Knit Two

"It's the friends you can call up at 4 AM that matter."
~Marlene Dietrich

Don't worry, friends, it's unlikely that I'll actually call you at 4 AM. I chose this quote because it dramatizes the importance of having good friendships, a central theme in Kate Jacob's new novel, Knit Two, and also because in the book friends do call each other at all hours of the day and night; they are truly always available for each other. Knit Two is the sequel to the novel The Friday Night Knitting Club by Kate Jacobs. Last month, I was fortunate to post an exclusive interview with this very gracious author, who has just come out with her new novel. Knit Two celebrates something near and dear to the hearts of girls and women, friendship. True friendship. (The fairer sex is also the more social sex. Or at least we approach friendship and bonding differently than males.) Reading Knit Two made me think about the role of friendship in my own life, and recall the friends I've had over the years, starting in the second grade with my first best friend, Patricia. She was Argentinian with red hair and green eyes. We met while looking into the window of a pet shop, both admiring the irresistible baby rabbits, chinchillas, and kittens for sale. After that meeting, we walked home from school together daily and became inseparable best friends. Gradually, I got to know her family and she got to know mine. Since Patricia, I've had numerous best friends over the years, as well as many other good friends, and place a high value on friendship.

In Knit Two, the characters from The Friday Night Knitting Club--Dakota, Anita, Catherine, KC, Peri, Lucie, Darwin, and others--form new bonds as they continue to see each other, knit, and share experiences that bring them closer to each other, including a trip to Italy for some of them. Men are not completely overlooked in Knit Two; there's a concerned father, a wedding in the works, a passionate romance, as well as male-female platonic friendships. But the book does center more on women, and their many roles are explored: friend, businesswoman, wife, daughter, mother, and sister. Knit Two encourages girls and women to bond together, and also to follow their individual dreams and ambitions.

Knit Two is the perfect contemporary novel to get cozy with on a cool night, a cup of steaming tea or cider by your side, with an afghan wrapped around you. Preferably hand-knitted.