A wonderful excursion to a knitting land of enchantment with a language all its own. The Yarn Harlot is the perfect tour guide into this land and all its nuances. I found it perfectly entertaining. ( )

Sub-titled: The Yarn Harlot's Guide to the Land of Knitting. Fine humour and good psychology. ( )

This is my least favorite of the books I have read by the Yarn Harlot.
Not as funny or as useful. I look forward to her next book, that looks like a return to her first book. ( )

Fun! Perhaps not particularly informative except in a "You too? At least I'm normal" kind of way. ( )

Great book! I love her blog and have read a number of her books I just have a few to read still and am looking forward to reading all of them. They are all so hilarious I just can't stop laughing as I read them. ( )

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is the Jon Stewart of the knitting world. She skewers us with our own needles, unravels our obsession for the uninitiated and helps us learn to laugh at ourselves. Her fresh, tongue-in-cheek observations about the crazy world of knitting have become wildly popular on her blog, her speaking tours (accompanied by her trademark socks-in-progress) and in her three previous books.

In her newest book Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off: the Yarn Harlot’s Guide to the Land of Knitting, Pearl-McPhee looks at knitting as a journey and sets off on a whirlwind tour of the land of knitting. Whether a newly arrived visitor, a long-time resident or a tourist seeking understanding of a loved one; Casts Off is an essential guide to the people, customs, tourist attractions and common ailments of this fascinating land.

Divided into the areas of reference commonly expected in a travel guide, Pearl-McPhee investigates packing tips (just how much yarn does one need to take on a trip), consulates & embassies (local yarn stores), politics (the great “acrylic versus natural fibers” debate) and common ailments (the dreaded “Yarnesia” or the debilitating Viral Second Sock Syndrome), treatment and prognosis.

Knitters who have caught the “Harlot” bug will find themselves laughing uncontrollably through Casts Off and most will remain convinced that Pearl-McPhee knows them better than their closest friend. Whether she is commenting on the “four ways knitting is like playing the violin” (both are worked from a chart) or how to cope when bad knits happen to good knitters, knitters respond to Pearl-McPhee because she understands us. She knows our foibles because she shares them and like all good enablers, she helps us explain ourselves the skeptics around us. After all, as Pearl-McPhee reminds us, “We know it looks like yarn, but it’s love…and for this it’s worth giving up all your closet space.”

This knitter recommends regular doses of the Harlot, along with infusions of social knitting and stash diving, to ensure a pleasant and healthy stay in the land of knitting. ( )

You can find my (German) review here:

http://www.strickmasche.de/blog/2007/... ( )

Dayum, it's as well-written and fabulously Useful and community-inspiring/celebrating as her weblog, at http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog/ - great job! I'll go back to my soft corner, still muttering, I'm a weaver, what am I doing several inches into my first Socks?!? ( )

Great book! I really did enjoy it. Despite the humor I thought there was a lot of truth in that book ;-)
I definitely need to read some more of her other books ... ( )