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I keep finding more and more titles that have knitting as a theme. To say that this popular craft has taken on a life of its own in novels is putting it mildly. This list will have a number of books that have knitting as a mention or something that one of the characters does, as well as those that use it as a theme. One of the great writers who used knitting as a past time for one of her characters is Agatha Christie. Miss Marple spent many hours over her knitting. Christie never included a pattern nor did she mention very often what Marple was knitting. However in a current issue of the magazine Piecework there is an article about Miss Marple and a pattern of what she was probably working on in at least one of her adventures.
For other knitting references in fiction you can try Jan Karon, Angela M. Thirkell, Miss Read,Barbara Pym and Carol Shields. Even Stephen King has a reference to knitting in Bag of Bones. I am including here books that have more than a passing reference to the craft. Do not forget Charles Dickens great knitter in A TALE OF TWO CITIES. Evil Madame Defarge may be the most famous knitter outside of Miss Marple.
Fiction:
Barber, Dulan A WORLD WITHOUT WOOL SHOPS
Barfoot, Joan PLAIN JANE
Bunce, Elizabeth C. CURSE DARK AS GOLD; STARCROSSED
Byatt, A. S. ART WORK and in her THE MATISSE STORIES she has a short story about a cleaning woman with a knitting obsession
Cahill, Mary CARPOOL
Cisneros, Sandra CARAMELO
Craig, Alisa THE GRUB AND STAKERS SPIN A YARN
Day, Marele LAMBS OF GOD
Dickson, Nicole R. CASTING OFF
DuLong, Terri CASTING ABOUT; SPINNING FORWARD
Gowdy, barbara MISTER SANDMAN
Herron, Rachael HOW TO KNIT A HEART BACK HOME and HOW TO KNIT A LOVE SONG
Iles, Greg THE DEVIL’S PUNCHBOWL
Lurie, Alison THE LAST RESORT
Ogilvie, Elizabeth STORM TIDE
Olesker, Jack CAST ON, BETS OFF
Patillo, Beth SWEETGUM KNIT LIT SOCIETY
Pratchett, Terry THE LAST CONTINENT (definitely a Pratchett twist on knitting
Proulx, E. Annie. THE SHIPPING NEWS
Ridgway, Christie UNRAVEL ME; HOW TO KNIT A WILD BIKINI
Smallwood, Veronica DEATH AND THE OXFORD BOX
Smith, Robert Kimmel SADIE SHAPIRO’S KNITTING; SADIE SHAPIRO IN MIAMI; SADIE SHAPIRO, MATCHMAKER (these are books from the 1970′s)
Wolfson, Jill WHAT I CALL LIFE
Woolf, Virginia JACOB’S ROOM
MYSTERIES
Bretton, Barbara CASTING SPELLS; LACED WITH MAGIC; SPUN BY SORCERY
Canadeo, Anne WHILE MY PRETTY ONE KNITS: KNIT, PURL, DIE: A STITCH BEFORE BYING
Casey, Elizabeth Lynn Southern Sewing Circle Mystery Series
SEW DEADLY; DEATH THREADS; PINNED FOR MURDER
Churchill, Jill FAREWELL TO YARNS
Eberhart, Mignon WHILE THE PATIENT SLEPT
Ferris, Monica writes the Needlecraft Mystery series
CREWEL WORLD, FRAMED IN LACE, STITCH IN TIME, UNRAVELED SLEEVE, A MURDEROUS YARN, HANGING BY A THREAD, CUTWORK, CREWEL YULE, EMBROIDERED TURTHS, SINS AND NEEDLES, KNITTING BONES, THAI DIE, BLACKWORK, SEW FAR, SO GOOD, BUTTONS AND BONES
Goldenbaum, Sally DEATH BY CASHMERE, PATTERNS IN THE SAND, MOON SPINNERS, A HOLIDAY YARN
Hechtman, Betty Crochet Mystery Series
HOOKED ON MURDER; DEAD MEN DON’T CROCHET; BY HOOK OR BY CROOK; A STITCH IN CRIME
Hughes, Mary Ellen A Craft Corner Mystery Series – NOT KNITTING
WREATH OF DECEPTION; STRING OF LIES; PAPER THIN ALIBI
Lee, Amanda The Embroidery Mystery Series
THE QUICK AND THE THREAD; STITCH ME DEADLY
Rendell, Ruth “A Needle for the Devil” a story in THE FEVER TREE AND OTHER STORIES has knitting as a major theme and her novel THE VEILED ONE
Some something out of the ordinary try
O’Brian, Patrick THE UNKNOWN SHORE wherein pirates teach a boy how to knit
Kurland, Lynn THE VERY THOUGHT OF YOU time travel between the 11th Century to the 20th as a bard who destroys hand made tapestries must learn to knit in 20th Century Scotland
I hope you find a number of great stories here to read.
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