The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club

Don't you just want to dive into this cover?

Imagine your husband confessing to an affair and saying he wants a divorce, only to die in an automobile accident hours later. How would you deal? Instead of wallowing in her pain and confusion, Jo Mackenzie knows that in order to support herself and her two little boys, Jack and Archie, she must take them from their London home and buy her grandmother’s yarn shop in a small seaside town. Jo soon finds herself amidst a less than perfect house, two rambunctious young men, a store that needs updating, and the eternal question of what to have for dinner. First tackling the shop, Jo makes much needed changes such as new window displays, yarn reorganization, launching a successful Stitch and Bitch group, and even a new name, much to the dismay of the shop’s longtime assistant. Settling into town, Jo quickly makes friends with her neighbors and the new owners of the town pub, and stands up to the schoolyard queen, the head of the PTO. But among all the hustle and bustle of their new lives, Jo and her boys endure countless heartbreaking moments when they remember the husband and father they lost. Originally entitled Divas Don't Knit, the novel was renamed for distribution in the USA. Perfect for fans of The Friday Night Knitting Group, all who like mom lit and British chick lit will adore this book.

McNeil has already written a sequel called Needles and Pearls, which will hopefully be distributed here soon. Check out her website at http://www.mcknits.co.uk/, which includes some patterns from the book.

Having recently read a few books where the husband dies, I was expecting a heavy-handed treatment regarding Jo's grief process. I was happily disappointed, for McNeil addresses some of the issues but doesn't dwell on them. Most of the time, the reader can almost forget there was even a major tragedy in Jo's life, and that made the book more enjoyable and relaxing.

In the book, Grace hires Jo to finish all her knitted pieces, in addition to being her on-call knitting coach. I really wish I could just knit and leave the troubling seaming to someone else. That would make me a much more productive knitter.

a tale of a knitted Christmas garland

It all began with a Not Martha post. She described a white knitted garland for a Christmas tree. (Don't ask me to find the specific post; I've tried and cannot find it.) So in November 2006, I bought the yarn. Lion Brand Festive Fur in White. It sparkles and is fuzzy. Perfect. And then it languished in my yarn box for months. Until it was resurrected for a road trip in June 2007. During the 14 hours in the car, I finished the garland using two balls of Festive Fur.

It was fabulous and looked just like garland. I couldn't wait to put it on the Christmas tree. Fast forward in December 2007--the garland is too short. It wraps around the tree only three times.

So back to the store for more yarn. This time around, I didn't wait months to finish the project. With another two balls of yarn and car trips to Kansas City and Kennett, I was able to finish this in a month. But it was still too late to add it to the tree this year.

(But I did add it to the tree before we disassembled it so I have an idea of the placement.) At least next year it will be perfect. Details can be found on Ravelry.

Knitting Under the Influence

I almost wrote off Knitting Under the Influence by Claire LaZebnik as a flimsy chick lit book without enough substance to hold up its cover. It took a few pages, but I'm glad I stuck with it because I got to enjoy a heartwarming story about the work and relationship struggles of three friends. Single girls Kathleen, Lucy and Sari meet without fail every Sunday for their knitting circle where they eat, drink a lot, talk, and of course knit. The depth in the story comes from Sari, whose experience growing up with an autistic brother propels her daily work as an autistic counselor, helping kids develop language skills and coping techniques, something her brother never had the opportunity to do. Her budding relationship with Jason, the father of one of her patients, creates internal conflict, for she remembers Jason humilitating her brother in high school. The other women's stories are less substantive, but somewhat amusing--Lucy's story centers on her relationship with James, for whom she starts kntting a sweater (hasn't she ever heard about not making anything for her man until she gets the ring?). Her boyfriend James is a jerk, who the reader has to deal with until Lucy comes to her senses. Kathleen decides to marry for money after she is kicked out of her movie star twin sisters' house and loses her job with them as their publicist's assistant.

Overall, an entertaining, lighthearted read.

