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Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) (Hardcover)

by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (Author)
Key Phrases: knitting friends, kilt hose, sock yarn, World Bank, Raul Hernandez (more...)

4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

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Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
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Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
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Editorial Reviews

Product Description
The Yarn Harlot strikes again! Best-selling knitting author and humorist Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is back with an irresistible collection of witty observations on how knitting and life wisdom are spun together.

In Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not), Pearl Mc-Phee examines age-old aphorisms in light of knitting. From "Hope Springs Eternal" to "A Friend In Need Is A Friend Indeed" and "Birds Of A Feather Flock Together," Pearl-McPhee casts a fresh, off-beat light on these sayings. Presented in quick, punchy takes, each entry in this book calls out to be read aloud and shared with anyone who enjoys playing with yarn and needles.

Pearl-McPhee's observations are hilarious; the situations she describes strike a familiar, "not you, too?" feeling in the heart of anyone who knits. Interspersed throughout the book are her notes on the things that "Knitting is still trying to teach me. . ." That no matter how well you knit, looking at your work too closely isn't helpful. It's like kissing with your eyes open. Nobody looks good that close up.

From the Inside Flap
Pick up the needles, grab a skein of yarn, cast on…and let the life lessons to begin! From Patience is a Virtue and Hope Springs Eternal to Look Before You Leap, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee applies her trademark humor and wry insights to reveal the wise (and sometimes unexpected) truths contained within 45 familiar adages, understood as only a knitter could.

These irresistible reflections on life will have you laughing, crying and marveling out loud at how amazingly fortunate you are to be living your life as a knitter.

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Product Details

Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Storey Publishing, LLC; 1ST edition (March 19, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1603420622
ISBN-13: 978-1603420624
Product Dimensions: 6.3 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)

Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

Amazon.com Sales Rank: #47,636 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

Inside This Book (learn more)

Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
knitting friends, kilt hose, sock yarn, most knitters, yarn shop

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
World Bank, Raul Hernandez

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Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!

What Do Customers Ultimately Buy After Viewing This Item?

	54% buy the item featured on this page: Things I Learned From Knitting (Whether I Wanted To or Not) 4.3 out of 5 stars (27) $8.58
	17% buy Knitting Rules!: The Yarn Harlot's Bag of Knitting Tricks 4.7 out of 5 stars (89) $9.97
	13% buy Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter 4.6 out of 5 stars (51) $10.18
	8% buy Free-Range Knitter: The Yarn Harlot Writes Again 4.5 out of 5 stars (13) $9.89

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Customer Reviews

27 Reviews

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

Average Customer Review

4.3 out of 5 stars (27 customer reviews)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

48 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth adding to the library, April 4, 2008

By	Karen Tiede (Raleigh, NC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

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29 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Haven't I been here before?, June 26, 2008

By	AuntieDepression "Auntie Depression" (NYC) - See all my reviews

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.

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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Knitting as meditation and a medium for change, May 5, 2008

By	Gayle Surrette "omnivorous reader" (Brandywine, Maryland) - See all my reviews

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.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Clever and Witty Knitting Book
Just as advertised. A 'fun' book either for the knitter her/himself or
as a gift. Knowing that you aren't the 'only' one to experience alot of the trouble areas in... Read more

Published 1 month ago by L. Fulker

5.0 out of 5 stars I still need to learn from my knitting
This book is funny and inspiring and if you knit you can't help but identify with Stephanie's pearls of wisdom. Read more

Published 6 months ago by B. Sackery

4.0 out of 5 stars The Practice of Craft Crafts Us
All of those great thoughts you've had about life and the cosmology of the universe, that have come to you while you had knitting needles in both hands, and couldn't find a pen... Read more

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5.0 out of 5 stars Laugh out loud good!
This book is laugh out loud fun! I am sure the people that ride my daily bus have decided that I have now totally flipped my gourd. Read more

Published 8 months ago by Queen Mom

5.0 out of 5 stars Perfect treadmill reading
I'm on a knitting kick but have to do other things occasionally, such as getting on the treadmill. This little book was my answer to not being able to knit on the treadmill. Read more

Published 9 months ago by Barbara Bachner

5.0 out of 5 stars Knitting Humor
Knitters everywhere will greatly enjoy this book. All knitters will be able to realte to and see some of themselves in these comical stories. A good read!

Published 10 months ago by K. L. Schmidt

2.0 out of 5 stars learned not to buy any more Yarn Harlot books
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... Read more

Published 12 months ago by K. Thompson

3.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the others
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. Read more

Published 12 months ago by hikerjen

5.0 out of 5 stars A series of admonitions and adages perfect for knitters who 'have everything'
Knitter fanatic Stephanie Pearl-McPhee always has too many projects on needles, and here celebrates her knitting passion in a series of admonitions and adages perfect for knitters... Read more

Published 13 months ago by Midwest Book Review

5.0 out of 5 stars Something to do if you have time, money, and inclination...
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? Read more

Published 13 months ago by Moonglow's Nana

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