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Le Pouvoir du tricot: Retisser nos liens dans un monde désuni
Un voyage passionnant dans l'univers et l'histoire du tricot, au gré des changements sociaux, économiques et politiques.
Nous n'avons jamais été aussi connectés et aussi isolés à la fois...
Dans ce livre singulier, Loretta Napoleoni, économiste et journaliste, aborde le tricot comme une métaphore parfaite de ce fil manquant qui pourtant, dans la pratique comme dans l'histoire, nous relie les uns aux autres, les unes aux autres.
Égrenant souvenirs personnels et anecdotes historiques, vantant l'importance économique et les vertus thérapeutiques d'une activité qui retrouve aujourd'hui son rôle et sa valeur, elle montre que le tricot peut aussi nous aider à démêler l'écheveau de nos vies.
« Parce qu'elles modèrent la mondialisation et enseignent l'économie, aiguilles à tricoter et pelotes de laine sont des outils pour une révolution sociale. Elles nous montrent qu'aucune erreur n'est irrattrapable : il suffit de détricoter et de recommencer. » Elle US
Nous n'avons jamais été aussi connectés et aussi isolés à la fois...
Dans ce livre singulier, Loretta Napoleoni, économiste et journaliste, aborde le tricot comme une métaphore parfaite de ce fil manquant qui pourtant, dans la pratique comme dans l'histoire, nous relie les uns aux autres, les unes aux autres.
Égrenant souvenirs personnels et anecdotes historiques, vantant l'importance économique et les vertus thérapeutiques d'une activité qui retrouve aujourd'hui son rôle et sa valeur, elle montre que le tricot peut aussi nous aider à démêler l'écheveau de nos vies.
« Parce qu'elles modèrent la mondialisation et enseignent l'économie, aiguilles à tricoter et pelotes de laine sont des outils pour une révolution sociale. Elles nous montrent qu'aucune erreur n'est irrattrapable : il suffit de détricoter et de recommencer. » Elle US
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 14, 2020
103 people are currently reading
790 people want to read
About the author
Loretta Napoleoni
24 books85 followersLoretta Napoleoni is the bestselling author of Maonomics, Rogue Economics, Terror Incorporated and Insurgent Iraq. She is an expert on terrorist financing and money laundering, and advises several governments and international organizations on counter-terrorism and money laundering. As Chairman of the countering terrorism financing group for the Club de Madrid, Napoleoni brought heads of state from around the world together to create a new strategy for combating the financing of terror networks.
Napoleoni is a regular media commentator for CNN, Sky and the BBC. She is among the few economists who predicted the credit crunch and the recession, and advises several banks on strategies to counter the current ongoing crisis. She lectures regularly around the world on economics, terrorism and money laundering.
Loretta is also a columnist and writes about terrorism, money laundering and the economy for several European financial papers including El Pais, The Guardian and Le Monde. In the 1990s she was among the first journalists to interview the Red Brigades, the Italian Marxist armed group. She subsequently spent three years interviewing members of other terrorist organizations. In 2003 she interviewed followers of al Zarqawi in both Europe and in the Middle East.
Born and raised in Rome, in the mid 1970s she became an active member of the feminist movement and a political activist. She was a Fulbright scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC and a Rotary Scholar at the London School of Economics. She has a PhD in economics and a Masters of Philosophy in international relations and one in terrorism.
She began her career as an economist, working for several banks and international organizations in Europe and the US. In the early 1980s she spent 2 years in Budapest at the National Bank of Hungary working on a project for the convertibility of the florin that ten years later became the blueprint for the convertibility of the rouble. In he 1980s she worked for a UK registered Russian Bank, Moscow Narodny Bank, which acted as the foreign branch of the Bank of Foreign Trade. This position afforded her a unique insight into the Soviet economy. In 1992 she produced the final documentation for the structure of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD. She teaches a course at Judge Business Schools, Cambridge.
