When I was in college, I got it into my head that I wanted to learn to knit. I bought a copy of Knitting for Dummies, a set of cheap plastic needles from Walmart (US size 7), and some awful pink acrylic worsted weight yarn. Firmly adhering to my belief that books are the best way to learn anything, I patiently taught myself to knit. It wasn't easy at first, but after a lot of reading, practicing, and looking things up on the internet, I became a knitter.
Before long, I was completely addicted to my needles and yarn, and my collection of supplies and fiber grew over the years. New, more advanced knitting books lined my shelves, a collection of smooth bamboo needles filled my drawers, and an inexhaustible stash of buttery, luxurious yarns spilled out of my closet. Over time, I began honing my techniques. I could make socks using four tiny needles and a skein of thin yarn. I could knit lace patterns from silk spun so finely that it looked like thread. I could knit chunky cables that wove their way around hats and through scarves. Knitting was more than a hobby, it was my meditation. Sitting on the couch with a pattern on my lap and my needles in my hands was it's own kind of tranquility that I could relax into.
When I graduated from college and had trouble finding a teaching job, knitting got me through endless hours of substitute work. All of my anxieties about finding a classroom of my own released their grip on my brain, flowed out of my fingers, and turned into something beautiful as piece after piece of work fell off my needles. It took a year and a half for me to find a permanent position. It was one of the more difficult, embarrassing, and uncertain periods of my life, but knitting got me through it.
When that permanent classroom did come, a whole new set of duties and tasks took up my hours. I knit less and less, finishing maybe just a few projects per year. Although I don't have the time or energy to work with my needles and yarn as much as I'd like to today, my love and admiration for the craft has never changed. Knitting is good for my soul, and is a hobby that I will carry with my for the rest of my life.
So naturally, as an avid knitter, T.S. Easton's Boys Don't Knit intrigued me as soon as I saw it on the shelf at Barnes and Noble. The plot concerns a teenage boy named Ben Fletcher who, at the beginning of the novel, gets busted for shoplifting and put on probation for one year. As part of the conditions of his probation, he is required to keep a diary to reflect on his thoughts and feelings, perform a number of community service hours, and enroll in an extracurricular course at his local community college. The choices are few when it comes to his extracurricular course, so he ends up picking a knitting class.
To Ben's surprise, he ends up falling in love with knitting. He has a natural talent for it, and he is able to visualize patterns in his head and learn new techniques easily. He finds himself seeking out new luxury yarns and needles outside of class, reading knitting magazines, listening to knitting podcasts, and designing his own patterns. He quickly outstrips the rest of his classmates and ends up competing in the junior division of a knitting championship in his city. Knitting quiets the anxieties in Ben's brain and allows him to form healthy, supportive relationships with the rest of the women in his knitting circle. It provides him with an outlet that he didn't realize he needed.
However, Ben's new hobby has its drawbacks. Knitting is seen as a woman's pursuit, and Ben is afraid that his friends and family will judge him as being effeminate. To shield himself from potential bullying, he decides to keep his new skills a secret from everyone, especially his father, who is very concerned with him acting "manly" at all times. His deception is difficult to maintain and stresses him out, but he can't imagine a world in which everyone just accepts that the fiber arts are his passion. Boys Don't Knit is a story about growing up, learning from your mistakes, and figuring out who you are.
So much of this book was wonderful. What Ben finds in knitting is the same thing I found - its meditative and creative elements are an outlet for the stresses of everyday life. All of his feelings about the craft, from admiring new needles to squishing new yarn skeins, could have been written about myself. All of the technical information was correct as well - the descriptions of different yarns, supplies, stitches, and patterns was dead-on. At one point, Ben's dad uses one of his Addi Turbo needles to scratch inside his ear, and I winced out loud right alongside Ben.You can't use an Addi needle as a Q-tip! Those things are the Cadillac of knitting needles! Easton got all the little details right. If he doesn't knit himself, them someone very close to him does. This novel was spilling over with authentic knitting knowledge and feelings. I loved this aspect of it.
What I didn't love so much were some of the sillier aspects of the plot. Ben's friends were annoying and obviously bad news. His father was ridiculously inappropriate and irresponsible. These characters only functioned to add complications to the plot and didn't feel real. They were obnoxious caricatures. Most disturbing to me was Ben's English teacher, Miss Swallow. She behaved extremely inappropriately with him. She was overly friendly and shared way too much personal information about herself. At one point, she even asked him to dance with her at a nightclub. As a teacher myself, I'm sensitive to how other teachers are portrayed, and I wasn't comfortable to see Ben openly lusting after this woman and becoming involved in her personal life. It crossed lines to me and detracted from the story.
For those reasons, I'm rating Boys Don't Knit at three stars. I absolutely loved everything about the knitting in it. For those sections, I could have been reading about myself. The parts where Ben is interacting with other characters, however, dragged down my enjoyment. Even so, I had a great time reading this one. It stirred up a lot of feelings I have for knitting that have lain dormant in me for too long. It reminded me that I need to make time for this craft in my life, because it makes me feel at peace. A book that can do all that is an enjoyable read indeed.
Challenge Tally
TBR Challenge (previously owned): 53/60
Total Books Read in 2017: 67
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