Exploring Britain's Knitted History: An In-Depth Look at the Legendary Golden Fleece

Mary: Excellent quality for a paper back. Great price .

United Kingdom on Dec 04, 2023

Corina Person Minniti: I dithered for a while before buying this book. It had been in my wishlist for a long time but I had read one review that wasn’t great and I let it taint my opinion. I’m glad I finally bought it! I have loved reading this book and feel like the author does a fantastic job of tying in her own experiences of following history around the UK with history. Sometimes I find textile history books easier to listen to than read but this one is a wonderful read. Anyone interested in knitting, wool, UK history, or sheep I recommend this book!

United States on Nov 21, 2023

Astra: Good reading

United Kingdom on Aug 06, 2023

S. O'SHEA: Came quickly as described and is absolutely fascinating!

United Kingdom on Jun 14, 2023

Chiara: I loved this book, such a good prose to travel back to bygone times when sheep and wool were precious in every family-economy. Patterns, weaving and knitting are told pleasantly in every page along with the feeling that they are still a way of showing love and care. The pictures aren't really impressive, rather appalling quality - but the book really deserve to be ready by knitters lovers or by anyone who had a knitter in the family

Italy on Apr 02, 2023

Quillienne: This book is not a systematic history, but a book of personal discovery. It's very readable and I enjoyed following along with the author's journey. Along the way, I learned so many fascinating things. The history of knitting is told through the lives of people she learns about. There are references to articles and books that I want to look up, and the notes and bibliography are helpful. The book would benefit from a map, but I used Google maps as a substitute.

Some reviewers have reacted strongly to this book because of the author's politics. To be clear, the author discusses the pussyhat in the context of knitting's history of craftivism. The pussyhat is compared to the Phrygian hat of the French Revolution. The discussion occurs on pp. 67-68 and 73-74. She also mentions taking part in a protest in London, and yes, she expresses her distaste for Trump. It's a small part of the book.

United States on Feb 10, 2021

Miranda: I don't usually write reviews but felt compelled to on this occasion. I found this book really very enjoyable and informative. It offers the reader lots of leads to follow up, places to go, things to see, and yarns and books to look at and perhaps buy. I agree to some extent with some of the less positive comments, in that, I would have loved to see more photographs and hear more about some of the interesting things that the author discovers whilst researching the book but frankly if all of the items mentioned were covered in detail or would be encyclopedic in size.. There really is a huge number of places, events, explanations, stories and history in here. This is a really fun read for those interested in knitting, yarn, sheep and the history of our country, it's like a pirates treasure map inviting the reader to get out and discover more, offering lots of clues and leads for their own journey of discovery.

United Kingdom on Mar 18, 2020

GB: I’m so glad I purchased this book. I am at the moment a novice knitter. This does inspire me to learn more. Wish I could attend her talk at the V&A.

United States on Feb 18, 2020

Judy: Surprisingly enchanting. The English major shines thru with great descriptions. Felt like I was there so enjoyed the travel.

United States on Jan 01, 2020

Susanne C.: I would have to agree with the first review, there is a lack of coherence. It is overwritten, there are some very high flown phrases that seem out of place given the subject matter- knitting, wool, the history of knitting, these are basic, earthy commonplaces, their ubiquitousness gives them context and importance but maybe not transcendence. I say this as a person who learned to knit at five and for whom needlework has been an obsession ever since. I am not in any way trivializing the subject. I own hundreds of books on knitting, quilting, and domestic history, and I am always anxious to acquire more, it is just that portions of this book read like undergraduate essays intended to impress a professor.
The stream of consciousness approach which confuses is not without charm. If you are obsessed by the subject as I am even the anecdotal jumping from topic to topic, encounter to encounter feeds the obsession. There is research here but it seems idiosyncratic rather than systematic. As an introduction to traditional British knitting it is a fine book. Because the book is not particularly long or dense she skims the surface, if you have read many of the books dedicated to each...

United States on Oct 07, 2019