Last week I had the pleasure of seeing the Yarn Harlot speak at the Forestry Center in Portland. The crowd of 400+ knitters was truly a sight to behold! By the time she got up to speak, it was standing room only. And for good reason!

If you’re not familiar with the Yarn Harlot or her books, she’s the leading Knitting Humorist in print. (Yes, that’s really a job description! I know! Isn’t that neat?) She writes tales about the ways knitting has taught her (and many others) how to cope with many of life’s challenges by simply taking it all one stitch at a time.

At her talk, she described how we, as knitters, have a great advantage over non-crafters because of our ability to focus on stitch after stitch after stitch. She inspired the crowd with tales of research studies done on the benefits of repetitive motions, amused us with her cat’s antics, and overall, made us all truly proud to call ourselves knitters. What’s great about her is that her books are equally inspiring!

Her tour is promoting her latest book, Things I Learned from Knitting (Whether I Wanted to or Not) – which is packed with more anecdotal evidence of how knitting can be our best friend, comfort and teacher. <