It Itches by Franklin Habit

It Itches by Franklin Habit. Published by Interweave Press c. 2008.

How often do you think of knitting and cartoons? Probably not that much, but this book by the blogger and creator of the 1,000 Knitter Project will change your mind. Habit creates cartoons in the New Yorker style, but they are all about knitting. He is also the author of the The Panopticon Blog where he talks about his life as a knitter and person. The cartoons are laugh out loud funny, clever and make you want to pick up your knitting and knit.

Knitting books can be about techniques, they can be essays, there are more and more books on knitting as meditation or prayer. In addition, knitting socks, knitting scarves, one-skein knitting are frequently subjects of books, but this is the only book I’ve found that is just for fun and is cartoons. Often I buy knitting books for myself and loan them out, but this book is one to share, and one to buy as a gift for another knitter. It is a small format book, and newly published so it is not likely to be owned by your knitting friends yet. It will fit in a knitting bag easily and will be enjoyed by non-knitters too. The book it also reasonably priced at $12.95 and will bring a smile to your knitterly heart.

The cartoons are enough to make the book a worthwhile purchase, but the essays are thoughtful and funny too. My favorite essays are the essays that deal with his experience as a guy knitter, and how the world looks at men who knit. The world does not actually view knitting as mainstream and the comments he makes about how knitting is seen make me even more comfortable as a public knitter although not in the same way:

“I admit,” said Pestilence, “I like the attention that comes with knitting in public. I’m such a novelty, I don’t even have to be working on anything cool. Three inches of garter stitch and the chicks are on me like a swarm of killer bees.”

Now, I don’t get that response, but the response I get, “Wow, that is beautiful/lovely/amazing”, make it all worthwhile.