I really haven’t got back into the blog routine yet and so I am catching up on my A-Z Reading Challenge.
This particular book is one that I bought about a year ago and I have just read it as I needed a book beginning with the letter K. This was the only book beginning with the letter K on my shelves. I know I must have read many but I think my mind is still in jetlag!
I can’t remember why I bought this book but I think I must have read a review somewhere and was then motivated to buy it. The book was a very easy read and extolled the virtues of knitting. Greer maintains that we have the opportunity to create positive change in ourselves, the community and the world, every time we knit. Hight expectations indeed.
I agree with her that knitting certainly can slow us down in a fast-paced life and yes we can knit for charities but I am not so sure about her belief that we can cause political change with our knitting!
She describes how knitting keeps traditions alive and connects women with their past and allows them to be creative individually and collectively.
She explains the various ways that knitting can benefit the wider community, by personal contact made by knitting in public (it often starts up a conversation) joining a knitting group or teaching young children to knit. She advocates knitting for charity and as a form of social protest, (that’s the part I’m not so sure about) or a means for supporting a cause you are passionate about. eg. knitting blankets for the local animal shelter.
Greer is the founder of Craftivism, a website looking at how craft can be used in activism, so I guess that is why the book focuses on that, but it also speaks to people who might not want to change the world with their knits.
Aspects of the book I enjoyed were the links to websites and the simple patterns for items for charities. The book also reminded me of how I had learned to knit and why I still enjoy knitting today.
Gippsland Granny 