Napoleoni ’s books include Modern Jihad (Pluto Press, London, 2003); Terror Inc. (Penguin, London, 2004); Insurgent Iraq (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2005); Terror Incorporated (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2005); Rogue Economics (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2008); Terror and the Economy (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2010) and Maonomics: Why Chinese Communists Are Better Capitalists Than We Are (Seven Stories Press 2011) . Her latest book is the best seller Islamist Phoenix (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2014). “The IS doesn’t want to destroy. They want to build the 21st century version of the Calliphate and that is what makes them so dangerous”. Her books are translated into 18 languages including Chinese and Arabic. She lives in London and in the US with her husband and their four children.
Napoleoni is currently working at a book linking the post 9/11 Western foreign policy, the kidnapping and refugee crisis. Based upon original interviews with former hostages, negotiators, member of the crisis unit, kidnap owes and refugees, the book will unveil how post 9/11 Western foreign policy is responsible for the birth of a new breed of criminal and terrorist engaged in kidnapping of Westerners and trafficking migrants. Napoleoni defines these people Merchant of Men.
Napoleoni is a regular media commentator for CNN, Sky and the BBC. She is among the few economists who predicted the credit crunch and the recession, and advises several banks on strategies to counter the current ongoing crisis. She lectures regularly around the world on economics, terrorism and money laundering.
Loretta is also a columnist and writes about terrorism, money laundering and the economy for several European financial papers including El Pais, The Guardian and Le Monde. In the 1990s she was among the first journalists to interview the Red Brigades, the Italian Marxist armed group. She subsequently spent three years interviewing members of other terrorist organizations. In 2003 she interviewed followers of al Zarqawi in both Europe and in the Middle East.
Born and raised in Rome, in the mid 1970s she became an active member of the feminist movement and a political activist. She was a Fulbright scholar at Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington DC and a Rotary Scholar at the London School of Economics. She has a PhD in economics and a Masters of Philosophy in international relations and one in terrorism.
She began her career as an economist, working for several banks and international organizations in Europe and the US. In the early 1980s she spent 2 years in Budapest at the National Bank of Hungary working on a project for the convertibility of the florin that ten years later became the blueprint for the convertibility of the rouble. In he 1980s she worked for a UK registered Russian Bank, Moscow Narodny Bank, which acted as the foreign branch of the Bank of Foreign Trade. This position afforded her a unique insight into the Soviet economy. In 1992 she produced the final documentation for the structure of the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, IBRD. She teaches a course at Judge Business Schools, Cambridge.
Napoleoni ’s books include Modern Jihad (Pluto Press, London, 2003); Terror Inc. (Penguin, London, 2004); Insurgent Iraq (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2005); Terror Incorporated (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2005); Rogue Economics (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2008); Terror and the Economy (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2010) and Maonomics: Why Chinese Communists Are Better Capitalists Than We Are (Seven Stories Press 2011) . Her latest book is the best seller Islamist Phoenix (Seven Stories Press, New York, 2014). “The IS doesn’t want to destroy. They want to build the 21st century version of the Calliphate and that is what makes them so dangerous”. Her books are translated into 18 languages including Chinese and Arabic. She lives in London and in the US with her husband and their four children.
Napoleoni is currently working at a book linking the post 9/11 Western foreign policy, the kidnapping and refugee crisis. Based upon original interviews with former hostages, negotiators, member of the crisis unit, kidnap owes and refugees, the book will unveil how post 9/11 Western foreign policy is responsible for the birth of a new breed of criminal and terrorist engaged in kidnapping of Westerners and trafficking migrants. Napoleoni defines these people Merchant of Men.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
November 15, 2020
It's very rare that I really dislike a book but for me, this is up there with Elizabeth Gilbert's 'Eat Pray Love'. An exploration of the social history of knitting was clearly just "I'm skint, let's write a book to make money" and reading it was just uncomfortable. There were so many generalisations and topics not researched properly or included, such as criticisms of Pussy Hats as white feminism and transphobia. I've read other books previously from this author and this really lets her back catalogue down, which is a shame.
