bio of things bookbox;; kind of a look back at mostly the married portion of the author's life, interwoven with her experiences to learn to knit, weave and spin. Interesting that she raised rabbits to spin their hair into yarn and that she hated weaving because you have to calculate threads first, instead of ad hoc knitting until it looked good. ( )

As a knitter & crocheter, naturally I enjoy reading about the subject, whether a non-fiction or a fiction book. This book is a memoir about Kyoko's life, starting with her childhood & a personal tragedy. She grows up, moves to America, gets married, and lives her life. The stories about her life, are intertwined with stories about learning to knit, making her first sweater, discovering circular knitting & Elizabeth Zimmermann. I'm a huge fan of EZ, so whenever someone talks about discovering her for the first time, I get a big thrill.

I am giving this book four stars for two reasons: one, I had difficulties keeping track of time. She goes back to her childhood so often, that I often couldn't tell if she was talking about the past or the present. Towards the end, she was retelling a story involving her husband that I thought took place in the past, until I realized after rereading it, she actually meant the present.

Two, I felt the story moved along slowly - I guess I just like more action in my books.

Again, these are just my personal opinions, just because I felt the book moved slowly doesn't mean someone else wouldn't greatly love the pacing.



I received a copy of this book for free from netgalley.com ( )

I knit and all, but knitters are so weird. ( )

Kyoki Mori delivers a moving account of her life by threading together various knitting projects with different episodes in her life. As Mori's story unravels, you share pain when she loses her mother, the frustration she feels with her family, the slow demise of her marraige and the joy she finds when she takes charge of her life.

I don't read many memoirs, but I thoroughly enjoyed Mori's story.

Though at times the story is slow-paced, threads of Mori's youth weave seamlessly with lessons she learns as adult. Each section in the book corresponds with a different project, and they range in their difficulty: scarves, cardigans, fair isle, etc. At one point she compares her marriage to instarsia -- her and husband come together when it suits them, knitting together the image the pattern calls for, but when the image is done, they separate until the next pattern.

The book jumps back and forth a lot from Mori's youth to her present day, but Mori is so frank and honest about her life that the way she tells her story works beautifully. Though Mori is a drastically different type of woman than I am, she is comfortable in her own skin and in the end I admire her strength and courage.

"Yarn -- Remembering the Way Home" is more than just the memoir of a knitter. It's a story woven together in pieces, and much like in a knitted garment, the end result is worth it. ( )

A breathlessly lyrical memoir of family, marriage, divorce, and knowing oneself. Though others have used knitting metaphors, few do it as sincerely and effectively as the author does. A tremendous pleasure for my first foray into Gemma Media titles! (4) ( )