I just finished watching … for the first time as I’m sure I’ll watch it again … an amazing documentary about fiber artists, particularly those who knit or crochet. But these are artists who do more than make hats or sweaters or socks (altho I’m sure they do that too) … these are true artists who create for galleries and street art and for playgrounds. Some of these pieces are made as political statements while others are statements about personal philosophies (kids need to play more!) and some are made by the artist because they HAVE TO create, they have to make, they have to give back.

This documentary celebrates all that I love about knitting and fiber: the ability to be a creator … to take two sticks and a string and make beauty. What a great gift!

The documentary is interwoven with American-author, Barbara Kingsolver, reading her original prose work (more of a poem, really) called “Where it Begins“. This is a gorgeous description of knitting … one that I would have liked to write but which I link here for you to read Kingsolver’s beautiful words. Here’s just a snippet:

It begins with a pattern. The arresting helical twist of a double cable, a gusset, a hexagon, a spiral, a fractal, an openwork ladder, an aran braid, a chevron and leaf, the eyes of the lynx, the traveling vines. The mimsy camisole you arguably could live without, the munificent cardigan you need.

Enjoy!