November 29, 2020
I really wanted to love this, as a knitter myself. The author makes sweeping generalizations based on her research - I think I would have preferred the book to lean more towards a history OR memoir, instead of mixing so much. Things became blurred with how many conclusions about historical events were made based on her opinion. I'd still recommend it as a quick read for anyone interested in fiber arts, I appreciated learning more about the origins of the craft and loved that there are patterns included in the book that tie so well into her story.
February 1, 2021
The author wrote this book to dig herself out of “financial ruin,” which she mentioned often and blames on her ex. I stopped reading when she complained about having to mortgage her London home while her American ski resort home sold. Pffft. If you have homes on two continents, you are definitely not in financial ruin. I’m glad this was a library book and not one that I bought.
December 3, 2020
I wanted to like this book. As an experienced knitter I was disappointed in factual errors by the writer. On page 19 she asserts that lanolin in alpaca fiber creates a waterproof barrier. Alpacas are camelid animals. No lanolin in their fiber, that's just sheep.
On page 50 she disparagingly notes that Kitchener stitch is method of knitting socks on four needles that was forced on women by the government. Knitting on four needles predates WW1 and Kitchener stitch is only a seamless way to graft the toe stitches together.
These inaccuracies destroyed the credibility of the writer for me. I ended up feeling like this was just written as a vehicle for her own political beliefs and perhaps to help her out of her financial difficulties, which are mentioned frequently. I had hoped for a joyful book that celebrated the wonderful knitting communities around the world, but came away with sadness for yet one more divisive us-against-them attitude.
On page 50 she disparagingly notes that Kitchener stitch is method of knitting socks on four needles that was forced on women by the government. Knitting on four needles predates WW1 and Kitchener stitch is only a seamless way to graft the toe stitches together.
These inaccuracies destroyed the credibility of the writer for me. I ended up feeling like this was just written as a vehicle for her own political beliefs and perhaps to help her out of her financial difficulties, which are mentioned frequently. I had hoped for a joyful book that celebrated the wonderful knitting communities around the world, but came away with sadness for yet one more divisive us-against-them attitude.
April 25, 2021
Dit boek vertelt over het breien, over hoe een oeroud ambacht onze levens verbindt. De schrijfster vertelt hoe zij heeft leren breien van haar oma en hoe het haar helpt in moeilijke tijden. Interessant en leerzaam, ik wist niet dat er zoveel wildgebreid en protestgebreid werd. Hm, toch de pennen maar weer eens uit de kast halen...
This book tells about knitting, about how an ancient craft connects our lives. The writer tells how she learned to knit from her grandmother and how it helps her in difficult times. Interesting and educational, I didn't know there was so much wildknitting and protestknitting going on. Hm, I think I need to take the needles out again ...
This book tells about knitting, about how an ancient craft connects our lives. The writer tells how she learned to knit from her grandmother and how it helps her in difficult times. Interesting and educational, I didn't know there was so much wildknitting and protestknitting going on. Hm, I think I need to take the needles out again ...
January 18, 2021
I saw this marketed as a knitting history book, but it could have been titled "my opinions on knitting history." I could not finish it. Only book I've ever wanted to burn.
The author makes sweeping generalizations about the historical relevance of female knitters through history and the patriarchy who stepped on their necks- excusing any lack of evidence based on research or historical context to 'the men must have not cared enough or hidden this information' (paraphrasing). In many cases, a topic is touched on and no factual evidence or research- or even educated discussion- is provided, only blatant and confessed bias. The author mentions her recent divorce on what feels like every other page and uses it to fuel this diatribe against men in general- even in the topics she chose to write about which are cheapened for ignoring the impact of male knitters of the period.
I found myself bewildered and disgusted. I heard later this book was meant as a fund raiser to pay for said divorce preceedings and I think it would have been better if she had given in to her impulses and honestly written a memoir about her experiences. I bought this book based on her reputation as a knitting historian and before purchasing, read several positive reviews of her work. This was my first exposure to her directly and, based on this experience, I will never be reading any of her works again.
