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Book Review: On Skein of Death

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I’m not normally a mystery reader but if you add a knitting-related hook I can be persuaded.

On Skein of Death by Allie Pleiter takes place in Collinstown, Maryland, where Libby Beckett has just opened her dream yarn shop called Y.A.R.N. (she says it stands for “you’re absolutely ready now” but she invites customers to add their own acronyms).

She’s excited to welcome up-and-coming knitwear designer Perle Lonager to her shop for a weekend of knitting events, and her handsome beau Henrik coming along just adds to the fun. The town is even planning a yarn day to coincide with the events, where Perle is going to launch a new line of knitting needles.

Instead she’s found strangled by a skein of red yarn before her public lecture was set to begin, setting off a mystery that could put the future of the yarn shop at stake.

The author is both an expert knitter and a mystery writing pro, with more than 50 novels published, so you don’t have to worry that the knitting lingo is going to seem forced (or, worse, be incorrect).

I won’t reveal more but it’s a pretty quick and fun read for those who like knitting and cozy mysteries. It’s a fun one for summer (it looks from Amazon like it will be a series, too!) and available now!

About the book: 302 pages, mass-market paperback. Published 2021 by Berkley Prime Crime.

Comments

  1. Thanks for the kind words! Yes, it will be a series, with KNIT OR DYE TRYING releasing in February. By the way, there’s a full knitting pattern for a the dog sweater mentioned in the story at the back of the book (or via pdf if you get the audiobook version). I’m glad you enjoyed it!

Have you read?

Stitch a Play Mat with a Gorgeous Butterfly

The butterfly on this piece — the Owl Butterfly Playmat by Sophie’s Stitches — caught my eye before I even knew what the project was. Now that I’ve give it a closer look I’m still not 100 percent sure what it is meant to be for, but I still love it. 

I think it’s maybe to give you a flat surface to roll dice or play cards on, but there are no images of the project in use so I’m just speculating on that. If you know what it is, be sure to let me know!

What it physically is is a worsted weight mat (the sample is worked in cotton) that measures 14 by 24 inches, or 35.5 by 61 cm. The impression I get from the pattern notes and the photos is that you knit the rectangle plain and the butterfly is stitched on after using duplicate stitch, which is provided as a chart. 

Of course you could choose to knit some of the colorwork as you go, either using stranded knitting or intarsia techniques, or maybe some of both. It just looks like a lot of duplicate stitch (and it is!) so knowing me if I were making this project I’d probably try to knit some of it instead of stitching it all. 

The pattern also suggests that you can knit a second plain mat to sew on the back and cover up all the yarn ends, as well as making the mat thicker and a little more stable. There’s also a photo that shows fabric sewn to the back, which is also a good option if you have some fabric that has a bit of grip. 

I like the graphic on this one enough I might just make it as a table pad for our entry way table. You can always make the mat part a different dimension, just make sure you’re centering the image if you do. 

You can find this pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Sophie’s Stitches]