At Knit's End

[Karen C.]

I purchased this book from my not so "local" yarn shop because I'd heard that it was witty and a fun read. However, I came across something that I didn't find too amusing. On page 45 the yarn harlot is talking about there not being a wrong way to knit and that knitters should focus on discussing why crochet is wrong. I enjoy both so I don't understand this ignorance!

[smyz64]

I think you should ask her on her website/blog.

[Karen C.]

I think you should ask her on her website/blog.

 

I did email her and I'm awaiting her reply. Thanks

[Natasha]

I read that book, too, and loved it. And I laughed out loud when I read the part you're referring to. She may really hate crochet, but I think she was just being funny.

[threeolivemartini]

i have read her blog for quite sometime

 

and she does hate crochet.. but that doesnt keep her from being witty ..

that is her personal choice as is yours to crochet instead of knit

[Karen C.]

I read that book, too, and loved it. And I laughed out loud when I read the part you're referring to. She may really hate crochet, but I think she was just being funny.

 

Well, that might be the case, but she's got a lot of nerve! I haven't been able to read any further...I just didn't see the need to add that tidbit to a book that both crafter's might read. If I'd seen that passage while leafing through it, I'd left it on the shelf!

[Cuddlefish]

Ha haha, she's clearly never seen some of the sweaters I've attempted to knit. I've invented several ways for knitting to go wrong.

[Karen C.]

i have read her blog for quite sometime

 

and she does hate crochet.. but that doesnt keep her from being witty ..

 

that is her personal choice as is yours to crochet instead of knit

 

That's so true Elizabeth, but I see from her March 8th 2004 post that she does crochet! Go figure:lol

[threeolivemartini]

and of you read that entry you will see she still doesnt see crochet on the same level as knit .. and she only did that piece to appease some one else..

the only other reference i have seen to crochet in her blog is joining squares and she still prefers to sew those..

its exactly the same as ppl here saying they HATE knit.. she is entitled just as the people here are entitled to say they hate knitting..

she just happens to be published .. and if you find the rest of the book entertaining then take the crochet blurb wiht a grain of salt and keep reading..

i do both .. knit and crochet.. there are purposes for both .. but i *adore* crochet.. maybe one day I will adore knit but i really cant say that i do at the moment.. i like it but crochet is my first love ..as knit was hers..

if you hate the book that much because of two pages of crochet bashing then send it to some one who wants it or has it listed on their wish list..

[deneen]

I am reading "Yarn Harlot" now and she does have her crochet bashing chapter, and it did make me laugh that crochet made her "physically ill", I took no offense. The book has it's share of yarn stash stories and long, never ending project stories. It's just meant to read and enjoy-I don't have "At Knit's End", so send it my way (LOL)

[Karen C.]

I am reading "Yarn Harlot" now and she does have her crochet bashing chapter, and it did make me laugh that crochet made her "physically ill", I took no offense. The book has it's share of yarn stash stories and long, never ending project stories. It's just meant to read and enjoy-I don't have "At Knit's End", so send it my way (LOL)

 

Well, I'm feeling better about the book and I've gotten past page 45! I guess I didn't have any prior warning from others who had read it...I'll be ok, promise:)

[Karen C.]

I think you should ask her on her website/blog.

 

Here's Stephanie's response to my asking her about the remark about crocheting. I'm satisfied with her response. Thanks to everyone who took the joke in kind.

 

Dear Karen,

 

It's a joke. A reference to the longstanding (and largely imaginary)

feud between knitters and crocheters, most of whom seem to be often

convinced that one is better than the other. Naturally, most of this

is not true, nobody really minds one way or the other, but you knew

that.

My apologies that you didn't get the joke. Certainly, as a knitter who

knows how to crochet (though I'm very bad at it) there was no offense

intended.