The author makes sweeping generalizations about the historical relevance of female knitters through history and the patriarchy who stepped on their necks- excusing any lack of evidence based on research or historical context to 'the men must have not cared enough or hidden this information' (paraphrasing). In many cases, a topic is touched on and no factual evidence or research- or even educated discussion- is provided, only blatant and confessed bias. The author mentions her recent divorce on what feels like every other page and uses it to fuel this diatribe against men in general- even in the topics she chose to write about which are cheapened for ignoring the impact of male knitters of the period.
I found myself bewildered and disgusted. I heard later this book was meant as a fund raiser to pay for said divorce preceedings and I think it would have been better if she had given in to her impulses and honestly written a memoir about her experiences. I bought this book based on her reputation as a knitting historian and before purchasing, read several positive reviews of her work. This was my first exposure to her directly and, based on this experience, I will never be reading any of her works again.
March 3, 2021
These are the loosely organized musings of a very privileged woman as she contemplates the impact of knitting on women's lives. The author is going through a divorce, and I was interested in her thoughts on the healing power of knitting. But I struggled with the rambling style, and her perspective as a white wealthy woman bled through into the stories she shared about knitters past and present.
The most interesting parts of the book are the tidbits about knitters throughout history, including her grandmother. I also appreciated hearing her tales of chats with knitters she meets out and about on her travels. Her conversation with the son of a member of an Alaskan knitters collective was a highlight, although the author's description of the Alaskan Native history was told entirely from the perspective of European colonizers, which I found disappointing. Overall, the book prioritizes breadth over depth, and covers a lot of ground.
Least successful are the stories she tells about knitters today. I appreciated that she tried to include some racial diversity, but these stories sometimes felt superficial, like when she seemed to be just cribbing from the instagram posts of a famous Black knitter, or articles about yarn bombing. I really wished she would have let these knitters speak for themselves, like when she tells the story of a "angry" Black man, formerly in foster care, who learned to knit because he "perceived" that others were discriminating against him. I found myself wondering whether this man would describe his main problem as anger and what he thought of the implication that his perceptions weren't based on experience. She also tells the story of her Latina housekeeper and knitting companion, presenting her more as a stereotype than a fully-fleshed out person.
One of the weakest stories in the book is about a knitter with cancer who insistently demands a discount while purchasing yarn at a LYS. The author describes the store clerk as unfeeling, but I felt bad for her for being loudly berated by a customer. Ultimately the lesson the book draws is that the knitter's entitled bad behavior was somehow a feminist cry for help, after a lifetime of subsuming herself in her family's needs. I thought this was a serious stretch.
Near the end of the book, as it became clear that even with her husband gambling away most of their money, and having to sell one of their homes, she still owned a London rental property and was embarking on an eat-pray-love style trip around the world, I lost all interest in her, and this book.
The most interesting parts of the book are the tidbits about knitters throughout history, including her grandmother. I also appreciated hearing her tales of chats with knitters she meets out and about on her travels. Her conversation with the son of a member of an Alaskan knitters collective was a highlight, although the author's description of the Alaskan Native history was told entirely from the perspective of European colonizers, which I found disappointing. Overall, the book prioritizes breadth over depth, and covers a lot of ground.
Least successful are the stories she tells about knitters today. I appreciated that she tried to include some racial diversity, but these stories sometimes felt superficial, like when she seemed to be just cribbing from the instagram posts of a famous Black knitter, or articles about yarn bombing. I really wished she would have let these knitters speak for themselves, like when she tells the story of a "angry" Black man, formerly in foster care, who learned to knit because he "perceived" that others were discriminating against him. I found myself wondering whether this man would describe his main problem as anger and what he thought of the implication that his perceptions weren't based on experience. She also tells the story of her Latina housekeeper and knitting companion, presenting her more as a stereotype than a fully-fleshed out person.
