Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #20998 in Books
• Published on: 2008-03-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Synopsis
Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter moves beyond instructions and patterns into the purest elements of knitting: obsession, frustration, reflection, and fun. Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's humorous and poignant essays find humour in knitting an enormous afghan that requires a whopping 30 balls of wool, having a husband with size 13 feet who loves to wear hand-knit socks, and earns her "yarn harlot" title with her love of any new yarn - she'll quickly drop an old project for the fresh saucy look of a new interesting yarn. Since the upsurge in knitting began in the early '90s, the number of women under 45 who knit has doubled. Knitting is no longer a hobby for just grandmothers-women and men of all ages are embracing this art. Describing its allure is best left to Stephanie who explains: "It is a well-known fact that knitting is a sparkling form of entertainment, as spiritual as yoga as relaxing as a massage, and as funny as Erma Bombeck trapped in a PTA meeting."

Customer Reviews

Warm, wise & insightful
A lovely book. Steph's very first chapter is the cautionary tale of the Giant Green Afghan, in which she shocks a yarn store assistant with the sheer amount of wool she's buying. The author endures laughter from her mother ("that's a lot of knitting!"), invents psychological techniques to force herself to knit 200 identical green squares - and finally gives up, stuffing the half-completed item in the back of the cupboard.

This chapter alone tells you that Yarn Harlot is not going to be one of those preachy 'this is the right way to knit' books. Rather, it is like getting a warm and very honest letter from a friend who loves knitting even more than you do, but who isn't actually very good.

A heartwarming read. On completion, I wished I knew the author personally. She sounds like a great gal. Thoroughly recommended.

Great book, a must read for any knitter!
This book was so funny that I laughed out loud! Everything is so true. The Yarn Harlot writes about the trials and tribulations of being the only knitter in her family. She also shares her 'problem' with the reader, a problem that if you are a knitter, you probably share! She's a yarn-hoarder!
This book is a great read and I recommend Stephanie's other knitting books also.

Funniest thing i've read in ages...
If you want a laugh, and you've ever knitted anything then this is for you!!
Full of witty knitting observations that we all know....but can't put into words. You spend the whole book saying..."Haha...yes i've done that!" Buy it...you won't regret it!!