The Secret Language of Knitters

by Mary Beth Temple

Moth The devil incarnate, eater of both stash and finished objects. Should be treated with a zero-tolerance attitude." -- The Secret Language of Knitters

* More than 140 terms, from acrylic to yarn porn, are collected and defined for America"s 60 million knitting-obsessed. 

From the 25-year-old hipster to her 85-year-old grandmother, more than a third of the women in the United States knit.

For the yarn-obsessed, Mary Beth Temple offers a glossary of knitting jargon and terminology in The Secret Language of Knitters with entries

* Design Elements Mistakes. As in "The fact that one sleeve is five inches longer than the other is not a mistake, it is a design element."

* Stress Knitting When the going gets tough, the tough get knitting.

With a universal affinity for cashmere and an absolute abhorrence of moths, veteran and beginning knitters alike will be certain not to cast off this humorous lexicon compendium.

Genres: Knitting, Nonfiction, Crafts, Audiobook

160 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

Reviews

[Nostalgia Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Not a condescending or cliqueish casual knitting book for once! Very much in the vein of The Unabridged Devil's Dictionary. No one word is given a huffy five-year old's foot stamp of "well *I* don't like it, therefore it must be terrible, and people who like/do this must be inferior beings." Examples include equal praisings for both Continental and English style, knitting and crocheting, and natural and synthetic fibers. Knitting is knitting, no matter what or how.

Definitions of some techniques or specialty tools are given not just a snarky intro, but actually some helpful info, especially for newer knitters.

A quick, amusing read, and a great gifty book for any knitter.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not have high hopes for this when I purchased this, but that did not stop me from buying it in both paperback and audio format. It's been sitting unopened on my shelf in my den/knitting room for years now. It wasn't until I found it was a cheap audio.com download that I decided to give it a listen.

But I am a savvy worldly knit grrrrrl. I am sure I will not learn anything from this. WRONG! There are many terms that I have read and kind of glossed over for years without really knowing what people were talking about. Sure - I know about KIPing (Knitting In Public) and have even heard SABLE (Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy). I am WELL acquainted with Frogging (the ripping out of stitches) and know the pit falls of dye lot and pooling. But what about SEX? That was a new one on me. (It stands for Stash Enhancement eXpedition by the way, although there is not much sexier than a big ball of Rasta. Yum!

And then there was the situation this weekend where I was invited over to my parents to visit and was told to bring my baller and swift. Six hours of balling yarn later I was talking about how I liked yarn cakes because they don't bounce around quite as much as balls, and with a house full of cat and dog hair - that's a good thing. My mother looked at me oddly and said "What did you just call this?" and she held one of the cakes in her hand. "A Yarn Cake. When you ball yarn on a baller it's called a cake of yarn rather than a ball of yarn." She's been knitting for about 60 years and this was news to her. Huh. What do you know?

So I quickly tamped down my smug inner knit grrl and started to listed. Yup. It's one thing to understand things contextually - but another to actually study something and have an understanding. I am also quite pleased to have this in paper format - because for the life of me I cannot remember what the acronym for SEX and SABLE mean two seconds after I learn them. I have a memory like a steal sieve.

Another bonus was that this was read by the author. Which means that the reading was pretty natural AND it wasn’t read by someone who does not knit. This really makes a difference in the tone of the reading. Can you imagine someone who does not have a passion for knitting reading this? Could be really, really bad.

So overall it was an enjoyable listen. And I have justified having this in both formats since now I have listened to this all the way through AND used the book to look up some of the things I listened to but either couldn’t remember (How can I forget SEX?!?!) or just wanted to learn more about (like Qiviut - I am going to google the crap out of that before the night is over - and not just for it’s possibilities with scrabble. Although how often do you see a non QU word?)

This is a worthy book. This is a worthy audio download as well. Knit on!

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

All new knitters should read this to learn the lingo. It's fun

[Mary Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very funny book. Gives definitions of words that knitters (and crocheters) use all the time for instance SABLE - is not a fur but Stash Acquistion Beyond Life Expectancy. The author even talks about how yarn acquistion could be compared to drugs. We don't want to quit, we have pushers (lys owners), needles, and the yarn.

[Phyllis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a humorous read.

[Tricia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Entertaining.

[Ivy Reisner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Too short, but otherwise awesome!

[Stacy Papineau · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little read, had my stitch night friends laughing out loud

[Elisabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing and educational.

[Saundra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny...you have to be a knitter to really enjoy this book.

[Cayenne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, clever, and a great way to learn the secret language of knitters.

[Ashley · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good general overview of knitting terms. There was a good dose of humor mixed into many definitions that keeps it fun knitters of all levels. Most terminology is related to the knitting culture and bare basics of the mechanics of knitting.