Knitting the Threads of Time: Casting Back to the Heart of Our Craft - Softcover

Murphy, Nora

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1577316576 ISBN 13: 9781577316572

Publisher: New World Library, 2009

Synopsis

In An Era of Global Warming, War, escalating expenses, declining income, and drugs and violence in schools, many mothers feel they have little control over their families or their worlds. Nora Murphy eloquently demonstrates that many women do control one tiny thing: their next stitch.
While tracing the frustrations and joys of knitting a sweater for her son through the course of one cold, dark Minnesota winter, Murphy eloquently brings to life the traditions and cultures of women from many backgrounds, including Hmong, American Indian, Mexican, African, and Irish. Murphy's personal stories - about her struggles to understand esoteric knitting patterns, her help from the shaman of the knit shop, and her challenges sticking with an often vexing project - will appeal to knitters as well as everyone else who has labored to create something from scratch.

About this title

Review

"A sweet, unassuming memoir that's quietly inspiring."
-- Booklist

"A richly textured exploration of the knitting craft -- as a source of warmth, a sign of love shared, and a tangible link to the fiber artists who precede us."
-- Bernadette Murphy, author of Zen and the Art of Knitting

"Knitting a sweater is challenging, frustrating, exhilarating, and immensely satisfying, and Nora Murphy captures all of that and much more in her gem of a book. The journey of this one sweater makes stops in many knitting cultures as well as the geography of the human condition. A lovely book!"
-- Ann Hood, author of The Knitting Circle

"For every knitter who was ever asked, 'Why bother knitting when you can buy it at Wal-Mart?' Murphy gives an answer. We have a deep spiritual connection to our craft and its past. Yes, I could buy a sweater at Wal-Mart. But I couldn't buy this sweater. Murphy compels us to consider the importance of one garment: to the knitter, to the recipient, and possibly to our entire global economy."
-- Elizabeth Morrison, knitting designer

Synopsis

In an era of global warming, war, escalating petrol prices and de-escalating income, and drugs and killings in schools, mothers feel they have little control over their families or their worlds. Nora Murphy eloquently demonstrates that many women do control one tiny thing: their next stitch. Across the country, more and more women (and men) are taking up needles to create a scarf, a blanket, a baby bonnet, a sweater, or an afghan to protect and warm their loved ones. Murphy, a novice knitter, speaks to those women and also speaks for the generations of women who have clothed and protected and provided for their families by creating fibre art and clothing. "Knitting the Threads of Time" brushes off the thick layer of dust that separates contemporary knitters from the powerful prehistoric tradition of women's cloth-making.They learn that the universal art of making clothes is deeply entwined with primordial regenerative powers of healing and fertility. Armed with this powerful new perspective, knitters can claim their rightful legacy and continue to transform the world with the threads of time.

While "Knitting the Threads of Time" is nonfiction, it shares narrative devices with popular knitting novels - a compassionate contemporary protagonist, her struggles in daily life, her passion for knitting, a compelling challenge that drives the plot, and a joyful ending. Murphy's personal stories - about the craft, her struggles to understand esoteric knitting patterns, her help from the shaman of the knit shop, and her challenges sticking with an often frustrating project - will draw in knitters and any reader who has struggled to create something 'from scratch'.

Edition details

• Publisher: New World Library
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1577316576
• ISBN 13: 9781577316572
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256