The acronyms and terms used by knitters in the know can be confusing to people who are new to the subculture. Mary Beth Temple aims to explain the terms -- from acrylic to yarn pron (transpose the middle letters of that second word if you're not familiar with this term) -- that knitters throw around assuming people know what they mean in her book, The Secret Language of Knitters: The Hilarious Guide to the Language of Knitters, which is reviewed here as an audiobook.
Speaking Knitting
The audio version of The Secret Language of Knitters is unabridged from the print version and is read by the author. It's a two CD set running two hours and 28 minutes.
Set up like a dictionary of knitting terms, the entries are not exactly definitions, or at least not exclusively definitions. Some are rather straightforward, if humorous, explanations of a term, but many others are essays or reflections on a particular knitting term.
The definition of blocking, for example, explains how it is done, while the cashmere essay explores why the fiber is so great -- and expensive. Temple is full of opinions (such as calling designers spawns of Satan and saying a yarn budget is "an oxymoron" and makes no more sense than budgeting air) and good humor about the knitting life.
The entries are often amusing, as in the lace section, which includes a description of the process of making a lace shawl, spending untold hours on a project that will come off the needles looking downright ugly, but once you block it it's a thing of beauty that impresses knitters and nonknitters alike. She says there's something to knowing that such a momentous project will be around forever, or at least until her daughter inherits is and uses it as a dog blanket.
She calls qiviut "the designer drug for the hand knitter" and includes handy lists such as 12 reasons why sock knitting is more addictive than crack and 10 reasons knitting is better than therapy.
A Wide Range of Terms
The audio explores a wide range of knitting terms, from different types of fiber to the mechanics of knitting, knitting acronyms like SEX (stash enhancement expedition), KIP (knitting in public) and SABLE (stash acquired beyond life expectancy) and other important terms like charity knitting and yarn whisperer.
She explores the difference between a WIP (work in progress) and a UFO (unfinished object) -- it's the P, or progress being made, though she admits progress "is in the eye of the beholder."
Knitters will find this book a lot of fun to listen to, and they might even learn something about knitting and other knitters while listening.
The only drawback of the book as an audiobook as opposed to the print version is that you can't easily flip back and forth between terms used in other definitions. If you've never heard the term in question, you might be scratching your head until you get to the entry for LYS (local yarn shop) or SEX. But if you're already familiar with these sorts of terms, you're sure to enjoy Temple's take on the meanings behind the word knitters use to show they're part of the club.
Publication date: July 2009
