From the Introduction:
“Many years ago, I managed a small yarn shop in the West Village of New York City. I often found a knitter leaning against the gate, waiting for me to open. Sometimes they were waiting to shop, but nine times out of ten, it was a knitter who had run into problems with their project and had that ‘please help me’ face. One Saturday afternoon, I arrived to find the same young woman I had helped the previous two Saturdays. She was working her way through her very first basketweave scarf, and it was not going well. But this time, this one special time, it was different. I don’t know what got into me, but I turned to her and asked the most important question I’ve ever asked: ‘Do you want me to fix it, or would you like me to teach you how to fix it?'”
Patty Lyons’ Knitting ER: A Step-by-Step Guide to Fixing Your Knits, Before and After Bind-Off
It’s funny how one simple question can change your life.
Twenty years ago, when I asked that customer, “Would you like me to teach you how to fix it?” I had no idea it would eventually lead to a 208-page book dedicated to helping knitters fix just about every mistake I could fit between two covers.
When I think about it, Patty Lyons’ Knitting ER wasn’t written over the last year or two. It was written over the last twenty years, just not on paper.
Before There Was Knitting ER
Twenty years ago, my career looked very different. I was a Broadway stage manager who happened to be obsessed with knitting. Stage managers spend their lives preventing disasters and solving them when they happen. Perhaps that was a predictor of my knitting journey.
In 2006, while on the first national tour of Jersey Boys, I made a seemingly nutty decision: I wanted to leave theatre and somehow make yarn my full-time career.
My first, not-so-brilliant plan was to buy a yarn shop. For many reasons, this did not end up being a good idea. But I did commit to working in that very shop for a year, and it turned out to be one of the best decisions I ever made.
That yarn shop became my classroom, and boy, did I have a lot to learn.
The Birth of Knitting ER
Every day, knitters brought me their projects and asked some version of the same question: “Can this be fixed?”
To be honest, I didn’t always know how to fix it, but I was too embarrassed to admit it. (I shouldn’t have been, but I didn’t know that then.) So I would take the project home and try to recreate the problem so I could figure out what happened and how to fix it.
That’s when I started developing the very first class I would ever teach: Knitting ER. It was a basic fix-it class, and it would eventually become the first two chapters of this new book.
Helping knitters fix mistakes also helped me explain the “why.” I developed my love of figuring out how stitches were built and why things go horribly wrong. And, perhaps more importantly, the more mistakes I made, the better I got at fixing them.
My Best Teachers Were My Mistakes
Over the next seven years, working in two different yarn shops, my knitting friends and I learned together.
I tackled increasingly complicated projects and messed up a lot of them. I wasn’t becoming an expert because I never made mistakes. I was becoming an expert because I made so many of them.
Enter Swatchzilla and Frankenswatch
Around 2010, I was asked to teach at the very first Vogue Knitting Live in NYC, and two very important teaching assistants entered my life: Swatchzilla and Frankenswatch. Both were named by my friend Zontee, and they are with me to this day.
They’ve traveled with me everywhere, from local yarn stores to Vogue Knitting Live, Stitches, and countless knitting events over the years.
Always Learning
As the years went by, I continued expanding my classes. I developed new workshops, including what would eventually become Patty Lyons’ Knitting Bag of Tricks. That class ultimately grew into my first book in 2022, followed by the companion workbook in 2024 that turned the book into a hands-on knitting class.
But throughout all those years, I still made mistakes, and I loved fixing them.
In 2013, I filmed my first Knitting ER class. In 2014, I filmed the Advanced Fixes class. But there was still so much to learn. I continued to expand my knitting repair skills, and from 2015 to the present day, I have taught classes on repairing mistakes in cables, lace, and brioche, as well as fixing holes in knitting.
With every new technique I learned, another chapter of this book was quietly being written in my head. I just didn’t know it yet.
The Book I Always Wanted to Write
Even while writing Knitting Bag of Tricks, I knew there was another book waiting. Because underneath all the techniques, all the tricks, and all the classes was one goal: helping knitters feel confident.
I’ve taught thousands of knitters over the years, and I’ve seen how the fear of making mistakes can stop a knitter in their tracks. It can stop knitters from trying new things, and (I speak from experience) it can stop a knitter from finishing a project they really wanted to finish.
I wanted to write a book that would replace fear with confidence. One that says, “You’ve got this.” Because almost everything in knitting can be fixed, and so many fixes are secretly cover-ups.
More Than a Book
One thing I know from teaching is that sometimes seeing a repair happen makes all the difference. That’s why Patty Lyons’ Knitting ER includes a QR code linking to 74 video tutorials. At the end of the book, you’ll find a list of materials and swatches you can knit, along with a QR code to all the videos. That way, you can watch me demonstrate the repair in the silent videos and follow along with the steps in the book.
Or better yet, cast on and try it yourself. It’s the closest thing I could come to bringing one of my classes right into the pages of the book.
I Can’t Wait to Share It
I’m really proud of this book and hope it gives you the confidence to tackle new projects. Besides, if you do make a mistake, we can fix it together.
Pre-orders are now open! If you pre-order the book, you’ll also receive some special goodies as a thank-you for supporting it before publication. You can order directly from me, pre-order for pick up at Rhinebeck, or from Amazon and upload your receipt. I can’t wait for you to get your hands on Patty Lyons’ Knitting ER and discover just how fixable knitting really is.
