Black Purl Magazine | Sharing the passion and soul of needlecrafts

AVAILABLE
AT
AMAZON.COM

QUICK CLICKS
Home
About Us
Blog
Subscribe
Contact Us
Advertise
Submit
Media Room
Patterns
Archives

In Review
For the Love of Knitting:
A Celebration of the Knitter's Art
by Kari Cornell (Editor), Voyageur Press
Reviewed By Del Sandeen

If you love to read about knitting almost as much as you love knitting, there is a wealth of books currently available to satisfy your needs. Some are funny, some are poignant, and some are both. If you also like a bit of history or nostalgia thrown into the mix, For the Love of Knitting is a good read.

For the Love of Knitting: A Celebration of the Knitter's Art contains dozens of photographs geared toward satisfying the knitter's need for visuals. Most knitters would agree that we are a visual, tactile bunch. Colors, arrangement, texture all entice. Visually, this book doesn't disappoint.

Photography-wise, with pictures of pattern books and knitting brochures primarily from this country's heyday of knitting (mid 20th century), it's stunning. Those were the days when knitters (it's overwhelmingly women and girls you see pictured) didn't just plop down to knit, apparently. The hair is coiffed, the fingernails are polished, and the clothes are tailored. It's the typical domestic portrait America projected at the time.

Thus, the very earliest history of knitting is only briefly touched upon. The book asserts, like so many others, that "exactly when people first began to knit...is unclear." The bulk of the book focuses on when knitting became popular in America, not as a means to clothe a family, but as a leisure activity.

The essays contained are written by knitters and designers: Elizabeth Zimmermann, Melanie Falick, Pam Allen, and Suzyn Jackson among them. My only complaint is that several of the essays are reprints; one of them, I'd only recently read, so I didn't bother reading it again in this book. Still, it's fun to read how even a famous, revered knitter like Zimmermann first picked up two needles and yarn.

The essays cover such topics as learning to knit, the yarn shop, and especially interesting, the art of knitting. This particular chapter contains knitting images rarely seen. These aren't the sort of projects most day-to-day knitters are going to work on--they're stunning visuals of how people can take two sticks and a string and make them into three-dimensional artwork. A knitted boat and Rainforest Sweater (designed by Debbie New) are among the items featured.

No book on the history of this country's love affair with knitting would be complete without covering the war effort. During the first two World Wars, children as well as adults, girls as well as boys, pitched in the effort to knit items for the soldiers. Hats, sweaters, vests, and socks were among the pieces needed. It's poignant to see a photograph of five boys sitting together knitting socks.

Some of the essays are sure to amuse, as Michael Dregni's "A Romantic Tragedy in Four Acts." He learned to knit specifically to make himself a Norwegian Setesdal sweater to replace his worn one (a great feat indeed). Some ("Knitting Socks for the Revolution"), for us who love to knit socks, are all the justification we need to continue making an article of clothing that most people take for granted.

The book ends with a tribute to that beloved icon, Elizabeth Zimmermann. Knitting gurus like Kaffe Fassett, Teva Durham, and Nancy Bush all pay homage to how Zimmermann touched their lives, even if they didn't meet her in person. Such was her influence that so many knitters who never met her can still be affected by her knowledge. The last photograph in the book is of two of her Norwegian sweaters (the kind of sweater a knitter would no doubt consider herself an expert for finishing) and it's a perfect way to end the book, with this picture of quiet beauty.

If you're feeling nostalgic, For the Love of Knitting is a good book to curl up with, feet up and teacup nearby. The photographs may make you long for simpler times; the words will most likely resonate with you, for knitters' experiences, while different in many ways, are still tied together in the same implements we use to achieve some measure of peace and tranquility in our busy lives.

Del Sandeen is a freelance writer who knits every chance she gets.
She lives in Sunny Florida with her husband and three kids. Stop by her knitting blog at http://cozysplace.blogspot.com/ and say hi.