Review: The Great Christmas Knit Off by Alexandra Brown

Title/Author: The Great Christmas Knit off by Alexandra Brown

Published by: HarperCollins UK  

Price & Availability: RRP £6.99  
£5.24 paperback /  £1.99 EBook

My Rating: 5/5


THE BLURB:

Heartbroken after being jilted at the altar, Sybil has been saved from despair by her knitting obsession and now her home is filled to bursting with tea cosies, bobble hats, and jumpers. But, after discovering that she may have perpetrated the cock-up of the century at work, Sybil decides to make a hasty exit and, just weeks before Christmas, runs away to the picturesque village of Tindledale.

There, Sybil discovers Hettie’s House of Haberdashery, an emporium dedicated to the world of knitting and needle craft. But Hettie, the outspoken octogenarian owner, is struggling and now the shop is due for closure. And when Hettie decides that Sybil’s wonderfully wacky Christmas jumpers are just the thing to add a bit of excitement to her window display, something miraculous starts to happen...

MY OPINION:

The second I saw the title of this book I wanted to read it... for two reasons; 1) It's about knitting and 2) its by Alexandra Brown! I was not disappointed at all. In fact I felt so inspired by this story that it has really given me some hope for my future. You see I grew up as part of a village in the countryside and before I was 16 years old, I became separated from the country and had to become a city lass. Well, Sybil is the opposite, she's a city girl, working for the government department that sorts out benefit claims... but something went horribly wrong... like £££thousands of pounds worth of wrong and Sybil panics. She decides the only thing to do is head to Tindledale and spend a weekend with her friend. So off she goes on a train to Tindledale.

To me, Tindledale is a magic village (Just wish it was so magically that it would let me visit! haha), because Sybil falls in love with Tindledale, and Tindledale and it's residents falls in love with her... in more ways than one. But hold up, I'm getting ahead of myself here.

So Sybil's on the train and spots a dishy guy when her dog makes his presence known to him. Next thing she knows she's waking up having missed her train stop. Grabbing her newspaper and luggage she heads off the train in the dark in search for Tindledale... a whole lot of distance to go ... in the SNOW!

When she reaches Tindledale, the lights are out... there's been a power cut and soon the villagers offer her hope and a bed for the night at the local B&B. I love the owner of the B&B as he makes his entrance complete with glittery eyelashes. He helps Sybil find her way again in life and around the village.

Another character I adore and will continue to adore her and that is Hettie. She owns the haberdashery store and like me, Sybil is enchanted by the little knitting shop - but all the faded wool is on show for sale, whilst she has the good stuff hidden in the store cupboard. Hettie takes Sybil to her heart and allows Sybil to work her magic on transforming the store and turning it around financially as well as socially. Soon enough Hettie and Sybil are hosting little afternoon Knit & Chats. More and more villagers get involved and they come in handy when a surprising request for knitted jumpers from tourists comes in... but with a festive deadline, and only a few knitters can they make the deadline?

Add to the knit off the fact that there is a dishy doc that Sybil meets ... hasn't she seen him somewhere before? Hmmm, well they struggle to get 2 minutes to themselves because whenever they do, the other villagers want to discuss their ailments. Will they ever have time to themselves or will the spark between them fizzle out before it's even got burning properly?


I loved reading it so much that it inspired me to have a knit off of my own, and I happened to knit this little fella.

 

Alexandra has put in the back of the book Sybils Christmas pud knitting know-how. She's running a competition for all knitters out there to knit a pud and share with her. Here's the details;