DIVSometimes it is a cherished knitted item that starts a story, sometimes the quest for another skein of the perfect yarn, and sometimes the way knitting is worked into a memory. There's a reason a "yarn" might be a tale or a thread, drawing us along - as these knitters do with their stories of the knitter’s art. Raveling or unraveling, knitters such as Lily Chin, Betty Christiansen, Teva Durham, Clara Parkes, Caroline Herzog, and Lela Nargi take us into their confidence, sharing with us the whimsy, the insights, and simple pleasure that the age-old craft of knitting has brought into their lives—and now ours. Each story in this wonderful collectionfocuses on one of the best parts of the knitting tradition - making a gift for someone special, or receiving a gift, or cherishing a gift that has been handed down through the generations./div

Agathe von Trapp, the oldest daughter in the Trapp Family Singers, offers readers the real story behind an American classic in her poignant and fascinating autobiography Memories Before and After The Sound of Music. The courageous family and events immortalized in the beloved Broadway musical and hit Hollywood film come vibrantly alive in these pages, and Agathe’s post-Sound of Music life is equally compelling.

Most knitters know: Getting through a difficult time often means knitting through it. Its this home truth--and all the homespun wisdom behind it--that comes through clearly in the writings gathered in this book. These pieces--some by contemporary writers like Donna Druchunas and Sherri Wood, others excerpted from the WPAs Federal Writers Project--tell stories of knitting through adversity as widespread as war or the Great Depression, as personal as political anxiety, as unyielding as a prison term, and as tenacious as the hardships endured by the Native American community over centuries. Men and women, young and old, rural and urban, white and black--their knitting narratives are poignant, often lyrical, rich with personal and cultural history and vivid imagery. They conjure hardscrabble lives and immigrant experience, the work of anxious hands kept busy creating warmth and beauty or earning desperately needed money. Along with the stories from the WPA project, the book features black and white photographs from the Library of Congress archives, as well as a sampling of patterns to help knitters through their own difficult times.

A collection of essays about the transformative power of knitting from 27 contemporary authors, including Ann Patchett, Barbara Kingsolver, John Dufresne, and Joyce Maynard.

Full of great ideas for crafts and anecdotes on family life, this collection invites mothers and daughters to create lasting family traditions and enjoy a renewed sense of appreciation for family. Illustrations.