Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter

I suspect that for many of you, reviewing Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter will be unnecessary since I know from surfing the blogs that this is one of the more popular books about knitting and knitters to come out last year. I received it for Christmas (a girl has to have a few books on her Amazon wish list for family to select from) and kept it with me in my bag to pull out when I was on the bus or in a waiting room. It's compact and light and makes a nice travelling companion, as books go. Also, the essays are short enough to be digested and enjoyed when you only have a small amount of time -- as long as you don't mind people around you looking at you funny when you break out into laughter from one of Stephanie's "oh! that's so true!" moments.

I found it really interesting to look over the review for this book on Amazon. Clearly, a number of people did not see this book the same way that I did. Or at least did not see the humor in some of the obssessive compulsive disorders that knitters are especially prone to. Clearly, many of the essays are a bit "over the top", but I think that is to make the point clear and add to the humor of the moment. I think most humor relies on exaggerating an everyday situation, and that is clearly a part of Stephanie's essays in this book. Most knitters will be able to find themselves in one or more of these vignettes. I suspect that most of us have been so excited about completeing a knitted piece that we've been tempted to show it to complete strangers, that many knitters have a constant battle with the stash growing in their closets and have conisidered the use of the mostly empty chest freezer in the basement as additional storage, and that there is almost no knitter out there who hasn't taken on a project a little too ambitious on a deadline. It's these kind of themes that Stephanie brings up throughout the book. And there is nothing quite as fun as reading about a situation that seems like it could come from a page in one's own diary.

One thing I haven't seen mentioned much is that this book does have a serious side. In fact, my favorite essays in the book are not really the humorous ones. I think my favorite sketches were "The Thing About Socks" which describes why we put so much work into something that we know is ephemeral; "What Her Hands Won't Do" in which a dedicated knitter must give up her hobbies because of a debilitating disease; "One Little Sock" a very poignant story that brings together Stephanie's knitting and birthing experiences; and "What She Gave Me" wherein Stephanie talks about what she gained from a difficult grandmother. While there are little glimpses of humor in most of these pieces, most of them are thoughtful and definitely down-tempo and helps the reader see knitting in a slightly different light. The more serious pieces are intermixed throughout the humourous pieces in the book, which seems appropriate. In knitting, as in life, there are always serious reflective moments.

And I think that really sums up the real reason I like this book. It engages both your sense of humor and your serious side and helps you reflect on where you prioritize knitting in your own life. It also makes you realize that you are not alone in the world -- so many of us share exactly the same experiences, whether they be never being able to find a tape measure in your house or becoming obsessive about a missing knitting needle. And in this way, Stephanie's book makes the knitter realize that he or she is part of a much bigger knitting community and we can all laugh about our little foibles together.