Synopses & Reviews
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 couldnt 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
Murphy reveals how the art of knitting is deeply entwined with the regenerative powers of healing and fertility. As the author works on knitting a sweater for her son, she skillfully weaves in life stories of women from around the world, illustrating the living legacy that textiles still play in many cultures.
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. Murphys 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.