It's well-known that I am not crafty. I cannot sew; I do not scrapbook. (And, I never knew that scrapbook could be used as a verb until recently.) Unlike Martha Stewart and her many minions, I can't make lovely centerpieces from pine cones, autumnal leaves, and a few well-placed twigs.

I can't do anything with frosting, (my cakes are famously embarrassing). Every time I watch one of those television shows where someone is off building replicas of the Eiffel Tower or the Empire State Building, I gasp with admiration and then I switch the channel. I just feel guilty that I can't do any of this.

And, I cannot knit.

A few years ago, I had an assistant who could not only knit, she could also quilt. It was amazing stuff. Not an office baby shower went by that she didn't bring in some gorgeous blanket that everyone would ooo and ahh over. She hailed from the mid-west and, back in her parents' home, there was an entire quilting room, complete with some sort of frame from which quilts somehow sprung.

All this really intimidates me, so it was kind of a surprise when I found myself seeking out a book just like THE SWEETHEART'S' KNITTING CLUB by Lori Wilde. Because I might be the only person left in the USA who doesn't know how to use a knitting needle. Even hipsters in trendy restaurants are all wielding knitting needles like pros.

But what I love about THE SWEETHEARTS' KNITTING CLUB (on sale 11/24/09) is its heroine has a secret: she can't knit. So I relate to her in a big way.

This is the start of a marvelous new series--the next is called THE TRUE LOVE QUILTING CLUB (April 2010) and the next has to do with cookies. Now cookies, that's something I can do!