 

Stephanie

 

 

 

The Yarn Harlot lives at

http://www.yarnharlot.ca/blog

[Sondra]

I find that people who are not able to do something, criticize, whether it be in a serious tone or through humor. It makes them feel less inadequate about that particular incapability, not considering anyone else's feelings. At least she's honest in admitting that she is a bad crocheter. However, when you have a large audience it would seem more suitable to do as the old saying says…. “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.†Or at the very least… speak only to the positive. She’s a very talented knitter and there really is no need for her to condemn crocheting, hence, adding fuel to the views of the dull-minded who don’t appreciate the many wonderful fiber art venues: knitting, crocheting, weaving, spinning, etc.

[Sondra]

...to my last post.

 

Sometimes it's not what is said but how it is said. (Gee... I'm just full of sayings today.... kinda nauseating, huh?) However, I've seen messages where we crocheters took something said way too seriously and were so offended by something that really wasn't meant to be hurtful or insulting.... just funny. For example, a commercial on TV had several people offended …. some people excited that crocheting was being recognized at all … and even more people just laughing at the humor of it.

[halesje]

I think the whole bizarre feud, whether real or imaginary, is interesting. What possible difference does it make what technique was used if the final product is a thing of beauty? Isn't that our goal, regardless of whether we use "one stick or two." Look at those beautiful sweaters at anthropologie, and imagine a knitter trying to recreate them. She couldn't - it's that simple. And she'd probably be pretty frustrated.

 

Is it that knitting is perceived as being "more difficult" than crochet? I can do both, and I don't see it. Either one is "easy," with practice. I like the lacy, scallop-ey things I can make with a hook, so that's what I prefer.

 

Finally, look at Jackson Pollock - he used paint and gravity, no special technique. Yet somehow what he created looks like art, not the floor of somebody's garage. Something to think about...

[MyGirlFriday]

So~What is the low~down on this book??

I saw it at BAM but didn't even bother to pick it up since it said "knit" on the front?? Someone please explain~

Thanks in Advance~

mgf~

[Natasha]

It's a book of tongue-in-cheek meditations or affirmative thoughts from the perspective of a knitter. It's meant to entertain. Anyone who likes yarn would probably enjoy it. I know I did.

[threeolivemartini]

i have to say this.. Stephanie's brand of humour isnt for every one.. i like it .. i get it .. i have been reading her blog for over a year now.. i think she is hilarious.. feud no fued whatever.. if the book is anything like her blog i cant see it being anything but entertaining ..

[Amy]

I had read Stephanie's blog awhile back earlier this year, and for some reason it didn't get added into my bloglines. I recently rediscovered it (her post from early December about the goat fleece she was spinning is hilarious!), and added it into my bloglines.

 

She writes very humorously about all the needle arts. I haven't read At Knit's End, but I got Yarn Harlot for Christmas, and there is a chapter in it about her un-fascination with the art of crochet. She just doesn't like doing it, and feels she's not very good at it. Nothing wrong with that.

 

I think the chapter was a light-hearted look at why she doesn't like crochet, and definitely tongue-in-cheek poking fun at the "war" between avid only-crocheters and avid only-knitters. If you read between the lines, you realize she's definitely not looking down upon crocheters as second class citizens.

 

It's just that for her, knitting is her first and foremost love, like crochet is for most of us here.

 

I really enjoy the humor in her book and blog, and I've thought about writing a funny piece to email to her, along the lines of her chapter in Yarn Harlot, to persuade her to come over to the "dark side" of crochet! I just haven't had time to sit down and write it yet.

 

Her humor might not be quite a good fit for some people, "not that there's anything wrong with that." They may never really "get" her. Others may take longer to get her, and others may get her right from the start. It's all fine.

 

Now, I've been thinking of trying to write a book similar to Yarn Harlot and At Knit's End for awhile (before I even read the books), but from a crocheter's perspective. Anybody want to contribute a chapter? Or give me ideas about what chapters to write about?

[MyGirlFriday]

Next time I'm at BAM I will check her book out~I will also find her blog and read a bit as well!

Thanks for the info on the book~I was just cluelss about it:think

mgf~

[Amy]

The blog address is yarnharlot.ca