Free At Knit's End by Stephanie Pearl–McPhee

When I took them out of the washer I was stunned. The red wool had shrunk at a completely different rate than the black. The slippers were round and flat, and they bore no resemblance to the foot of any mammal on Earth.
    Remember to think inventively. I may not have made slippers, but I did have wool Frisbees, or some really interesting hot pads.
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    Really, all you need to become
a good knitter are wool, needles, hands,
and slightly below-average intelligence.
Of course, superior intelligence, such as
yours and mine, is an advantage.
    â€” E LIZABETH Z IMMERMAN
    T here is nothing like working out a piece of knitting to make you feel intelligent. Of course, there’s nothing quite like getting your superior intelligence kicked by a piece of yarn and two needles to let the air right out of that self-confidence.
    I will remember to be humble, even when I am knitting cleverly. Things change.
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    He who works with his hands is a laborer,
he who works with his hands and his head
is a craftsman, he who works with his hands,
his head and his heart is an artist.
    â€” F RANCIS OF A SSISI
    M y definitions:
    Craft Knitting — knitting a sweater from someone else’s pattern but making changes in the yarn and style to suit your taste.
    Art Knitting — knitting a sweater from any pattern, but altering the pattern, stitch, or colorway to make it completely your own.
    Labor Knitting — knitting a sweater with a 50-inch chest.
    I will not allow anyone else (including this book) to tell me when I am making art.
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    Problems worthy of attack prove their
worth by fighting back.
    â€” P AUL E RDOS
    S ome knitters use a “lifeline” when knitting complex patterns. They thread a strand of waste yarn through a row of stitches that they know is correct, and then continue on. This maneuver is repeated at regular intervals. If a mistake is discovered, the work can be ripped back to the lifeline, and the stitches held by it picked up and the work resumed.
    Then there are those of us who laugh in the face of danger and call these knitters “chicken.”
    Should I choose to enjoy “daredevil” knitting and scorn a lifeline, I will gracefully accept the consequences, or at least give up mocking more cautious knitters when the decision comes back to haunt me.
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    There is no right way to knit; there is
no wrong way to knit. So if anybody kindly
tells you that what you are doing is “wrong,”
don’t take umbrage; they mean well.
Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your
disagreement on an entirely mental level.
    â€” E LIZABETH Z IMMERMAN
    I f you knit long enough, you will discover that no matter what your style or expertise is, there is another “expert” who is convinced you are doing it wrong. She will believe this despite the fact that you are both producing beautiful knitting.
    I will remember that individuality is a good thing, in life and in knitting.
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    One cannot collect all the beautiful shells
on the beach. One can collect only a few,
and they are more beautiful if they are few.
    â€” A NNE M ORROW L INDBERGH
    T his is one theory of yarn buying. We must not overburden ourselves with greed and want, but instead gather only a few … just those perfect balls of yarn that are special to us. Limiting the amount of yarn that we stash makes us treasure those few balls even more, and it ensures that we actually fulfill the destiny of those meager skeins.
    This works fine if you think “a few” should be followed by the word “hundred.”
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    If everything seems to be going well,
you have obviously overlooked something.
    â€” S TEVEN W RIGHT
    E xcellent, I have just carefully worked the armhole decreases on the front of the sweater. I’m feeling pretty good about myself. It was tricky; I had to really work to incorporate the cables into the decreases, but I persevered and I’m ready for the next instruction. I look at the pattern and