I was drawn to this book because I love knitting! 
A great bunch of characters in and around the knitting shop.
I liked how supportive they are as a family.

Loved it! Dee is thrown from her corporate life into a gentle rural world centred around knitting. I loved the humour, the warmth, the romance and the recognition if what is really important in life. 
Imagine being cuddled up into your most snuggly oversized and comfortable jumper. That's what this book feels like. Read it.

I love a book that gets you involved in the plot from the word go! An emergency text message from a family member always sounds alarm bells but when it turns out that your brother has broken both wrists just by hanging bunting you just have to roll your eyes and imagine your own brother doing something just as daft.






The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is a charming story of family, love and community. There's an underlying story which is really quite sad, which I won't reveal ( no spoilers here ), but it plays a crucial part in the making of this fantastic read. 






Poor Dee is unduly sacked from her job, which is completely uncalled for in my opinion, and she spirals into a state of disarray and loss. Having previously been attached to her phone by the hip, there is suddenly oodles more time in her life. But what does she do with it? Her powers of persuasion come in handy as she ropes in various friends - ex enemies and family into helping a friend in need. But like any good story line it doesn't run smoothly.






The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is a thoroughly enjoyable read which is really hard to put down from the off set. The characters are completely believable and they suit the story perfectly. Admittedly you'll want to clip JP round the ear at some points but that's what brothers are for. 






This is a fab read for anyone who loves knitting or just loves a great book. Well done Poppy on an amazing plot!

I read this book whilst I was on holiday and absolutely loved it.  It has made me come back and getting out the knitting needles again.

This is the sort of book you want to read when you'd like a few happy hours of enjoying a good story which makes you smile.  Dolan has created a nice little world with Dee and JP and the knitting store. So often books with knitting are cozies or about women who find themselves as a group but this is a bit different.  Dee starts a knitting initiative to make hats for babies and ropes in her nemesis Ben, who insists he's not behind her termination from her job. She also starts down the path of social media and digital marketing.  There's some romance but there's also a good tale of brothers and sisters.  I'd not read Dolan before so thanks much to Netgalley for the arc.  You will like this if you'd like a book that does have some ups and downs for the characters but is suffused with happiness.

As soon as I saw the cover for this book I knew this was a must read! The cover is bold and really eye catching and makes you want to pick up the book and read it. The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is based on knitting and I really found the whole story something different from the normal sort of stories I have read before. 
The characters are very easy to warm to and I really enjoyed the character ''Dee's'' story.  When we first meet her she is a very busy workaholic that doesn't seem to have any social time to herself, then we see her go through a change and she spends more time with her family and friends and she really becomes a new woman.  I loved how kind and caring she is and how much she turned her brothers business around.
The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is really fresh and modern and very enjoyable.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I was sorry when it came to an end. There's a romance (more than one actually), but it doesn't dominate the story, which is about the main character, Dee, figuring out what makes her happy. Nothing new about that perhaps, but combined with the other strands of knitting, old friends, new friends, business, sibling relationships, and a very worthy campaign to knit tiny hats for premature babies, makes this an absorbing story. Dee is very likeable, even if she does like to be in the driving seat. I liked all the supporting characters, and I particularly enjoyed all the creative ideas.

I received this book free from Net Galley to review. 
I have never read anything by Poppy Dolan before, but am looking forward to reading more by her in the future. 
This was an easy read, the characters were all enjoyable.

I’d never read anything by Poppy Dolan before so discovering her writing was such a nice surprise when I was sent a copy of this book.
‘The Wooly Hat Knitting Club’ is a title which is as gentle as the story itself - a group of people come together to knit for charity and help JP Blackthorn keep his business going, after he has broken both wrists.

Delilah Blackthorn, Dee to friends and family, is a highly-motivated, intelligent business woman, and as good as she is in high stakes deals, the rest of her life falls to the wayside. After being unceremoniously fired she is forced to move in with JP and try to start her life again.

The characters in this novel bring you nothing but joy - there is nothing to offend and everyone gets what they deserve in the end, whether it be good or bad. We get a glimpse into JP’s past and his struggles, but more importantly, it’s easy to see his future at the end of the novel: a happy relationship with the girl next door. Every characters plays their part, developed enough so they all have unique personalities, enough variety not to get bored.

Anyone who works in marketing or digital content will be on familiar ground with all the jargon that Dolan throws into her book. It feels very surreal to read books that incorporate that kind of thing, mention Brexit and such contemporary things; It all feels very…modern. I love it - it makes a simple story that has been told many times before different and relatable. I thought using vlogging and social media was a very clever and accurate way of doing what needed to be done, and it’s probably something we’ll see a lot more of in writing.

If you’re looking for an easy book to read, with great characters and fully developed story, please read ‘The Wooly Hat Knitting Club’!

What a fabulous knit-tastic story and was a joy to read.  Poppy Dolan has created the most delightful, charming, romcom that has left me with a wonderful warm cosy feeling.  I want to wrap myself up in a rainbow coloured knitted blanket and read it all over again with a cuppa.  This is my first introduction to the works of Poppy Dolan and I have absolutely no idea why it's taken me so long to read her work, such a gem of a writer.