One of the weakest stories in the book is about a knitter with cancer who insistently demands a discount while purchasing yarn at a LYS. The author describes the store clerk as unfeeling, but I felt bad for her for being loudly berated by a customer. Ultimately the lesson the book draws is that the knitter's entitled bad behavior was somehow a feminist cry for help, after a lifetime of subsuming herself in her family's needs. I thought this was a serious stretch.
Near the end of the book, as it became clear that even with her husband gambling away most of their money, and having to sell one of their homes, she still owned a London rental property and was embarking on an eat-pray-love style trip around the world, I lost all interest in her, and this book.
May 22, 2021
Reading this book was like meeting a stranger at a bar and finding yourself in a conversation, and at first thinking they're interesting with some good ideas, then realizing they're actually a bit weird, then understanding that in fact they're totally untethered from reality and that their ideas are based in nothing more than platitudes and a willful misunderstanding of how the world works.
Loretta Napoleoni writes in a combination of personal anecdotes, historical context, and philosophy. Normally this is a combination I enjoy.
But her anecdotes are not personal or detailed enough to be truly interesting, and instead make her less and less sympathetic as you move through the book (I don't doubt it was very difficult for her to discover her husband had ruined their finances and their marriage, but it's hard to have sympathy when she writes about having to sell BOTH their homes - in the US and the UK - AND the lodge they own at a fancy ski resort, and only having enough money left to travel the world, without any sense of proportion.)
Her historical context is even worse - here she relies even more on anecdote, cherry picking examples and stories, trimming their facts and twisting their cultural context to fit her narrative, and drawing overly broad conclusions that are barely supported and sometimes even contradicted by her examples. (My favorite was her describing the story of a boy who was photographed knitting on the subway, and caused a stir because it was a boy knitting in public, and using that as an example of how it's now accepted that men knit.)
She wraps all of this up into a philosophy that is, for the most part, broad and vague enough to mean anything. I do like some of what she writes earlier in the book - particularly the analogy that, in both life and knitting, if you make a big enough mistake it will cause problems until you go back and fix it, no matter if that involves quite a lot of work. But then she gets more ambitious, and turns to language that belongs painted on elementary school murals - "we are stronger together" - "heal together" - "hope and social change!"
One unmarred part of the book: The illustrations by Alessandra Olanow are lovely.
Loretta Napoleoni writes in a combination of personal anecdotes, historical context, and philosophy. Normally this is a combination I enjoy.
But her anecdotes are not personal or detailed enough to be truly interesting, and instead make her less and less sympathetic as you move through the book (I don't doubt it was very difficult for her to discover her husband had ruined their finances and their marriage, but it's hard to have sympathy when she writes about having to sell BOTH their homes - in the US and the UK - AND the lodge they own at a fancy ski resort, and only having enough money left to travel the world, without any sense of proportion.)
Her historical context is even worse - here she relies even more on anecdote, cherry picking examples and stories, trimming their facts and twisting their cultural context to fit her narrative, and drawing overly broad conclusions that are barely supported and sometimes even contradicted by her examples. (My favorite was her describing the story of a boy who was photographed knitting on the subway, and caused a stir because it was a boy knitting in public, and using that as an example of how it's now accepted that men knit.)
She wraps all of this up into a philosophy that is, for the most part, broad and vague enough to mean anything. I do like some of what she writes earlier in the book - particularly the analogy that, in both life and knitting, if you make a big enough mistake it will cause problems until you go back and fix it, no matter if that involves quite a lot of work. But then she gets more ambitious, and turns to language that belongs painted on elementary school murals - "we are stronger together" - "heal together" - "hope and social change!"
One unmarred part of the book: The illustrations by Alessandra Olanow are lovely.
June 29, 2021
My mom got this for me which was very loving, as it combines knitting and politics, two of my main interests! The book is lovely with nice thick paper and illustrations. Someone on Twitter said that their YouTube algorithm looks like “if someone with my exact interests had terrible taste” and while I wouldn’t be that harsh here I felt similarly. It just wasn’t rigorous enough on history or politics, and the memoir portions were also very vague. Very much what you would expect the takes of a wealthy white woman NPR commentator to have, where it’s like milquetoast progressive. A woman’s marcher type who is going thru a divorce and is in shambles about losing her vacation home(s) and going on an eat pray love rumspringa.
