth, witty, humorous, and often slyly thought provoking. I say slyly thought provoking because she often says she writes knitting humor and she does. But, what she doesn't stress is that her writing is humorous because it based in the knitting culture and in society in general. The introduction talks about attention and filter theories in science (neuro) and psychology and how they apply to knitters. Often knitters take a lot of flack for knitting items that could be purchased cheaper elsewhere or for wasting time (usually said by someone just sitting and doing nothing). Stephanie Pearl-McPhee uses science and common sense to refute some of those charges and to prove to knitters that not only are they taking part in an activity that brings them joy but that also keeps their brains active and engaged, produces usable products (mittens, sweaters, socks, scarfs, and so on), and teaches them new things about life and the world everyday.

She has short essays on lesson learned such as: "Patience is a Virtue". Knitters, she writes, aren't knitters because they are patient but patient because they knit. Basically, on observation, she believes that if you took a knitters knitting away when they are in a situation that requires patience, such as waiting in a doctor's office, the knitter would shortly be climbing the walls. I can certainly agree with this lesson since I find knitting is superior to picking lint out of the air, pacing, or "gasp" staring at the walls wondering if I could climb one.

Another lesson is Practice Makes Perfect. Knitting is an activity that is done over and over again. It's basically of two stitches -- knit and purl -- and with these two stitches you can make socks, sweaters, mittens, and so on. The more you knit the better at it you get. It's a simple concept, but with knitting it is easily seen by an individual. Of course, the book explains this lesson in a much more humorous and illustrative manner. A knitter who wouldn't dream of do-overs for many of life's mistakes will with no prompting unravel and reknit something over and over again until they get it right. This `practice' can transfer and allow knitters to keep trying when things get difficult because with knitting eventually you'll succeed. In life that doesn't always happen but some people never learn to try, try again -- they give up. Knitters persevere.

If you are a knitter, you'll enjoy the book for those flashes of recognition of your own behavior or the behavior of other knitters that you know. You'll also find that after the laughter, when you remember and think about all the lessons learned, that this is not just knitting humor, this is a litany of what knitters know and what they should recognize about themselves and their craft. They are persistent, meditative, creative, good at math, thoughtful, generous, and caring. If you're not a knitter, but know some or hope to be one someday, reading this book to give you an idea of the sorts of things that are involved in knitting. It's not just a craft but as with any art -- a way of life that can profoundly effect how you look at the world.

Entertainment extraordinaire, with life lessons explained! How does knitting fit in today's busy busy world and do you think you might enjoy this very old pastime? Find out as you read Things I Learned from Knitting... whether I wanted to or not. This is a handy little book that will fit into a small bag. It is very very funny. I found myself laughing out loud more than once as I was reading it. The author, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee lives in Canada; she speaks and writes the Queen's English, thus the reader must often think, more than a wee bit, to extract all the meaning. That makes it all the more enjoyable. The author uses 45 old adages which illustrate life lessons and she contrasts and compares cognitive psychology to the thought processes used in knitting. That being said I think it will make a wonderful graduation present for my close friend, a young wife, mother, and knitter, who just spent the last ten years working toward her PhD in Biomedical Engineering with a speciality in Oncology. With that accomplished she now has more time to knit and to get on with life's lessons learned!!!

If you enjoyed the original Yarn Harlot book, you will love this one! Stephanie has returned to the style that made her famous. The essays are funny, truthful, and underneath, deep and thoughtful. I was a little surprised at the small size of the book;(classic gift book sized) but it was a decent evening's read, in between knitting rows, of course! I would recommend it to anyone who loves to knit, read, and laugh!

Using common sayings, this collection of short essays explains the sometimes inexplicable behavior of knitters - a must read for both beginners ("Beginning is easy, continuing is hard") and experienced ("You can't win them all"). Anyone who knits, or has attempted to, will understand just what Stephanie is talking about. The small size of the book makes it a great airplane read for those times when security folks (or flight attendants) aren't comfortable letting sharp pointy objects on the plane. I agree with an earlier review: a table of contents would have been nice to be able to find a specific essay later.

I bought this book hoping to find more of the same humor that was in her first two books. The third book (The Yarn Harlot Casts Off) was a disappointment to me, but I'd hoped it was a fluke. Sadly, I think book#4 is more of the same trend. If you've never read her books, it would probably be amusing, but there wasn't much original in this one. I guess there is only so much you can write about the follies of knitting, and two books is about that much! wish I'd not bought it - will be donating to our library.

The Yarn Harlot is a funny lady with a genius for telling home truths in ways that sound fresh. I bought this book because -- okay, (a)it's McPhee, (b)I have all her other books,(c) I've never met a knitting book I didn't need to have immediately (except those that purport to be not your grandmother's something or other). Pathetic reasons, but there you are. This book divides a bunch of those home truths into brief chapterettes -- a clever way to organize the material but one which (sorry) shows off its shallowness. "Practice Makes Perfect," for instance. Oh, thanks; never thought of that. "You Can't Win Them All." Yes, well; you learn that one the first time you try to frog mohair. "Patience is a Virtue:" This little essay does raise the interesting question of whether knitting teaches patience or whether patient people become knitters. Either way, so what?

My sense is that her publishers said, "Steph, it's time; you've got to get another book out there and do another tour." My stronger sense is that between the books and the tours and the blog and whatnot, this lovely knitter is becoming too much of a brand, the voice is becoming too familiar, and the same thing is being sold over and over, with diminishing returns for the reader. Excuse me; I need to attend to my own knitting.

I've read all the Yarn Harlot's other books, faithfully read her blog, and heard her speak live. I enjoy her style and funny anecdotes. This book was disappointing. It didn't have any substance to it, and I found it dull. Her next book sounds like it'll be much better. I wish I'd skipped buying this one and waited for the next one to come out.

As I lay in bed after having bought this for my Kindle/iPad, I had to say that I adore this book and I am only on the "10th" thing. Her style of writing as if she was having a conversation or freely telling a story with her own peanut gallery comments has led me to laugh louder then I should at this time of night......and I love it! I'm very green to knitting but already appreciate many stories and have really enjoyed how she relates knitting to "real life". My only negative comment is that I fear I will not get to sleep anytime soon as I want to finish it tonight. I should get back to reading...........:)