All Tied Up

This week's SummerQuest challenge is to make a craft from a pattern. With so many great crafts out there, I thought I'd share mine.

I learned to knit in high school, and even whipped up some scarves and baby blankets, but dropped it somewhere around the end of college. About eighteen months ago, I picked up the craft again, and now I can't remember why I ever stopped in the first place. The patterns feed my precise librarian's soul, the colors and textures of the yarn nurture my artistic side, and when I just need to zone out, there's nothing like a long stretch of repetitive stockinette stitch to soothe me.

One of my favorite knitting writers is Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, or as she calls herself on her blog, The Yarn Harlot. She has one how-to book, but in general, she writes essays and reflections on life, knitting, and the intersection of the two. She's hilarious, she's down-to-earth, and she acknowledges two very important things about knitters.

Well, three. One, knitting can be the source of the most creative joy in your life. Two, it can be the source of the most teeth-gnashing frustration in your life. Third? As a group, knitters and crocheters are all a little cuckoo, and we like it that way.

Many people know about the Main Library's long-running Urban Yarns group, but several PCPL libraries host knitting and crochet groups. Check our calendar for locations, and if there isn't one near you, by all means, let your local librarian know that you're interested in getting one started.

Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to visit the yarn shop. There's some cashmere that's just waiting for my next paycheck.

- Maureen K.