Everyday Knitting: Treasures from a Ragpile (Paperback)

~ Annemore Sundbo (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Imported from Norway. A treasure-trove of knitting pattern and cultural history. The author unravels the history of traditional knitting, revealed by investigations in a pile of knitted rags left behind in storage bins of a 'shoddy' factory. Everyday Knitting reveals the creativity in the everyday life of Scandinavian knitters, a treasure of ideas and inspiration for any serious knitter's or cultural historian's library. Diagrams and patterns give advice on developing the reader's own patterns from traditional motifs. Includes a selection of the earliest knitting patterns from Sandnes Woolen Mill.

Product Details

• Paperback: 213 pages
• Publisher: Torridal Tweed; 2nd English Language edition edition (2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 8299465710
• ISBN-13: 978-8299465717
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #305,781 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another Remarkable Piece of Work by Sundbo, January 13, 2009

By	Theseus "theseus" (US of A) - See all my reviews

I believe that Annemor Sunbo has become a cult figure because her work is so difficult to categorize. This book combines her sensibilities as fine artist, craftsperson, entrepeneur, social historian, and anthropologist.

"All over the world where people have time to knit, literally tons of wool garments have been produced by hand, by home knitting machines, and industry....what happens to all this wool fiber? In Scandinavian countries, frugality dictates that it be recycled. The author...was the operator of the last wool garment recycling center, a shoddy factory. Suffice it to say that when a knitter gets 16 tons of discarded wool garments that have accumulated since the turn of the last century, she sees the heap of history therein. So she has sorted out examples that she uses to illustrate `everyday knitting'.... When she embellishes the illustrations with archeology and printed commercial patterns, things get very interesting...."

Trade paperback with about 200 illustrations in black and white and color: photos, commercial art, paintings, drawings, and pattern diagrams.

A 6 page bibliography.

5.0 out of 5 stars Everyday knitting: exceptional story, November 5, 2009

By	crayola - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

In a brave step the author, a weaver, buys a (Norweigen) shoddy mill to learn more about operating mills. At the bottom of an old pile she recognizes in the layer of rags dating from the period between the world wars a history of everyday knitting. She sorts her rags yeilding trends and patterns, researches sweater styles in Sweden and knitting history.