Book Review - Sweater Quest

Sweater Quest: My Year of Knitting Dangerously by Adrienne Martini

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


First off, I want to say that I am definitely pleased that knitting in novels, and other types of books, is becoming much more popular. If only they could be a little more friendly for those who purposely avoid adult content. (Like me.)

While Sweater Quest did have some language, on the whole it was something that I really enjoyed reading.

It follows the journey of one woman as she sets out to hand-knit the sweater of sweaters, a sweater known throughout the knitting world as one the most involved, inspiring, and intimidating patterns ever created. It was created by a woman who is mysterious and aggravating to knitters, and it was designed with a one-of-a-kind yarn that would break my bank if I even considered buying it. Here's the catch. She decided to do it in one year.

The author tells how she worked her way through knitter's and writer's block, asked for and received advice from experienced, well-known knitters, and how at the last things did and did not turn out how expected. In the end, you find out that it was as much a book about various knitting philosophies, it's history, and it's fascinating impact on the general public as it was about her own personal challenge.

For a knitter, it's well worth the read. For interested-non-knitters, it's also worth the read. For people who aren't interested at all, it may not be worth it, but overall, I would recommend this book as a good read, and one that you can learn from as well.

I would like to share with you what was basically my favorite paragraph from the whole book, although it is not the words of the author herself.  It is not an inspirational quote, by worldly standards, it is not necessarily descriptive peek at what is in the book, and it is not the best quote to end a post with, and yet I will. Adrienne Martini quoted from a historian, Tobi M. Voigt:

"American women who were active knitters during the 1960's and 1970's held a wide array of feelings and opinions about the feminist movement. Not unexpectedly, many of the women who continued to knit did not identify strongly with the feminist movement. They were happy as mothers and homemakers, and were largely unaffected by the feminist suggestions that their hobby trapped them in the home."

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