At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Cute, occasionally amusing, occasionally useful. Little quotes, small stories illustrating the quotes (sort of) and a summing-up. Some of the pieces were a page or two long, some were only a few lines over all three parts. She's obsessed with knitting, and does a good job of accepting that and laughing at herself and those like her, without ever suggesting she might ease up on the obsession. As a knitter (though unlike her in many ways), I found the book worth reading at least once.

Sub-titled: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much. Well, not being a woman didn't deter me from investigating this little comic gem - doesn't deter me from lassoing needles either. I had no idea that my knitting idiosyncrasies were a natural product of the turning of wooly animals into wooly jumpers. It's comforting to know that I'm not crazy - there are lots of us out there.

The following is my personal opinion; you don't have to share it.

I enjoy the Yarn Harlot's stories very much. . . in context. This book has a new tidbit on nearly every page, so I found there to be little flow or cohesiveness that made her other books so pleasurable to read. Additionally, much of the content seemed to be recycled from previous books. I am not a big fan of "quotes," so I didn't feel that those added much to the recycled anecdotes and thoughts.

I also question the use of the subtitle "Meditations for WOMEN who knit too much" (emphasis mine). We're all pretty aware that the knitting world is densely populated with women, but nothing about the content of this book struck me as particularly specific to women. I don't see a show more reason for the exclusion. Some of the stories do involve her husband and her motherhood experiences, but in my opinion, those seemed translatable to a female partner, or to fatherhood. (Obviously not all readers will be interested in opposite-sex relationships, or in parenthood--I'm merely venturing a guess as to why that subtitle was chosen.)

The book isn't all bad. Its physical size makes it easy to carry in a purse, knitting bag, or even a large pocket, and its format makes it easy to read a few pages and easily put it down again. It might be a fun little stocking stuffer for someone who doesn't own the Yarn Harlot's previous works, or who can't bear to put down the needles for long reads. Personally, though, I would recommend her other books over this one. show less

Its great to find a way to laugh at something you hold near and dear. This book is the equivalent of my husband's Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Series. I've placed it in my knitting basket beside my chair and pull it out for a wee bit of humour when the stitches get mussed and the prospect of a massive "frog" leaves me ready to swear off knitting forever... or at least until tomorrow.

If you find yourself bristling when someone tries to "make you smile" then this isn't the book for you. If you're the sort who stands in awe at the fact that "you're a grown up!?!" then you'll likely love this book!

A cute little book of one-page meditations on knitting and knitters. Each page starts with a quotation, then there are a few sentences about the author's personal experiences, and finally a pledge like "I will pride myself on my stamina as a knitter." I enjoyed the little stories of knitting gone wrong. A few of them, near the end of the book, were substantially repeated (such as the one about single sock syndrome). On the other hand, many of the stories made me smile. Overall, a nice, light book to please any knitter.

I listened to this on audio, so that may be skewing my opinion. This may be a much better book if you don't read it cover-to-cover, but rather flip through it for an anecdote/"meditation" as desired. It had Pearl-McPhee's typical humor, but it was very repetitive. I could see it more as a daily calendar than as a book.

A hilarious spoof on self-help books, this features quotes and "meditations" regarding obsessive knitting. Say it with me now... "See, I'm not the only one!"