by Adrienne Martini – This quick-to-read book is a memoir of Martini’s quest to knit an Alice Starmore-inspired sweater… but it’s also so much more. Martini is also a writer, which gives her access to some of the knitterati the rest of us knitters will probably never meet. She shares their insights in her book, too, which gives it a depth and resonance beyond “one woman’s knitting experience.” I mean, I could write a book about undertaking a crazy challenging knitting project, but my book wouldn’t have input from my personal encounters with famous knitters in Canada… probably because I don’t have the money or access to visit them.
Beyond the wonderful input from knitting rock stars (well, they are to us hardcore knitters!), Martini infuses the book with a sense of her life away from the needles. I’ve read some critiques who didn’t appreciate the miniscule amount of political commentary Martini gave, probably because they are of the opposite persuasion, but I liked it. I had a better idea of what it would be like to hang out with Martini… and the distinct impression from her occasionally profane language that we’d get along just fine.
I was a bit surprised in reading some reviews on goodreads.com that there were quite a few non-knitters who had read and rated the book. I was less surprised to find that they liked it less than I did. I mean, I don’t think I’d enjoy Julie and Julia (as many of them did), but then again, I don’t like to cook. And if it wasn’t their cup of tea (which is entirely valid and which some of them even admitted to), why would they take the time to go on the book’s goodreads page and be so negative about it? I dunno, but I hope they felt better afterward. And I also hope that the people who truly are in Martini’s target audience will give it a go. It’s a fun book, one in which I saw myself –a capital-K Knitter – more than once.
(finished 1/24/12)
