The Princess of Needles may be either male or female. She (or he) is someone for whom you knit, and who appreciates your ingenuity in knitting above all other aspects.

The Princess of Needles is adventurous in her expression of self. Given the opportunity to be the only kid on the block who has a fuzzy lime-and-green striped sweater, or a hat shaped like a cocktail olive, she will wear it proudly and with panache. Her raiment may toe the line between silly and stylish, but she wants to be involved in the choosing of the materials and patterns, and wants changes made here and there to tailor things to her individuality.

If you want to knit something that you doubt many people will dare to wear, be assured that the Princess of Needles will be the happy recipient waiting in the wings.

Need a sweater made of mint dental floss? Old telephone cords? Wads of gum? The Prince of Needles will be happy to make you one, and very proudly call it couture. And charge you four hundred dollars for it.

For the Prince of Needles, knitting is about doing what hasn’t been done before – as long as it’s himself who is doing it, and even more importantly, getting the credit for it. Quality, practicality – that’s for drones! And if at the end of the Craft Fair, all of the Prince of Needles’ items still remain unbought (even though he had the special tags made, with his “logo” sewn into each of them, so people would know they were authentic and not some knock-off) –- it’s merely because the masses are too bovine and blind to see what a pioneer they have in their midst. Because the only reason someone wouldn’t wear a poorly knitted leghorn hat constructed entirely from sandwich bags is because they don’t have the class to carry it off.

Right? Or are you just too jealous to admit that?

The Prince of Needles (be he male or female) may just be knitting on a brief stop before his next chosen medium of expression. He is “creative” to a fault and perhaps overestimates his trendsetting abilities. Tempered with skill and thought, some of his ideas might play out nicely, but it’s not likely that the Prince of Needles will have the follow-through to make that happen. He will be on to the next groundbreaking installment of his legendary body of work before the first one has seen the outside of his closet.

The Princess of Skeins is a person in your life, male or female, who is a grateful recipient of your knitted gifts, solely because they have come from your hands and mind.

Even when the size is a little off, they like the way it fits. Point out the almost-unnoticeable place where you made a tiny error in the pattern, and the Princess of Skeins will love it all the more for being in on the secret. The Princess of Skeins (again, whether male or female), makes a direct link between your knitting and your love. How could you not do the same for her?

When you see this Princess in a reading, be prepared to knit, and for your knitting to be received, with the heart. You can make a frivolous gift (how about a credit card “cozy”?) or something useful; it can be a project large in scope, or modest. It doesn’t matter, because the person for whom you are knitting is going to keep you foremost in mind. Do the same for them! Don’t worry about knitting to impress; knit to bring someone close.

The Prince of Skeins (who may be male or female) is the knitter -- or the embodiment of the tendency in each of us, as knitters – who wants to knit heirlooms, testaments, legacies. His sensitivity to the commemoration of events and people is subtle and on-target. Count on him to find the perfect stitch, colors and materials for any project, and to be able, in his knitting, to evoke occasions, loved ones, and memories as warmly as would a photograph or letter.

It’s an impressive talent, but one that carries a lot of expectations. When those expectations are not met – the Wedding Afghan will not be finished in time, the cardigan knit in secret does not match its wearer’s eyes as planned, the baby is allergic to purple – the Prince of Skeins is so prostrate over his own shortcomings that you wish he had just bought you something off the gift registry like everyone else.

The Prince of Skeins is here to remind you that it’s lovely to want to knit something that will be treasured for generations, but that it’s difficult to assign that significance to a thing upon creation and expect others to adhere to the claim. Treasures assert themselves over time. Some treasures were created to be such; some just are, by accident. Make it special, do your best, and of course, use the sentimental touches that make the project one of a kind; but know how, as well, to let it be what it is, and ultimately, to let it go.

The Princess of Gauge may be male or female, but is certainly a Knitter-In-Training. When you present a knitted gift to this Princess, she is appreciative, and looks at the item carefully, as if for clues.

“Oh,” she will say. “I see how you did this.” Over and over she will flip it, looking at decreases and buttonholes, heel flaps and cables. “How do you do that?” She will ask. What you’ve given her is more than just a hat or a pair of socks; she sees it as a map of the hours, the tricks, the actual steps required to make a ball of string into something useful and meaningful.

“And why did you do it like this?” she will ask. “Could it also have been done like this? How do you know when you’re at the part where you turn it?”

The Princess of Gauge is the person in your life for whom you knit, and whom you are eventually going to teach how to knit. She needs the challenge as much as she needs the socks or jacket. When the Princess of Gauge arises in your Tarot reading, she may just be ready for that first lesson.

What is the sound of one heel turning? The Prince of Gauge loves to turn heels – using any method he hasn’t tried previously – and his knitting basket is full of turned heels attached to no socks at all. He tries all the new cast-ons and bind-offs, too, and has stacks of swatches featuring every labyrinthine cable committed to paper. He likes the hard stuff. He likes to master it. Klein bottles, “illusion” knitting, Fibonacci sequences and the Golden Ratio are all worthy knitting pursuits to the Prince of Gauge. He seems disinterested in – and in fact a little disdainful of – fellow knitters’ plebeian concerns for color, “hand”, and this silly fishwifey need to actually finish stuff.

For the Prince of Gauge, knitting is a critical pursuit, sometimes divorced from issues of sensitivity and aesthetics. In group situations, he’s not very patient with beginners or with anyone who is stumped and frazzled by a set of instructions. This is a double-edged sword, because the Prince of Gauge has often mastered difficult techniques, and his know-how is useful and helpful to others.

If you can get past his caustic nature, the Prince of Gauge may be able to teach you something worth learning. Unless you can really wow him, he’ll not be very concerned with having you return the favor.

The Princess of Spindles is a person in your life, male or female, who needs something to be knitted for them. This individual is on the lookout for a practical gift, and something that will, in fact, help them to be more productive and prosperous.

Know someone starting out on a paper route? They may need a scarf or a hat. How about your favorite street musician? Fingerless gloves are great for brass and woodwind players in the cold months!

No embellishments are needed; the Princess of Spindles (again, male or female), simply requires knitting that offsets the pressures and effects of the world around her. She will use it as a tool to put her own projects in motion! So knit sturdy, knit solid, knit practical!

The Prince of Spindles -- who may be either male or female – is the most conservative knitter you know. He sometimes cannot see the garment for the gauge ; he is a measurer, re-measurer, and counter of rows and stitches, who may be inclined to elevate his fastidiousness to a rigid and stifling compulsion.

There are knitters who will return any skein of yarn that they have purchased and found a small break or knot in. Because of this rather dogmatic criteria, they may never know the joys of working with a handspun yarn, made, perhaps, in the mountains on the other side of the world; a handspun yarn that, when I buy it, usually ha s a break or knot or “flaw” in it. Irregularities are not a source of “character” to the Prince of Spindles; they are anathema.

Prince of Spindles knitters set out with a goal in mind: the creation of a meticulous work of “perfection” that casts a shadow even on the projects that they choose. Heaven help them when it comes to creating things in pairs.

The Prince of Spindles may represent a knitter you know, or one aspect of your own many-faceted self. While knitting may occasionally be a proving ground of sorts, it need not be a test of will and stamina. Only you will know if receiving the Prince of Spindles in a reading is a warning against his exhausting extremes, or an admonishment to use a little more of his exacting energy in your current and future projects. The Prince of Spindles is, for better or for worse, a diligent and careful knitter, and a finisher of all projects that he starts.