The Princess & the Purl: Ply the First There was once a prince–nice enough, if not exactly charming–who was in need of a wife. As he was both a prince (as I have said) and nice enough (as I have also said), more than a few would-be brides came to the palace to present themselves…

For the first part of the story, click here The wolf crept across the lawn until he reached the first workshop. Inside, Wilma placidly clicked her needles over the left front of a cabled cardigan. The wolf licked his lips and tapped on the front door. “Not now,” said Wilma. “I’m counting.” “Little pig!” shouted…

Once upon a time there were three pigs–siblings, as it happened–who went forth from the security of their mother’s straw-filled pen to seek their fortunes. The first little pig, Wilma, was elegant and neat as a new pin. She loved arranging things tidily in rows: shoes, books, other pigs. She loved pleasant journeys that began…

Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter’s life. I will have you know, ladies and gentleman, that my life–the life of the professional knitter–is not the yarn-addled conga line of joy you perhaps envision. True, I am not digging ditches in the pouring…

Continued from Jack and the Yarnstalk: A Slightly Longer Yarn Jack proudly presented his mother with the stolen sheep. Her delight was, at best, moderate. “She’s a nice enough little thing,” said his mother. “But we have no ram, and I have no spinning wheel; so I shall sell her come next market day and she…

In a land far away, in tumbledown shack, lived a poor, sad mother and her young son, Jack. Jack’s mother was one of those souls who are born, so it seems, to be miserable. Her husband was long gone–possibly to the next world or possibly to the next village, out of reach in either case.…

Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter’s life. Once upon a time there was a little girl who was called Goldilocks. Mind you, her birth certificate said Charlene; but as a mere tot she grew so enamored of her long, curly yellow hair…

Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter’s life. If you are of a romantic turn of mind (I am) and a history buff (ditto), at some time in your armchair travels back in time you will have encountered an obsolete variety of social…

Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter’s life. “Now then, Little Red Knitting Hood,” said Mother, “You must be a brave girl and take this basket of beautiful yarn to your grandmother who lives on the other side of the forest. Alas, she…

Writer, illustrator, and knitter Franklin Habit joins us for his monthly column featuring humor and insights into a yarncrafter’s life. I was sitting in an airline lounge, waiting for a flight home from a teaching trip, when a complete stranger got up from his laptop and gin and came over to look at my knitting.…