Knitting Rules!

If you enjoy the tone and stories of James Herriott and The Bloggess, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee falls somewhere in the middle of that Venn diagram.

To date, the only garment I've knit (a pair of socks) came from the guidance in this book. And the recipient cherishes them. So along with gentle, dry humor (if slightly, lovingly unhinged about her craft of choice) and contemplative observations, the Yarn Harlot knows how to walk a knitter through making a well-fitting sock.

Snort! I toted this book through the house with me putting down my knitting after trying to prop the book open with my jar of needles, various other books and even crochet stitch markers so that I could read and knit.
To my husband's horror I muted his t.v. show to read him particularly amusing passages and to my chagrin he didn't quite get it. I realized I'd have to make atonement when I insisted on bring the book to bed with me so that I could just "finish the chapter (aka, sneak in a third when he wasn't looking)." But he was much amused at my amusement, and that counts for something!
This book is a must have for Knitters. A perfect cure for the days when its been a frog too many. When that beautiful skein turned out to have one show more unforgivable knot too many, and when you notice that some how, perhaps through immaculate conception, there is a loose stitch hanging out way down there on the cast on row... approximately 3 feet away from your working needle. show less

Actually funny, in that I would force my family and friends to listen to select passages (which, as non-knitters, they couldn't appreciate, unfortunately!).

Ms. Pearl-McPhee, whom I met at a recent knitting event, describes this book as her only actually useful book, but her voice is so compelling that I look forward to reading more of her not-truly-useful oeuvre. This is a very easy read, with short essays (technically the right term, but that sounds so dry--they're not!), sidebars, lists, caveats, etc., interspersed with instructions for making things, sometimes as simple as (I'm approximating) "knit to desired width, turn, keep knitting until scarf is desired length." See, knitting patterns don't have to be complicated!

(Note: 5 stars show more = amazing, wonderful, 4 = very good book, 3 = decent read, 2 = disappointing, 1 = awful, just awful. I'm fairly good at picking for myself so end up with a lot of 4s). show less

There's a lot of good information in this book - both in the pattern/instruction chapters, and in the first few about knitting in general. I find the author's voice mildly to extremely irritating - way too twee - but I can ignore her assumptions about the addictiveness of knitting (and how anyone who knits but isn't addicted is a poseur of one sort or another) for the utility of the information. I definitely want to knit her basic sock pattern (I've been looking for this!) and probably several others as well, and the descriptions of gauge and yarn are quite useful. I got this because Elizabeth Moon (yes, the author) recommended it - she knits her own socks, and said that she started with McPhee's instructions (and then went off on her show more own, as you can with a firm foundation). show less

Now I understand why knitters become such ardent fans of Stephanie McPhee! Not only is this book full of sage advice for knitters, it's very funny. I think (admitting to being prejudiced) that even a non-knitter would enjoy this book for its humor. While it's directed at knitters, hoping to help us make our lives a bit easier with suggestion on stash/book/magazine organizing, simple instructions for generic hats, scarves, sweaters, and socks, it's also full of a wealth of practical advice on how to cop with living with a knitter. Figuring out what kind of knitter you are (scientific), and what to do when Things Go Wrong. This was a joy to read and I plan to keep it right by my side, along with the other 457 books about knitting in my show more collection. show less

I found this book to be quite helpful. I'm a big Yarn Harlot fan, and a devoted reader of her blog, which is why this book initially caught my eye. It's been helpful in helping me transition from strictly following a pattern to striking out on my own and trying some designing.

This is an excellent overview of how to knit all sorts of things without having an official pattern. I love the humour, and the way she encourages people to view a pattern as a suggestion rather than a rule. My only complaint was the "sidebar" type pages which would sometimes interrupt paragraphs in progress - made it kind of tricky to read with lots of flipping back and forth.