We’re celebrating the release of Sadie Hartwell’s Yarned and Dangerous. So Wickeds, here’s a question for you. Do you knit? If yes, tell us why. If no, have you ever tried? Done it? Success or no? What were the results?

Sherry: My mom had someone give my sister and I knitting lessons once upon a time. For years I moved the two needles with the twenty rows of not-so-neatly knitted pink yarn attached around the country with me. I don’t think I ever made it beyond knit to purl. I admire the dedication and concentration it takes to knit. Who knows maybe some day I’ll give it another try.

Liz: I’m hopeless at stuff like this. My mother had tried to teach me to sew and crochet, but I really just wanted her to leave me alone so I could read…

Julie: I do indeed knit. My grandmother taught me, and I’ve kept it up. In fact, I have rediscovered it lately–it is meditative. I have been mostly tackling hats and socks lately–quick projects. But I think I may work on a sweater for one of the nieces. PS, Sherry, we have a couple of trips coming up. Maybe I’ll teach you how to knit at LCC.

Jessie: I am a passionate knitter! I agree with Julie about its meditative properties. I keep a ball of yarn that I like the feel of and a pair of needles on my desk and whenever I get stuck whilst writing I just knit back and forth, making nothing at all. Something about it unlocks my brain. I also love how it is an entirely different sort of creative pursuit than writing and yet the two practices have so much in common. Each is built on one small unit, a stitch or a word, placed with other and another and another until you have created something wonderful to share.

Barb: My paternal grandmother was a fabulous knitter. I still have some of the things she made me, 35+ years after her death. She tried to teach me, but I have the manual dexterity of the six-fingered sloth. (They probably have great manual dexterity–but with six fingers. Which is how I type.) My sister-in-law, Ann Ross, however, is a tremendous knitter. She teaches and is an all-around knitting maven at GoshYarnIt, a yarn boutique in Kingston, PA. (She took these beautiful photos.) Ann coached me enough that I could put a knitting clue in “Bread Baby,” my Agatha-nominated short story. Julia knits in the next Maine Clambake Mystery, Fogged Inn, but not with good results, I’m afraid.

Edith: I learned to knit in high school. And promptly got kicked out of senior biology for knitting in class (there was some attitude attached to it, you can be sure). In the winter I always have a longing to knit, but since I only pick it up every five years or so, I kind of have to reteach myself. Made a couple of sweaters with spectacularly long sleeves for my sons when they were younger, and realized I really should just stick to scarves. I am a much better seamstress, though, in my defense!

Readers: Do you knit, crochet, needlepoint, sew? Do you like mysteries that incorporate these skills?