Delilah (Dee) is a workaholic she thrives on the buzz surrounded by her very busy scheduling and fits in with the city life of London.  However, when her younger brother, JP, sends a cry for help she has no hesitation of rushing to his needs.  I loved this about Dee, even though she was so focused with her work her family means everything to her especially her brother who had suffered with his health in the past.  Dee finds JP with two plaster casts on his arms after breaking his wrists.  As he's totally immobilised Dee steps in and helps him run the knitting shop.  However, during her call of family need Dee is unceremoniously fired from her prestige job.  Dejected and totally mystified by this she returns back to the knitting shop pulling all her emotions into helping move JP's knitting shop into the crafting stratosphere.  One of the highlights to the knitting shop is the great blog that JP set up which had a fabulous topical catchy name.  JP was one of few male knitters and the crafting universe loved him. Following a chance encounter with one of Dee's old school friends, Becky, who had recently given birth prematurely to a little boy, Dee quickly realised that JP and his friends could help out her little baby boy by knitting tiny little hats for him.  Tiny little knitted parcels soon started flocking into the shop overwhelming Dee with the generosity of the crafters.  What started off as a small act of kindness spirals into an inspirational challenge of making more hats to widen this wonderful gesture to help more premature babies in need.

We follow Dee, JP and the ever growing circle of friends bringing this challenge into fruition.  Obstacles are a plenty but the knitters will not give up.

Dee also hopes to get her career back on the right footing but helping her brother and the premature babies brings a different perspective to her life.  What was once the thrill of the chase of her working life doesn't look quite as appealing anymore.

A gorgeous romcom that I simply didn't want to end.  I feel quite uplifted and invigorated and want to cosy up with wonderful colours and textures.  The perfect book to read on a cold day which will soon envelope you in a cosy cuddle of warmth.

A story with a difference. Some romance, some mystery, friendships, relationships all entwined and at a gentle pace. An effortless book to read.

I hate this ending and it's really hard to go into what I hate stories (including movies) that have this type of ending without spoiling. I have seen Hallmark give me these endings so many times that I've been burned out on them.

I really enjoyed this book, which bought the old fashioned craft of knitting into the modern era with technology. Sensitive and informative.

ARC Reviews

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review

The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is the first book by Poppy Dolan I've read. It's a tender story about Delilah, a woman who has forgotten the importance of family and friends, lost in a world of work. Delilah's story is worked through her interactions with Becky, an old and forgotten friend with a premature baby, JP, her brother, the former lawyer turned knitter, Ben her co-worker, and the delightful supporting cast of Patti, Mags, and Stan.

It's a thoughtful and engaging story, through Delilah we explore what it means to slowly replace a set of priorities with others, to value love and friendships, to misread and make situations worse, and to resolve problems borne from false assumptions. The story is anchored by a knitting store and a crafting club. I am a knitter and I found the descriptions of crafting and the craft community very compelling, I would expect that either the author is one, or she did extensive research to make her book credible.

Two things the reader should know about this book. First, it's very English. It's set in England and that's very reasonable, but the book has quite a lot of English-isms in it, enough that I would expect some American readers to potentially have to Google that. Some of the phrases, some of the places they referred to (not the Tower Bridge but ASOS) might make it a bit harder. I don't think this is a problem exactly, reading is a way we can all travel and learn, but it is something that I would highlight so the reader knows to keep a Google search window open.

Second, the way the story predominantly moves forward is through Delilah's thoughts. Not thoughts exactly, but a recount of what happened. This is opposed to books that move forward through a scene with dialog and then reflection by one or more of the characters on what happened. I have to admit that this is what I am more used to, and what I like about the dialog scene with emotional reflection gives me a richer connection to the characters. Their thoughts become more worked out through the context of the scene. It's not that we don't see Delilah grow, but just that it sometimes feels more distanced than I would prefer.

Dee-- or Delilah if you aren't her friend thankyouverymuch-- is a classic workaholic. She's good at what she does, and she crams work into nearly every hour of every day. But when her little brother breaks his wrists and needs help running his knitting shop, Dee's life starts to change. 

The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is a delightful easy-to-read romance novel which, while light on the actual romance, is a funny, enjoyable read. While I wish there had been more time devoted to romantic relationships, I do love the relationships that the book did focus on. Dee is very close with her brother, and I loved seeing their relationship grow and develop. Another relationship that was fun to see was the one between Dee and her highschool mate. How can I complain that time was devoted a female friendship instead of a romantic relationship, when most books are the opposite? 

The Woolly Hat Knitting Club is very much a book of the now. I rarely read recently published books; most of the books I read wisely avoid any mention of technology in order not to age the book. This novel was the exact opposite, reveling in all of the minute things that make 2017 2017. While it was fun to read something that referenced very relevant things-- such as Instagram and Facebook live videos-- it did make me worry about the shelf life of the story. In ten years, will people remember the pink hats women wore while marching in protest of the Trump presidency? Will people know what Facebook live videos are? It feels almost disingenuous to write a story without reference to the ever-present technology in our lives, but this novel sacrifices some timeless quality by doing so. 

Dee is a feisty independent business woman I instantly fell in love with. Her actions, both good and bad, made sense, because I felt like I understand who she as a character was, which takes talent. I laughed out loud several times while reading this novel and if that isn't a sign of a funny book then I don't know what is. 

Overall, this is a fun, light hearted romance novel. While I did want more of the actual romance, I loved reading this novel. It was also very British and while some of the idioms went over my head, I felt very cool when I understand what they meant when they were 'chuffed' or used other British slang that I've picked up on YouTube.

A fairly interesting book, although a bit young in manner for me. Since I am in my early fifties, a lot of what Dee is going through seems a bit silly and unimportant, and made me skim a bit. The writing is fun though, and many of the concepts are new and a different play on the expected gender roles. Would recommend, especially if you were in your 20s.

One of the best romance/women's fiction novels I've read on a while. There are a lot of women's novels centering on knitting right now, but I like this one because it's not from the perspective of a knitter. I don't knit, either, and sometimes the jargon is distracting. I can certainly identify with the descriptions of the textures and colors, and the warm fuzzies one gets in a well-designed craft store. The characers are realistic and the situations feel organic, not contrived. The romance is sweet, too, and gratifying even without "sex" scenes. Will seek out this author again.