Knitting Lessons

You’d be surprised by how much you can learn about life from pushing a bunch of yarn around with two sticks. When I first started knitting, the biggest lesson was that patience is a virtue, and while I’d never been a patient person, I found that I did have it in me to smile with Zen-like calm while ripping out ten rows of work after realizing, much belatedly, that I’d dropped a stitch.

My favorite knitting book, "Stitch ‘N Bitch," by Debbie Stoller, taught me how to knit with attitude, and how not to ruin a relationship with the awkward gift of a hand-knitted sweater. (It’s, like, really a lot of commitment, you know.)

In Stephanie Pearl-McPhee’s new book, "Things I Learned from Knitting… Whether I Wanted To or Not," she breaks down all her hard earned knitter knowledge in a cute, chatty way. Like a friend feeding you amusing antidotes over tea and knitting needles, Pearl-McPhee’s book won’t teach you how to knit, but it will teach you stuff that instructional knitting books fail to mention.

Pearl-McPhee begins the book by saying, “I think knitting is an excellent metaphor for much of life,” and while many of the things she’s learned aren’t very deep or soul stirring, it still can be helpful to remember that “Babies Grow” (the tenth thing she learned, and a good one to keep in mind if you plan on starting a baby sweater, but soon realize it won’t be done until the baby starts preschool), and “Nothing is Perfect."

For more of Pearl-McPhee’s knitting advise and humor, catch her reading at 7:30 p.m. at the Tattered Cover Highlands Ranch, 9315 Dorchester Street. Free tickets for the booksigning will be handed out starting at 6:30 p.m.; Pearl-McPhee’s book can be purchased for $10.95. To learn more, visit Pearl-McPhee's website at www.yarnharlot.com. -- Aubrey Shoe