"A breeze ruffled the neat hedges of Privet Drive, which lay silent and tidy under the inky sky, the very last place you would expect astonishing things to happen. Harry Potter rolled over inside his blankets without waking up. One small hand closed on the letter beside him and he slept on, not knowing he was special, not knowing he was famous, not knowing he would be woken in a few hours' time by Mrs. Dursley's scream as she opened the front door to put out the milk bottles, nor that he would spend the next few weeks being prodded and pinched by his cousin Dudley...He couldn't know that at this very moment, people meeting in secret all over the country were holding up their glasses and saying in hushed voices: "To Harry Potter - the boy who lived!"
— J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone)

"...the number one reason knitters knit is because they are so smart that they need knitting to make boring things interesting. Knitters are so compellingly clever that they simply can't tolerate boredom. It takes more to engage and entertain this kind of human, and they need an outlet or they get into trouble.

"...knitters just can't watch TV without doing something else. Knitters just can't wait in line, knitters just can't sit waiting at the doctor's office. Knitters need knitting to add a layer of interest in other, less constructive ways."
— Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

"Really, all you need to become a good knitter are wool, needles, hands, and slightly below-average intelligence. Of course superior intelligence, such as yours and mine, is an advantage."
— Elizabeth Zimmermann (Knitting Without Tears: Basic Techniques and Easy-to-Follow Directions for Garments to Fit All Sizes)

"Letting go is the lesson. Letting go is always the lesson. Have you ever noticed how much of our agony is all tied up with craving and loss?"
— Susan Gordon Lydon (The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice)

"And in the act of making things, just by living their daily lives, they also make history.

Knitting is clothing made in spare moments, or round the fire, whenever women gathered together... It's something to celebrate-clothes made in love and service, something women have always done."
— Anne Bartlett (Knitting: A Novel)

""It's much easier than I thought it would be."
"Most things in knitting are, really.""
— Gil McNeil (The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club)

"... everyone has to knit when they're here. ... But not every person has to use yarn."
— Kate Jacobs

"The information is now in your hands for you to enjoy in the way that suits you best. Learn it all, or learn a little -- the choice is yours. Have fun."
— Montse Stanley

"Given good yarn, good workmanship, and good care, a knitted shawl and outlive its knitter, providing warmth and pleasure to several generations of family and friends."
— Martha Waterman

"Old Flossie settle down on the other side of What-the-Dickens and dragged some handiwork out of a sack. She armed herself with two thorns shaped into knitting needles. A wodge of curlicued metallic scrubbing pad supplied the threat. 'I knit handcuffs as a hobby,' explained Old Flossie happily, and set to work. 'Idle hands get up to no good, so I like to be prepared in case I meet up with any idle hands.'"
— Gregory Maguire (What-the-Dickens: The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy)

"Most [Shetland patterns] are fairly small and simple, as textile patterns go. Almost all are symmetrical, with eight smaller parts. As a result, most are geometric rather than representational. ...
One last feature, less easy to define but easy enough to recognise ... is the liking for little motifs and for a pattern to be 'finished'. "
— Sheila McGregor (Traditional Fair Isle Knitting)