I finished Kate Jacob’s series of books on The Friday Night Knitting Club! I read them all in a matter of four to five days actually. I don’t so much read books as I devour them. Especially when it’s a topic I love! When I was a little and learning to read, I struggled tremendously. I vividly remember the special classes and hours of flash cards with my mother. I HATED it at the time, but age has shown me the wisdom of those lessons. I can now speed read….and for comprehension. This skill greatly enhanced my test taking skills as a student and continues to aid me in my professional life.

Having said all that, I would also like to point out that I am not literary stickler. I don’t read for grammar, punctuation, or structure. I read for fun, to be pulled into the story and create it in my head. After years of stage acting and script reading, I read books to get lost in the story and put myself in the footsteps of the characters. (I will note as a disclaimer that several other readers in their review of this series HATED the way Jacobs writes in fractured and incomplete sentences. Ha, I didn’t even notice!)

I personally loved this series, especially the first book The Friday Night Knitting Club. The book follows a series if characters in a knitting shop and in their lives in New York City. The main focus is the shop owner, Georgia Walker and her daughter. I found all the characters to be well developed and unique from one another. The knitting references were accurate and sounded super adorable. No spoilers, but the end of the book really threw me for a loop.

The second book, Knit Two, picks up five years later with the same characters dealing with the ramifications of book one. I enjoyed this book (not as much as the first) and still found I was invested in the character stories. Both books are full of love, angst, family drama, knitting, and friendship. I blasted through the second book in less than a day.

I got a little lost in book three, Knit The Season. This book tried to wrap every characters story up with a nice neat bow. Life doesn’t always work out like that but it’s nice to pretend once in awhile. This book did stir up some feelings/memories about the holidays and family. That was both nice and bittersweet for me.

As a whole, I recommend this series to knitters of all ages and skill. All three books include recipes and knitting patterns for items referenced in the story. Nothing I just had to make right away, but lovely all the same! I plan on keeping these novels on my shelves and I bet I reread them in the future!

Happy Knitting!

I am starting a new series by Kate Jacobs! There are three books so far:
The Friday Night Knitting Club
Knit Two
Knit The Season

I have started the first novel but will refrain from reviewing the individual books and review the series instead. I hope to have the first two novels read in time to start Knit The Season in November to get me in the holiday spirit!! I can’t believe it’s that time already…and I can’t believe I signed up for two holiday craft fairs…oh we’ll what’s done is done!

Stay tuned this week for homemade bread (via my bread machine and machine cookbook) and FO Friday where I will debut my first ever knit garment!

Happy Knitting!

I finished the third installment of Gil McNeil’s Jo McKensie this past weekend. You can find my review of the first two books here.

I think in the future when reading a series I will review the first book as a stand alone item and then wait until I finish the series to review all the books a whole. I think this will help me give readers a better review and avoid giving reviews on the slower books in the series.

That being said, I found Knit One Pearl One a bit slower than the first two. In opinion the author was using this book to advance the story simply to set up a future novel.

This is not to say I didn’t enjoy reading this book! It was a lovely read and I am still invested in the characters. I just was missing the surprise twist the first two books had. The plot in this third book was predictable and I could see where it was going to end up.

All in all I would still recommend this series as a whole and I am looking forward to see if a fourth book appears. I very much appreciate the authors style of writing and I want to know what is “next” for these characters. This third book just left me wanting a little bit more.

Happy Knitting!!

I finished the second novel in the Jo Mackenzie knitting series by Gil McNei. I very much enjoyed getting to know Jo and her seaside knit shop, McKnits. I went into this book with no expectations and was pleasantly surprised! I normally find companion pieces to be flat and repetitive.

Needles and Pearls picks up where the first left off. Jo had just managed to get her feet under her and just like that the author throws another twist in. (Don’t worry no spoilers!)

All the familiar characters are here plus more new ones to get know. I must say Elsie the “shop matron” is my favorite despite her best efforts to meddle in Jo’s world. The author uses an excellent imagery and I love that its written in British syntax. I find myself using a few British turn of phrase in my everyday life. Which is totally awkward mostly because I live in the middle of the Midwest, USA.

As a companion to The Beach Street Knitting and Yarn Society I find this novel delightful and fresh. I highly recommend this book to all knit lovers and avid readers.

I’ll be starting the third installment Knit One, Pearl One soon. I have grown fond of these characters so I imagine it won’t be long before I have a review. I can’t wait to get started!

Happy Knitting

I love to knit and I love all kinds of books about knitting. Due to my recent busy schedule I haven’t gotten much knitting done, so I settled for reading about it.

I recently picked up The Knitting Circle on Amazon. This delightful book was written by Ann Hood. It’s a book about loss and the power if knitting. Though the book caries a sad theme, if you read deep enough you can see how the rhythmic process of knitting can help to heal all kinds of wounds. Not to mention having a great group of friends to lean on!

I read that in 2011 this book was rumored to be in production with Katherine Heigl to be a movie. I would be first in line to see that movie if it ever gets made!

I highly recommend this book to knitters if all ages, genders, races, and skill levels! This is a book that will definitely stay on my shelf!!

I have moved on to my next book, The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil.

And yes, I realize that I accidentally color coordinated my current baby blanket with this book, ha!

Happy Knitting!! (And reading)