I have a copy of People Knitting by Barbara Levine, so I’m going to review it and give it away.
I get these emails from public relations people wanting me to review their books. They don’t want me, they want Creative Knitting. I have not bothered to figure out how my name comes up, since I haven’t written for Creative Knitting for a few years, and at the time I did, I was not a staff person or editor.
I explained that to the PR person for People Knitting, but said I was a bit intrigued and would be happy to do a review on my blog and give away the book. So here I am. The book arrived Tuesday evening and was sitting on my stoop when I returned from the Julian Lage performance we’d gone to. Typical UPS. Leave it on the stoop, and the book was damaged in shipping, but not critically.
People Knitting
People Knitting is a collection of photos from 1860 to 1960, this is a step back in time to the kinds of images many of us associate with knitting. Page 89, one of the first pages I turned to, is a Life magazine cover. I had an issue of that magazine until my recent move.
Most of the photos are of women; the men seen are at a boys school, prisoners at Sing Sing, a cab driver, U.S. WWII POW (German or Italian), and a Chinese man being observed by a soldier. Otherwise, it is women’s work. You can enjoy seeing different styles of holding the needles and yarn as well as photos of luminaries knitting, but mostly it is just women of various status and ages tending to their knitting. They are not knitting beautiful hand painted yarn. This seems to be knitting for utility.
But looking back at those who have gone before us as knitters is somehow heartwarming and affirming. Knitting is both a solitary and social craft, and I think we all enjoy the company of other knitters, even when we are knitting alone.
I wish captions and information were on the same pages as the photos, but thumbnails appear in the Index of Images which begins on page 134. Each of the 100 photos is a treasure. The book goes on sale October 4, 2016 for $16.95 in the U.S. Available from Schoolhouse Press and others.
Knitting Reviews
I don’t normally review books because they take a fair amount of time (or I have to pay someone else to do it). Rest assured, this one was easy! I’m interested in whether you, as readers, are interested in these, or if I should continue to pass on opportunities.
I did the review of Filament because it was my featured business this month, but I feel I can’t review pattern books or collections without doing some knitting. Let me know. Leave a reply.
People Knitting, Give Away
I did a random drawing of four people (runner up, and first, second, and third prizes) in my Ravelry Group today to celebrate over 1000 members. You need to go there to see who got the book–I’m letting the winners choose their prizes, with the runner up getting the last one.
Thank You for review of my book, People Knitting: A Century of Photographs!
Thank you Barbara! Definitely worth a look by every knitter.
Not sure my previous comment got posted. Please note books that catch your interest! If you’re interested, I likely am, too, and might not have discovered a title otherwise–possibly for a few years. Ignore anything that doesn’t intrigue you and let us in on the things that do.
Thanks Deb! Good advice.