OK, all you knitters out there, young and old, here's a question for you. What always starts out with good intentions and the thump, thump, thump of a young heart? Oh, and of course, a pair of needles, a ball of yarn, and hopefully, a very good pattern.

Guess yet?

A sweater for a boyfriend. Maybe the "one." Maybe not. Volumes could be written on the subject. Every knitter who knows what I am talking about put down your needles a moment. You are not alone. You are part of a sisterhood of women, many who even find the experience slightly humorous by middle age.

Healing/Prayer Shawl Cards

It was evening. My parents were away and Mrs. Summers was babysitting us. Keeping guard on our den couch, bathed in the blue light of the television, she sat knitting mittens. I had assumed that the mittens were for one of her grandchildren. She had three and sometimes she took my siblings and me to play with them.

Welcome to the World of Charitable Knitting

I like to be prepared. For anything and everything. So I used to lug around a large purse filled with "supplies". Just in case. Until I had an epiphany of sorts. A purse epiphany. It started when a knitting magazine ran a pattern for a small and simple purse. The writer suggested the purse would be the perfect size for carrying back a few shells picked up on the beach. I was thinking that the size might inspire me to travel lighter, free my shoulders of the heavy burden I cast upon them every time I went for even the simplest of outings.

The Tiny Purse

In my book, Zero Grandparents, second-grader Calliope James is very upset about the upcoming Grandparents Day celebration at her school. All her grandparents are dead. Who can she bring to the school's celebration?

Tea and Sympathy shawl essay and pattern

There's a hand-knit scarf in our scarf basket that gets used more than any other one. It's the scarf we all reach for and hope is there when we are about to brave the prairie winter. Wearing it brings me joy and warmth and pride. The knitter was my oldest daughter, Meera.

Road Scarf

It is cold out here in Iowa City, Iowa. There is snow on the ground and we have a wind that is so fierce it makes you wonder how the prairie ever got settled. It is the time of year when knitters can really contribute to the greater good of their community and family by knitting hats and mittens and scarves. Don't worry if you live somewhere warm, you poor souls, knitted goods travel well. Box them up and send them to the colder communities. We'll put them to good use.

Reasons to Knit Mittens

To all those knitters who emailed me with mitten questions and to those of you who in spite of the summer heat are thinking ahead to winter, this article is for you.

Mitten Knowledge

Some of us in the knitting world will wait to read the new Harry Potter book. We will turn the heel and Kitchener the toe. We will finish those socks. And wait for the moment when our offspring finish reading the very last page and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows becomes ours.

Knitting Needles and Broomsticks

It all began when we were living in St Paul Minnesota and my oldest daughter was taking a summer art course at the Minneapolis Art Institute across the river and through numerous long red lights and road detours and delays. Knitting Time, I thought. My knitting is always on the floor of the passenger seat, at the ready. I carried the most portable of my stop and go projects … socks on four needles in the car, on my lap. I could knit 8,9,10 stitches and when the light turned green or the road worker waved us on, I dropped the knitting back on my lap, ready for the next knitting moment.

Mitten Knowledge

Last January, I ordered a new knitting bag and printed on the bag was Elizabeth Zimmerman’s famous quote: “Knit On, with confidence and hope, through all crises.” I thought of the bag and the Elizabeth Zimmerman quote as a tribute to the hard times when I just knit on.

Knit On!

It was a quiet sound, the whispering of the yarn as I gathered the last stitches from the top of the thumb and pulled them together tightly with a thick, blunt sewing needle. I ran the needle and yarn twice through the top stitches and then, turning the thumb inside out, knotted the yarn in a few places, snipped the end and turned the thumb right side out.

Karma Mittens

My husband was at work, my three daughters had left for school, and I was in the basement of our old house on Mount Curve Boulevard in Saint Paul, Minnesota, ironing and listening to Minnesota Public Radio’s morning show with Bob Potter. Outside it was a beautiful fall day, I could see the sun shining through the small basement windows as I watched wrinkles disappear under the warm iron.

Gesture for the Future

Every now and then, some of us need a quiet moment in front of a great work of art. An uninterrupted afternoon with a timeless piece of literature. An evening of heart-stirring music. A cream-filled éclair. A brush with something special gives us the feeling that we, too, are special. Could I interest you in a ruffle?                             

Could I Interest you in a Ruffle?

Artifacts of a Knitting Life

Consider the washcloth: the most utilitarian of all handmade items. Several years ago, at loss of what to bring as a gift to my elderly aunt, I grabbed a lacy washcloth I had knit the winter before. I wrapped it around a bar of soap and tied it with a colorful cotton ribbon. Appreciated, admired, and used often, this washcloth was the perfect gift. When my aunt’s daughter called recently and asked for the pattern, I began to think seriously about washcloths again. They are great learning project for beginners and a palette full of possibilities for the advanced.

An Artful Way to Knit

In 1972, I started college in Albany, New York. I was in a special program, a college within a university. On Thursdays, we all met for integration, a full afternoon of lectures and discussions. Integration was a great time to knit away on a scarf or hat or even an afghan. And if I happened to be out of yarn, integration was an excellent time to skip out and shop for more. That is how I discovered Dora's Yarn Store.

Dora's Yarn Store

Available at Lion Brand's website

Go to Lion Brand's website to send my newset knitting image as an ecard or download and print it to send by snail mail.

It’s a small pattern. Very small. Tiny. Knit half and you have a right triangle. Knit both parts of the pattern and you have a square. Once memorized after the first few rows, this pattern is very hard to forget. You can knit it as it is, half or whole, or embed it in more elaborate patterns for washcloths, baby blankets, and shawls. You can write the entire pattern on a napkin, the back of an envelope, or even a post-it. If you are so inclined, you can write it on your hand.

A Pattern For Life

My mother Lillian Edwards, was a life-long knitter. She was an attractive, well dressed woman: tall and thin with dark black hair and almond shaped brown eyes that almost looked Asian. She called them “laughing eyes,” and that is how I like to remember them.

A Knitter's Portrait