K

Knit Two

This afternoon I finished Knit Two by Kate Jacobs, the sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club. A couple of days ago while reading reviews for new adult fiction books, I read the review of Knit Two, even though our library had already purchased it. I think Margaret Hanes summed up the book perfectly by saying that the novel was about grief and how different people handle their varying reactions to this powerful human emotion. The book picks up the story of the members of the Friday Night Knitting Club five years after the end of the last book, so readers get to see what becomes of Dakota, James, Peri, KC, Catherine, Anita, Lucie and Darwin. I won't say too much about this one, since it came out just a week ago, but it was nice to see how things turned out, especially after reading the first book so recently.

Above all else, this book makes me want to knit!

K

The Friday Night Knitting Club

I don't like when books end in a way that totally shocks me (see Certain Girls by Jennifer Weiner). The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs totally caught me off guard. I guess it was my own naivety that I didn't see it coming, or at least acknowledge the signs, but I typically read books that have happy endings. Oh well.

This book centers on the owner of a knitting shop in Manhattan (I swear, somehow all the books I read take place in either Manhattan or London), Georgia Walker, and her preteen daughter. Georgia started the knitting business as a way to make money while raising her daughter alone. Over the years, her customers have become quite loyal, making her little shop successful. Eventually some regulars happen to come on a Friday night to hang out in the shop and knit, and the Friday Night Knitting Club is born. We follow each of the members and discover the particular trials in each of their lives.

This novel demonstrates the power of friends who become family. I really enjoyed it, despite the ending, and am eagerly awaiting the next book, Knit Two.

K

P.S.--I don't feel like I need to worry about ruining the endings to books I read and blog about here because I'm always six months behind the rest of the world in reading them. But if I have ruined the ending for you or worse, made you not want to start the book to begin with (how very un-librarian of me!), I sincerely apologize.

Crafting as of late

I haven't read a single book since finishing The Rest of Her Life. I tried reading Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult, but I knew I didn't want to waste my time reading a million pages about how kids so picked on this one student that he lashed out in a school shooting. Just too much.

So instead of reading being my stress relief, I have returned to the yarn. I've completed several projects and keep buying the yarn for more!

First, I greatly expanded my knitting skills by making my first knitted garment, a baby bolero from OneSkein. I totally messed up the edging, so the fronts do not match. It's so wonky I can't even give it as a gift. Oh well, it was good practice.

Next, I finished a baby blanket for the newest Baby Riley two and a half years after buying the yarn with the intention of making it for her older brother. I really like how this turned out. A couple of days ago, I finished a crocheted cardigan for Baby Brooklyn. It is a 3-6 month size (the only size the pattern was written in), so I hope it still fits! Even though it took me many tries to get the neckline right, I liked this pattern and would totally make it again.

And now I'm working on a cardigan for Addie. It's going to be light blue and edged in a contrast color (but I don't know which one yet). I'm crocheting it with alpaca yarn and it is so soft!

Even though it seems like most people prefer knitting, I feel like crochet comes so much more naturally to me. I can do both, but I guess I just have more confidence in my crochet skills. Next in the lineup is a knitted toddler dress for Addie in some pink alpaca yarn. I'm getting the right sized needles today after work, so I hope to cast on tonight.

K

my new favorite thing

I love the website Ravelry. I finally got my invite yesterday after probably 2-3 weeks on the waiting list. It's so fantastic, it makes me wonder why I didn't think of it first! My favorite parts are how you can post the projects you are working on, including the yarn you used and hook/needle size. The pattern and yarn fields are searchable, so I can search for a pattern I am interested in and find others who have already completed the project with a different yarn or color. This morning I just searched by yarn and found all the projects I hadn't considered when starting my latest project using Red Heart Baby Clouds. This is a dream come true for knitters and crocheters! I encourage everyone to sign up for it, and if you are already a member, my username is kewillia.

K

finding inspiration

My darling baby is just so darn cute that I've been inspired to knit her something to wear. Of course by the time I finish it, spring will probably have come so I shouldn't start a cold weather item. I've been combing all the knitting books at the library trying to find something simple to start with (since I've never knitted anything more complicated that a scarf). There are some promising things on Knitty, so I should be able to decide on something soon. Then there are just decisions about the yarn and the color...

K