I’m a newish knitter and long-time reader. Lucky for me there is a whole slew of romances that include one or two or ten knitting characters. It’s not just that many writers are knitters. I think it’s because the terminology of knitting is so applicable to describing life's joys and conundrums.
One author who beautifully uses the techniques of knitting to illuminate the circumstances of her characters is Rachael Herron. Her latest book, How to Knit a Heart Back Home (Cypress Hollow Yarn Series #2), tells the story of Lucy Harrison. Lucy lives in Cyprus Hollow, a California beach town whose residents have been touched by a certain kind of celebrity: the famous knitting guru Eliza Carpenter. Cyprus Hollow is the kind of place where you can sit at a bar and work on a pair of socks. As EC says, “What is knitting if not directed fidgeting?”
Lucy’s got a fairly wonderful life; she’s owner and operator of a bookstore, she is close with her family even if they drive her a little batty sometimes, her friends are supportive and her days are jam-packed with fulfilling activities like working with the local volunteer fire department. Also? She always has something to do with her nervous energy. (Bar socks!) But there’s one “What if?” in her life, and his name is Owen Bancroft. Formerly one of Cyprus Hollow’s most delicious bad-boy teenagers -but mistunderstood, of course - he saunters back into town as delectable and dangerous as ever.
Part of the fun in reading Lucy’s adventures in love with the teenage crush she’s never gotten over is absorbing the nuggets of wisdom attached to the beginning of each chapter in the form of knitting advice. And beyond that, the warmth of Cyprus Hollow fills each page with heart as red and vibrant as the knitted ones on the cover.
I've got knitting fiction on the brain, so please come to Romantic Reads and tell me...
What are your favorite knitting romances?
