Snuggling Up with Knitting Narratives
Blame it on my husband. Last year when Brian asked me for my Christmas list, I said I’d love a couple of knitting books. I had just started knitting, so I gave him the titles of a few how-to’s that I heard were good for beginning knitters.
On Christmas day, those titles were under the tree, along with one more,
The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice, by Susan Gordon Lydon. I spent Christmas day devouring this book. I was so new to knitting I had no idea that there existed knitting narratives about the spiritual or psychological side of knitting. And I had no idea how addicting they were. They reminded me of the MFK Fisher-genre of food narrative, which for years I loved. I’d collected cookbooks and food and cooking narratives in which the author’s voice and point of view were prominent. Now my new love affair was with nonfiction knitting narratives.
Just as cookbooks and narratives about food and cooking connect foodies with the world of cooking, knitting narratives connect knitters to their yarn-spun world. These books tie us to knitters—38 million in the U.S.—and their stories. We read them for the anecdotes, philosophy, spirituality and observations.
Bernadette Murphy, author of
Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Links Between Knitting, Spirituality, and Creativity (the second knitting narrative I read and one of my favorites) and
The Knitter’s Gift: An Inspirational Bag of Words, Wisdom, and Craft, says it best: “I think we like reading knitting narratives because they help explain what we find so comforting in knitting. Knitting narratives show us different facets of the human experience—how we struggle, get confused, triumph, fail, begin again, erase mistakes, love deeply, get over aching wounds, and occasionally become better people—not unlike the stories we look for in novels and other forms of narrative.”
One common thread (ah-hem) with knitting narratives is the high quality of writing. The authors take great care to spin a story with an arc (similar to a good novel or nonfiction narrative) and pay attention to language. Another favorite,
Knitting Lessons: Tales from the Knitting Path by Lela Nargi, takes you along on Nargi’s obsessive journey across country to learn about knitting by talking to experienced knitters.
And knitters can indeed be obsessed. "Just let me finish this row," is a familiar refrain.
At Knit’s End: Meditations for Women who Knit Too Much by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is for obsessed knitters. Open it to any page and wrap yourself around a quote by a notable writer, a snippet about knitting too much, or a meditation to help put knitting into perspective.
Perspective and point of view is what I love about
Two Sweaters for my Father: Writing about Knitting, by Perri Klass. A pediatrician and novelist, Klass’ book is a compilation of previously published essays on knitting that are elegant and colorful, like her knitting.
KnitLit: Sweaters and Their Stories … and Other Writing about Knitting and
KnitLit (too): Stories from Sheep to Shawl … and More Writing About Knitting edited by Linda Roghaar and Molly Wolf contain sweet, funny and poignant pieces by male and female writers about the knitting life.
Mindful Knitting: Inviting Contemplative Practice to the Craft, by Tara Jon Manning, is a sweet book that correlates knitting and meditation.
Knitting into the Mystery: A Guide to the Shawl-Knitting Ministry, by Susan S. Jorgensen and Susan S. Izard, is about the worldwide movement of knitters gathering to pray and knit for those in need.
For the Love of Knitting, by Kari Cornell, is a big book containing a mix of essays and gorgeous photographs and vintage illustrations.
And while the following aren’t strictly knitting narratives, they have such personality and color I have to mention them:
A Treasury of Magical Knitting and
A Second Treasury of Magical Knitting by Cat Bordhi are such fun knitting books with photos and patterns for
objet d’art projects.
And I just picked up
Knitting Heaven and Earth: Healing the Heart with Craft, Susan Gordon Lydon’s last book. It’s a gorgeous testament to the power of knitting by a wonderful writer who recently, sadly, passed away.
These days, like other obsessed knitters, when a new knitting narrative is published, I’m at the bookstore, checking it out. It’s all my husband’s fault.
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Published in the Sept./Oct. issue of
Pages. Here's the link to the magazine, though the article isn't accessible online: http://www.ireadpages.com/archive/sep-oct05/toc.htm
