Product Review: Storybook Knits Are Joyful Works of Art

Stacy London, the diva stylist on The Learning Channel's "What Not to Wear" would be absolutely appalled to know that one thing I can't live without are my Storybook Knit sweaters. She would demand that I instantly throw the supposedly offensive garments in her infamous garbage can. Sorry, Stacy, I can't do that. Both my grandson and I love these fanciful sweaters.

Novelty sweaters are fun to wear and they look great when casually paired with jeans. Designed by Jamie Gries, these stunning sweaters are actually wearable pieces of art that tell a story; hence their name of Storybook Knits.

After graduation, Jamie went to work for designer Lina Lee. Although she enjoyed her experience there, by 1988 she was ready to fulfill her life long dream of owning her own store. She opened an exclusive sweater store in Kennebunkport, Maine where she sold one-of-a-kind sweaters. The garments were extremely popular not only in the United States but also abroad.

Jamie tells the story of how "people used to light up when they would find the perfect sweater that related to them in some way." She liked the feeling that such experiences awarded her and wanted to expand it even more. At just about the same time Home Shopping Network was looking for new vendors. HSN met Jamie and, as they say, the rest is history.

I made my first Storybook Knit purchase about eight years ago, just before I went in for cancer surgery. The sweater I chose was that of a little boy and girl playing in the yard. The little girl was perched on a blanket, pouring tea for her dolls. The little boy was climbing a tree to get his kite. The scene reminded me so much of my children that I could not resist the purchase.

To make a long story short, I wore the sweater the day of my surgery as a way of having my children, who were 2000 miles away, with me. It kept me calm and focused as the surgeon carved away more and more of my face. As silly as it may sound, I think that sweater brought me good luck. Rather than losing my eyesight or ending up with a huge scar on my face, the doctor was able to get all of the cancer and my plastic surgeon left a scar barely visible to the naked eye.