Exciting Discoveries of the Week
Last Friday was Library day and I spent a good chunk of my time there sifting through the (meager) collection of knitting books. I didn’t have a lot of luck, though I did manage to find one of my favorite lace books (one that absolutely needs to make it into my permanent collection) called Knitting Lace: A Workshop with Patterns and Projects by Susanna E. Lewis. I also came across another book, which I have seen before and always dismissed, probably because of the cute smiling blonde child on the cover in an intarsia sweater. It may also be because of the name — America Knits — which sounds to me like a book full of patterns I wouldn’t want to knit. This just goes to show, you should never judge a book by its cover (maybe I have been watching too much Arrested Development, but somehow I feel there should be a one-armed man involved here trying to teach me a lesson — “That’s why you should never judge a book by its cover.”).
So, since I was there and the library didn’t have much to speak of (and Mr. Knittiot was off researching agile software programming and would probably be awhile), I gave some of the books a more thorough glancing through than I otherwise would have, and oh, my goodness, am I ever glad I did.
America Knits features profiles (and an accompanying pattern) of some of the leading and/or innovative and/or popular knitting designers, artists, artisans and fiber farmers in the country. I am working on a lengthier review of the book, because it really is that impressive. Some of the profiles are kind of meh, but there are many which just get my brain spinning with possibilities. My mornings this last week have started with a cup of coffee and this book, and every time I walk away from it I am just bubbling with ideas and inspiration.
This morning I got to the profile on Barbara Walker — the woman who brought us the ever useful A Treasury of Knitting Patterns and the 2nd volume of the same, among others. I first encountered Barbara Walker quite accidentally about a year and a half ago. Mr. Knittiot had long been recommending a Tarot book to me that took a more scholarly approach. I find the Tarot to be rather fascinating, mostly because I feel that symbols are a very useful tool, but most available books on the subject are a little too flaky for my tastes and I needed something a little more grounded. My sweetie assured me that if I was looking for a good introduction, this book was it. Using the tools of comparative religion, it discusses the origins and evolution of each card and its connection to religious iconography throughout the world. Better yet, it seeks to explore and uncover the connection to female deities and goddess imagery that has been buried by western tradition. So, it is a fascinating read with a historical and academic approach that doesn’t dismiss the spiritual aspects either. The author? Someone named Barbara Walker who has published quite a few books on feminism, women’s studies and spirituality. As I was searching for this book, I kept coming across all these knitting books. As a relatively new knitter, this delighted me, but it was clearly not the same person.
Well, this morning I discovered that it is exactly the same person! Apparently she doesn’t knit much anymore (at least not professionally) and has instead become increasingly involved and interested in women’s studies and feminism and publishes about one book a year on the topic. I find the connection and cross-pollination with feminism and traditional domestic arts incredibly interesting. As I become more and more immersed in them, myself, I am pleased and surprised by the connection I have to aspects of my own sense of self and my own feminism.
The other small thing (pun intended — you’ll see in a minute) I learned also came from Barbara Walker and America Knits. In discussing her approach to new projects, she talked about how knitting on a smaller scale helped her feel less overwhelmed by the task and she said she often started projects for a doll rather than work on a large scale, just to see what would work. Ding! (That was the lightbulb going off in my head.) Last night I cast on for an ankle sock because I wanted to practice a short row heel — since I really want to use that technique to create my felted slipper. I worked and worked and worked and when I was ready for bed, felt like I had little to show for it. This morning when I read that in the book, I suddenly realized that all I need to do is make a baby-sized trial pair and move up from there. Duh. So, tonight, baby slippers.