Forays into Knitting Humor

I recently read Yarn Harlot, which happens to have the subject heading of Knitting - Humor in the library catalog. If you look up Knitting - Humor in the Library of Congress catalog, only nine titles are found, four of which are by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, author of Yarn Harlot and blogger at YarnHarlot.ca. (One of the other titles is by Stitchy McYarnpants! But I digress.)

"Harlot" seems to refer to the author's yarn proclivities, and several essays are about her yarn hoard. In an attempt to hide her yarn stash from her family (who thinks it's reasonable that she would actually knit things with the stash, instead of buying yarn for a new project) she stuffs skeins into a chest freezer that otherwise only contains a package of pork chops, and even the sleeves of her suits. The passages in which strangers in public places marvel at her ability to knit are hilarious (knitting is actually easy enough that the library has several books for kids on the subject).

I recommend it as a quick read (only 219 pages!) if you like knitting or even just crafts in general. However, crocheters may get crochety about the chapter called Sour Grapes, which is a compilation of reasons why knitting is superior to crocheting (including, knitting takes a lot longer, so you have more time to contemplate whether making Santa Claus toilet lid covers is actually a good idea.) It isn't 100% humor, as there are some moving essays about parenthood & knitting in there as well.