For Rachael

I finished reading Rachael Herron's book How to Knit a Love Song. It was charming, funny, sad, infuriating, giggly, precious and content. I enjoyed every page and can't wait for another "Cypress Hollow Yarn" to come out. I'm not sure if everyone would appreciate this book fully for what it is. If you like (what I call) light romance (good story with enough sex to satisfy, but not make you flip back to the cover to see if you accidentally picked up a copy of Penthouse Letters) you will enjoy the story. However, if you are a fiber enthusiast (especially a spinner or knitter) you will adore this book. It is every knitter's fantasy. To inherit a cottage with a cupola filled with fiber and spinning wheels and a very good looking sexy sheep rancher (are they still called shepherds?) right across your lawn is simply divine. I had a hard time reading it only because the people younger than me in the house kept asking for things like dinner and clean laundry and for me to take them places. "Leave me alone. Can't you see that I have a book in my hand and I have no clue what is going on in the world? I just want to get back to Abigail and Cade and the yarn!"

Sadly, I think that for the non-fiber enthusiast this book may not fully touch them unless they have known the comfort of slipping a soft Merino sweater over their head or snuggling their toes into a pair of wool bamboo socks and can appreciate the time and effort that went into making those garments by hand. This book is much like those hand knit pieces. It is full of love and you can easily slip into the comfort of its pages as easily as a pair of Norwegian mittens on a bitter cold day. Pour a cup and pick this book up.

The one thing that it left me longing for, though, was my own Eliza. How wonderful to have an Eliza in your life. Not one who will die and leave you everything you need in life, but one who makes you appreciate what you do and encourages you to seek that thing you love the most. It doesn't even have to be knitting related. A muse, so to speak, who makes you realize that you have worth.

I have been privileged to follow Rachael (or as I have known her Yarnagogo) over the past year as she announced she was being published and as she worked through her own editing rather than doing NaNoWriMo (although she cheered us on as we went). It has been fun seeing her progress and the challenges of getting to her first book signing (which I read her tweet while at the bookstore in that "post book emptiness" while looking for a new read - suggestions anyone?)

Congratulations Rachael! You deserve this lovely book and I look forward to the KAL over at Ravelry.