Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's latest book, Things I Learned from Knitting...Whether I Wanted to or Not would make a great Mother's Day gift for the knitting mama in your life. It's full of 45 lessons (mostly based on cliches like "speak softly and carry a big stick" and "haste makes waste" -- can you guess that one's about knitting gauge swatches?) Pearl-McPhee has learned from knitting that the rest of us can learn, too.

As much as it's a book about knitting, it's also a book about life and how we knitters see the world a little differently from everyone else. It's a quick read that any knitter should enjoy.

While we're on the subject, I'd love to hear what you've learned from knitting. I think the biggest thing I have learned is that I can be patient when I want to be. I normally don't think of myself as a patient person, but I've never given up on a project I really wanted because I thought it would take too long to knit. What's knitting teaching you?