A FRIENDSHIP JOURNEY — A REVIEW

In the sequel to The Friday Night Knitting Club, Knit Two picks up a few years after the first story ends.

Georgia, the owner of the Walker and Daughter Knitting shop, who died in the first book, is a big part of this tale. Her presence continues in the minds and hearts of those left behind: the group of friends who comprised the knitting club. Women of all ages from a variety of backgrounds and experiences, they show us bits and pieces of who they are, moving ahead.

Dakota, as Georgia’s daughter and co-owner of the shop, is a freshman at NYU. There she is, trying to figure out who she is and what she wants, and whether or not she will forever be tied to the shop; will she continue her mother’s dream, or will she find out what the shop means to her in the present?

What I enjoyed most about this story was the wide age-range of the characters, from Anita, a seventy-something woman on down to the teenaged Dakota. In between are the forty-somethings and the thirty-somethings, proving once again that age is not what defines us. Even those who didn’t knit in the first book are now finding their own pace, while discovering other things that connect them to one another.

A trip to Italy brings together a group of people joined by business, but in the end, something further connects them. What is Anita’s big secret, and what is the meaning behind the mysterious postcards she receives? How does Catherine’s telephone connection to a man named Marco—an Italian winemaker—lead them all to the answers one of them has pursued? And what seemingly tragic event forms the basis for a whole new definition for the shop and for each of them? There were some predictable parts to the story, but I enjoyed how everything came together in the end. In the final section, recipes and knitting patterns are brought out for the reader. A book that knitters will enjoy, it also offers the reader a feel-good peek into the world of friendships between women, in glorious settings, from Manhattan to Italy. Four stars.