Really disliked the anecdote about the old lady demanding a discount and the cashier being “unfeeling”. This was presented as the old lady using her voice or whatever. This story was a classic example of white feminism privelging identity over any type of concern for workers lmao that story was bizarre! Karen behavior! I am a cashier and people give sob stories literally all day, you aren’t going to give discounts to anyone who asks. The old woman is not “doing a feminism” by demanding a worker give her a discount that she’s probably not even authorized to give as a non-manager employee. That put me off the rest of the book tbh.
Kinda repetitive, have some political qualms (it doesn’t go in depth enough on basically anything) but a quick read that makes me want to go knit when I’ve been in a knitting rut lately.
Really disliked the anecdote about the old lady demanding a discount and the cashier being “unfeeling”. This was presented as the old lady using her voice or whatever. This story was a classic example of white feminism privelging identity over any type of concern for workers lmao that story was bizarre! Karen behavior! I am a cashier and people give sob stories literally all day, you aren’t going to give discounts to anyone who asks. The old woman is not “doing a feminism” by demanding a worker give her a discount that she’s probably not even authorized to give as a non-manager employee. That put me off the rest of the book tbh.
Kinda repetitive, have some political qualms (it doesn’t go in depth enough on basically anything) but a quick read that makes me want to go knit when I’ve been in a knitting rut lately.
October 30, 2020
Until I read this book I had never considered the powerful impact knitting (mostly women knitting), has had on history, the economy and social justice. Now I feel like I am part of a global community of knitters.
June 28, 2022
for a book that was supposed to be about the history and social significance of knitting there was too little of both and too much of the author’s complaints about her supposed financial difficulties (the woman had the gall to cry poverty just because she had to sell her house in aspen lmao) and i found the sections where she talked about native americans and indigenous people in alaska quite offensive
October 26, 2020
This book is beautiful. The author weaves her own story into that of the history of knitting. Each chapter reads as a short essay, but they are tied together seamlessly through the writer’s own narrative of how knitting has impacted her life. I’ll be recommending/gifting this book to my knitter friends.
January 23, 2024
Ik geef het grif toe, ik brei wel graag en soms een beetje fanatiek. Het is geen wonder dat ik dit boek dus 2x cadeau kreeg.
Het boek begon nog redelijk goed, met het vermoedelijk ontstaan van het breien en met de stille zwijgende kracht van al die breiende vrouwen die hierdoor hun gezin ondersteunden, die breiden om te overleven of om de soldaten aan het front van sokken te voorzien, of om boodschappen in te verwerken tijdens de tweede oorlog. Die weetjes vond ik wel leuk.
Maar ondertussen wordt het leven dan vergeleken met een breiwerk, komen er klunzige stukjes memoire in en wordt de draad een beetje verloren.
De taal was erg stroef, maar dat kan aan de vertaling gelegen hebben.
Maar toch wel schattig dat er mensen die mij dierbaar zijn aan mij denken als ze een boek over breien tegenkomen .
Het boek begon nog redelijk goed, met het vermoedelijk ontstaan van het breien en met de stille zwijgende kracht van al die breiende vrouwen die hierdoor hun gezin ondersteunden, die breiden om te overleven of om de soldaten aan het front van sokken te voorzien, of om boodschappen in te verwerken tijdens de tweede oorlog. Die weetjes vond ik wel leuk.
Maar ondertussen wordt het leven dan vergeleken met een breiwerk, komen er klunzige stukjes memoire in en wordt de draad een beetje verloren.
De taal was erg stroef, maar dat kan aan de vertaling gelegen hebben.
Maar toch wel schattig dat er mensen die mij dierbaar zijn aan mij denken als ze een boek over breien tegenkomen .
