Knitting Pearls by Ann Hood

“Engaging . . . tangled stories of family relationships, expectations and traditions . . . compelling, regardless of the reader’s experience with the craft.” — Portland Press Herald

Some books are meant to be read by the fire, wrapped in something warm. This is one of them.

In this beautifully curated collection, two dozen celebrated writers reflect on the transformative, healing, and deeply human power of knitting. The stories gathered here are as varied as the stitches themselves — Lily King recalls a knitted hat that helped her daughter find her footing in a new country. Laura Lippman explores how faith, family, and a hand-knitted stocking became intertwined. Jodi Picoult writes of a grandmother’s love that lives on in every loop of yarn. And Bill Roorbach remembers how knitting, of all things, mended a broken heart during his freshman year of college.

Other contributors include Steve Almond, Ann Leary, Christina Baker Kline, and Lee Woodruff, alongside knitting luminaries like Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed and Clara Parks, the Yarn Whisperer. Woven throughout are patterns from beloved shops like Purl Soho, Hill Country Weavers, and Churchmouse Yarns — so you can pick up your needles the moment inspiration strikes.

By turns joyous and heartbreaking, delightful and wise, these essays celebrate the quiet ritual of knitting as a container for grief, memory, love, and connection.

Whether you knit every day or simply love a beautifully told story, this is a book you’ll want to linger with — much like a slow afternoon browse along the Cove.

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