A Life in Stitches

Book excerpt: A warm, funny and moving memoir about how a passion for knitting has marked the milestones of a woman's life, from surviving a typhoon to finding true love. From creating her very first sweater, an electric blue disaster that led to an unlikely bonding between father and daughter to the yellow afghan that caused a breakup (and, ultimately, a breakthrough) and discovering that her love of knitting pales next to actual, true love, Rachael Herron's ability to spin wonderful yarns full of love, loss and laughter is addictive. Whether she's huddled with her cat Digit after an close encounter in a treehouse or reminiscing about her mother's idyllic New Zealand childhood while keeping vigil at her bedside, Herron shows that when life unravels there's always a way to knit it back together again, often into something even better. 'Rachael Herron is a writer with an open heart. I feel it in her novels. In A LIFE IN StItCHES, I got a deeper look into that heart, and I love what I saw there. It's an honest, fascinating, warm-hug of a memoir.' Amy Singer, Knitty.com 'Even though I'm a lousy knitter with only a few crooked scarves to my name, I was captivated, delighted and touched by every chapter.' Erin Bried, author of How to Sew a Button 'Weaves together a life rich in family, romance, and enough electric blue yarn to knit her first sweater at age eleven ... I'm inspired to be as bold and as generous as the knitters in her life.' Catherine Friend, author of Sheepish: