An affectionate and humorous celebration of every aspect of the craft of knitting, from buying--and hiding--massive quantities of yarn to wrestling with projects that go seriously awry to prescriptions for alleviating the stress brought on by holiday knitting. This witty collection represents a pitch-perfect send up of one of the most rapidly growing hobbies today. Including 75 cartoons, deftly rendered in pen and ink with watercolor wash, and several humorous short essays, every knitter is sure to find elements of themselves in this collection.

Advances in itch research have elucidated differences between itch and pain but have also blurred the distinction between them. There is a long debate about how somatic sensations including touch, pain, itch, and temperature sensitivity are encoded by the nervous system. Research suggests that each sensory modality is processed along a fixed, direct-line communication system from the skin to the brain. Itch: Mechanisms and Treatment presents a timely update on all aspects of itch research and the clinical treatment of itch that accompanies many dermatological conditions including psoriasis, neuropathic itch, cutaneous t-cells lymphomas, and systemic diseases such as kidney and liver disease and cancer. Composed of contributions from distinguished researchers around the world, the book explores topics such as: Neuropathic itch Peripheral neuronal mechanism of itch The role of PAR-2 in neuroimmune communication and itch Mrgprs as itch receptors The role of interleukin-31 and oncostatin M in itch and neuroimmune communication Spinal coding of itch and pain Spinal microcircuits and the regulation of itch Examining new findings on cellular and molecular mechanisms, the book is a compendium of the most current research on itch, its prevalence in society, and the problems associated with treatment.

Find relief from chronic itch in this comprehensive guide. We have all experienced itch, whether from insect bites or dry skin, but millions of people worldwide have chronic or even intractable itch. Just like chronic pain, chronic itch interferes with a person’s ability to function—and even affects quality of life. Living with Itch offers relief, drawing on the authors’ vast knowledge of itch, the suffering it causes, and available treatments. Itch researchers and clinicians Drs. Gil Yosipovitch and Shawn G. Kwatra explain the cascade of physiological events that causes us to experience itch. They describe the many skin diseases, from atopic dermatitis (eczema) to psoriasis, and conditions like chronic kidney disease, lymphoma, HIV, and neuropathies that cause itch. Living with Itch provides information on preventing itch as well as topical and systemic ways to treat it. Patient and parent narratives illustrate how people cope with itch and how, with medical and social support, itch can be managed.

Anthony Augustus Angelo's earliest childhood memories revolve around his Italian American family who did everything the Catholic Church and his grandfather dictated, and continues through his unlikely metamorphosis into a public school English teacher. He speaks frankly about his own pitiful education, and the education of his students in the forty years he wielded the chalk. For Triple A, Ant'ny, or, as the kids called him, Tony, the broken English that filled his adolescent years came as an inspiration from his mother and condemnation from his totalitarian and often drunk grandfather. Loosely based on the life of author Tony Rotondo, Scratch Where It Itches: Confessions of a Public School Teacher, shares his memories of life in the 1940s and 1950s in a small industrial town in southeastern Pennsylvania. Mr. Angelo reminisces about his education in Catholic and public schools where his cheeks-facial and gluteal-bear the brunt of mean-spirited nuns during the good ol'days filled with poverty, pasta, and penance. Today, Mr. Angelo, a husband and father of three, is as hapless in the home as he is outstanding in the classroom. But his real itch is the state of education, both public and parochial. He thinks it stinks, and he wants you to know why.

When everything around you is going wrong, how far would you go to fit in? Isaac's sixth grade year gets off to a rough start. For one thing, a tornado tears the roof off the school cafeteria. His mother leaves on a two month business trip to China. And as always. . . . there's the itch. It comes out of nowhere. Idiopathic, which means no one knows what causes it. It starts small, but it spreads, and soon--it's everywhere. It's everything. It's why everyone calls him Itch--everyone except his best friend Sydney, the only one in all of Ohio who's always on his side, ever since he moved here. He's doing the best he can to get along--until everything goes wrong in the middle of a lunch swap. When Sydney collapses and an ambulance is called, Itch blames himself. And he's not the only one. When you have no friends at all, wouldn't you do anything--even something you know you shouldn't--to get them back? Drawing on her own experiences with idiopathic angioedema and food allergies, Polly Farquhar spins a tale of kids trying to balance the desire to be ordinary with the need to be authentic--allergies, itches, confusion and all. For everyone who's ever felt out of place, this debut novel set in the Ohio heartland is a warm, funny, and sometimes heartbreaking look at middle school misfits and misadventures. Whether you root for the Buckeyes or have no clue who they are, you'll be drawn into Itch's world immediately. This engaging debut is perfect for fans of See You in the Cosmos and Fish in a Tree. A Junior Library Guild Selection

Gus the groundhog desperately needs to scratch his back after a mouse tickles him with a feather, but the stick, bush, and log he tries to scratch against are not what they appear to be.

Everybody gets itchy, and every kid will love this title that scratches the itch to know more and about the history, anatomy, botany, biology behind it. Perfect for fans of Grossology books looking for something more substantive and dynamic. You can feel it coming on—that terrible, tortuous ITCH. As irritating as an itch is, it is also your body’s way of sending you a message you can’t miss, like you’ve brushed up against poison ivy or lice have taken up residence in your hair. None of which you’d know without that telltale itch! And there are so many things that make us itch—from fungus to fleas, mosquitoes to nettles, poison ivy to tarantulas! Combining history, anatomy, laugh-out-loud illustrations, and even tips to avoid—and soothe—the itch, Anita Sanchez and Gilbert Ford take readers on an intriguing (and sometimes disgusting) look into what makes you scratch.