December 28, 2020
There was a lot to like in this book, but overall it didn't quite hit the mark. I wanted to love this, as I'm an avid knitter. The author is going through a personal moment of sadness, which she weaves throughout a book with interesting knitting tidbits. I was excited to learn of the role of knitting in various revolutions and political actions through time. She rushed through the chapter about knitting and feminism, leaving a shallow - and white - perspective on feminism, which didn't quite jive with the knitting story she was trying to tell. Most of this didn't seem like it was well researched or accurate, just stories found through Google. I wanted to know more about the knitting. I liked the anecdotes of people knitting that she has met on this journey to redefine herself. But I just wanted more. More facts, more history, and more connection. Even the author's own personal journey was just alluded to, leaving me not sure how to personally connect to her tragedy. This could be a much longer book, better pulled together. BUT a knitting nerd will find parts of it interesting, and it is a nice to have for most knitters to add to their collection.
April 18, 2021
wow. she's really bitter. and she paints history with glittering generalities with no evidence to back it up. i finished it hoping it would get better, but sadly, it didn't. i've read far better and more balanced memoir-cum-history books about knitting and the fiber arts. what's sad is that number of readers who are reading this as their first foray into the genre and will accept her pronouncements as fact. this whole book made me sad. she is clearly very hurt and very damaged and appears to relate all things knitting to that. i hope she has more positive life experiences in the future.
June 25, 2022
En bok om stickningens historia och vilken betydelse den haft genom århundradena. Intressanta historier blandas med egna erfarenheter, upplevelser och stickbeskrivningar. Blev lite irriterad över författarens sätt att dra alla stickare över en kam och sättet hon formulerar sig "så här är det".
December 29, 2022
dit was gewoon een memoires over haar leven, waar breien toevallig een rol in speelde
April 19, 2021
This felt like a poorly researched book-length blog post. I agree with other reviews that her privilege just seeps through the pages, pretty much complaining that she’s homeless when she actually owns a flat in London. Just not very relatable.
December 22, 2020
I enjoyed the history of knitting bits. Otherwise the book seemed quite random and disjointed without much purpose.
June 5, 2021
It was an ok book. I felt it could have been two separate books. One of history and one of a rich lady’s musings. Yeah divorce is tough but I feel like this writer is out of touch.
April 8, 2025
I came for the craftivism and stayed for the feminism. The repeated stories of communities coming together to knit to support others was very empowering. There are also a handful of knitting patterns at the end of this book. I had no idea the author was such a prolific public figure until I was reading the About the Author page at the very end.
I appreciate the acknowledgement of colonism and the information about how it altered societies for Alaskan natives and Mongolian nomads.
I learned a lot from this book, such as:
- The American colonies resisted the British by not buying their wool textiles, making their own clothes, and recycling cloth.
- During WWII women spontaneously knit socks when they heard about trench foot and the need to change socks frequently, which wasn't possible with what the government provided. They unraveled anything they had and sent all sorts of colors and patterns of socks. And the British government put limitations on their creativity.
- Tengri brand owner, Nancy Johnson, works to support dying fiber communities while avoiding immoral business practices. They use yak fiber to make cashmere-like fabric.
Some quotes:
- "The one constant is our interaction with nature couples with our creativity."
- "Life is also a gift of nature, and living means exercising an endless stream of acts of free will. It is a great responsibility, which involves a plan of action so as not to spoil it."
- "There are many scientific studies that confirm that knitting is cool."
I appreciate the acknowledgement of colonism and the information about how it altered societies for Alaskan natives and Mongolian nomads.
I learned a lot from this book, such as:
- The American colonies resisted the British by not buying their wool textiles, making their own clothes, and recycling cloth.
- During WWII women spontaneously knit socks when they heard about trench foot and the need to change socks frequently, which wasn't possible with what the government provided. They unraveled anything they had and sent all sorts of colors and patterns of socks. And the British government put limitations on their creativity.
- Tengri brand owner, Nancy Johnson, works to support dying fiber communities while avoiding immoral business practices. They use yak fiber to make cashmere-like fabric.
