This book was good, but I didn’t like that there was no mention of anyone who did something interesting or unique with crochet or any other craft. When someone did something close to crochet, the author talked about considering not including them because they weren’t knitting. This book could be much better if the author included activities that weren’t just knitting. She could have had chapters about spinning, weaving, sewing, crocheting, and a bunch of other crafts that can be just as calming and spiritual as knitting.
I think the book would have been better if, instead of having a knitting pattern at the beginning of each chapter, she had something about different crafts. It wouldn’t even have to be a pattern. It could be something like the history of knitting or crochet or spinning or weaving, or even something about the animals that yarn comes from.
The author proves her point that knitting is calming and people knit to get through hard times. However, people can do that with crochet or other crafts, too. She speaks of a woman who crochets food and is impressed by her work but goes to great pains to make sure the reader understands that this artist’s work is not as good as pure knitting. She goes so far as to say that she would not include anything that wasn’t close to knitting even though there are lots of people who do interesting things with weaving, spinning, sewing, or crochet.
The author asserts that knitting is calming because you can not concentrate on a bunch of things that would worry you - you have to focus on your pattern. This forces you to clear your mind just as you would in meditation. However, this is not unique to knitting. It can be done with many other crafts. The author exposes her own bias and it colors the impact of the book.
Three out of five stars.
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