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Sharp Notions: Essays from the Stitching Life

Sharp Notions: Essays from the Stitching Life

No customer reviews yet ISBN 9781551529257 Arsenal Pulp Press

A wide-ranging anthology of personal essays from diverse voices about their relationships to the fibre arts.

Sometimes, the reliability of a knit stitch, the steady rocking of a quilting needle, the solid structure of a loom, is all you have. During the pandemic, fiber arts newbies discovered and lapsed crafters rediscovered that picking up some sticks and string or a needle and thread was the perfect way to reduce stress, quell anxiety, and foster creativity, an antidote to endless hours of doom-scrolling.

Chances are you or someone close to you is currently in an ecstatic relationship with yarn, thread, or fabric. As we struggle with the pressures, anxieties, and impacts of daily life, fiber arts--knitting, crocheting, embroidery, weaving, beading, sewing, quilting, textiles--can be an antidote, a mirror and a metaphor for so many of life's challenges. Part time machine, part meditation app, the simple act of working with one's hands instantly reduces the overwhelming scope of living to a human scale and the present moment.

In this nonfiction anthology, writers and artists from different backgrounds explore their complex relationships to fiber arts and the intersection of creative practice and identity, technology, climate change, trauma, politics, chronic illness, and disability.

In answer to
the mainstream craft space's tendency to centre the perspectives and careers of
white women, Sharp Notions showcases Black, Indigenous, South-Asian,
Chinese, and queer artists and makers and the cultural traditions of craft in
diasporic communities.

Accompanied by full-colour photographs throughout, these
powerful essays challenge the traditional view of crafting and examine the
role, purpose, joy, and necessity of craft amid the alienation of contemporary
life.

About the author

Product details

BrandArsenal Pulp Press
Pub dateOct 10, 2023
ISBN-101551529254
ISBN-139781551529257
Paperback368.0 pages
LanguageEnglish
Dimensions6.1 × 0.83 × 9.02 in
Weight1 lb
Last updated 2026-09-03 18:14
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