Some quotes:
- "The one constant is our interaction with nature couples with our creativity."
- "Life is also a gift of nature, and living means exercising an endless stream of acts of free will. It is a great responsibility, which involves a plan of action so as not to spoil it."
- "There are many scientific studies that confirm that knitting is cool."
July 28, 2024
Knitting is pretty powerful stuff, it must be said. It's got me through more than the odd bout of crippling anxiety and I somewhat liked that personal aspect to this book? It just became somewhat laboured in terms of sentiment, particularly with the repetitive "yarn of liiiifffffeeee" metaphors that seemed to crop up in *every* chapter!
The most interesting bits were the historical aspects, documenting how knitting has been utilised as an important political statement, often by women at times when their voices have been so limited in other ways. Activities such as knitting have often been demeaned as "women's stuff", but what Napoleoni here presented was the importance of this women's stuff in periods such as WWI where trench foot was rife, they were under-supplied by governments and women stepped forward to knit socks to support the cause, forcing governments to take notice and address these matters.
This book was incredibly personal for Napoleoni, coming to terms with the mistreatment and ultimate abandonment that she faced by her husband, and I felt her catharses in using this book as therapy and how powerful knitting has been throughout her life. Personally, I think I'd have enjoyed a little more structure to the book though, the chapters often seeming to come back around to the same message and sentiments.
The most interesting bits were the historical aspects, documenting how knitting has been utilised as an important political statement, often by women at times when their voices have been so limited in other ways. Activities such as knitting have often been demeaned as "women's stuff", but what Napoleoni here presented was the importance of this women's stuff in periods such as WWI where trench foot was rife, they were under-supplied by governments and women stepped forward to knit socks to support the cause, forcing governments to take notice and address these matters.
This book was incredibly personal for Napoleoni, coming to terms with the mistreatment and ultimate abandonment that she faced by her husband, and I felt her catharses in using this book as therapy and how powerful knitting has been throughout her life. Personally, I think I'd have enjoyed a little more structure to the book though, the chapters often seeming to come back around to the same message and sentiments.
December 30, 2024
Ik kwam dit boek bij toeval tegen op bol.com en ik had het als cadeau gekocht voor mijn moeder. Ik had niet verwacht dat dit één van mijn favoriete boeken ooit zou worden. Het gaat van breien voor overleving naar breien als protest beweging en emancipatie van de vrouw. Voor mensen die breien zit het boek vol met herkenbare inzichten. Voor mensen die niet breien geeft dit boek 100 redenen om te beginnen. BREIEN IS COOL
(+ gratis patronen achter in de boek?! Dit boek heeft alles dat je wilt)
(+ gratis patronen achter in de boek?! Dit boek heeft alles dat je wilt)
October 7, 2025
I got this book from the library because I'm on the hunt for an actual source on the 'Belgian knitting spies' factoid that gets thrown around so much in knitting circles - and of course it was also unsourced in this book. I also spotted several things that were just plain wrong. So DNF, go to the literature list at the back and read those (I'd already read all of them so I could also spot when she was just summarising those better books)
February 18, 2021
An accomplished economist, the author tells her story of knitting to get through a personal catastrophe, weaving strands from social sciences and current events into her understanding of the social and personal power of this craft.
December 31, 2020
In De kracht van breien wordt zowel het ontrafelde leven van de schrijfster, Loretta Napoleoni, als de activistsiche geschiedenis van het breien ontknoopt en aan het licht gebracht
May 16, 2022
Should be retitled. More about how knitting can create domestic (gentle) anarchy and the author's divorce.
January 3, 2023
Really made me want to knit whilst listening to the audio book!
January 11, 2021
This book knits together the author’s personal story with the history and culture of knitting. The author looks at the humble beginnings of knitting around the world as well as it’s more modern history of the 20th and 21st century.
May 2, 2021
Boek met als onderwerp Hoe breien je mentaal kan helpen. Je problemen, verdriet kan je verzachten door te breien. Interessant boek.
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