Book Review: Knitting for Radical Self-Care

If you consider knitting part of your self care ritual — not self-care in a cutesy way like people on the Internet usually describe it, but as a vital part of your means of survival — you definitely should take the time to read and knit from Knitting for Radical Self-Care by Brandi Cheyenne Harper.

The book includes essays and reflections on how knitting serves us as an act of self-care and a way to show up in the world and how to find joy, self-expression, armor and resilience within our stitches and ourselves.

Each of the 10 patterns offers a reflection on and is inspired by a word and the words of women who are meaningful to the author.

The patterns mostly use bulky and super bulky yarn and place a lot of emphasis on shaping details and the structure of the pieces that make them more than just a shawl or a sweater. For example the Ode Cardigan, one of my favorites, uses chunky yarn and begins with an I-cord cast on. Pockets and the shawl collar (which doubles as a hood) are integrated into the design and the raglan shaping adds even more movement to the piece.

There are cowls, mittens, sweaters, a hat and a shawl in this collection (you can see some of them on her website or at the Amazon link below) and all the knitting instructions you need, even if you’re totally new to knitting (I would say these are good for knitters who have a couple of projects under their belts, but everything is well explained).

The author models her designs and the joy she feels in sharing her creations is apparent and serves as a reminder to all of us that this is what we should be striving for in life: pure self-expression and acceptance. It’s not an easy thing but it’s what we’re here to create.

The health benefits of knitting are well-established, and entering the new year consciously choosing projects and materials that speak to us, as well as embracing knitting as a practice, is a great way to begin. Knitting for Radical Self-Care calls on all of us to remember why we knit and how it helps us to build connections to ourselves, our community and our ancestors.

About the book: 160 pages, hardcover, 10 patterns. Published January 2022 by Abrams. Grab the book from Amazon.

Generally I like knitting patterns where I feel like you can use whatever yarn you have (because my stash is big enough and I want to use it, thanks) and make a successful project. This is one of those times when a special yarn makes the process that much easier.

The Floral Bouquet Shawl from Xandy Peters uses a specific extended color pooling yarn from Feisty Fibers, which allows you to place the bobble flowers with increasing frequency as you knit the project.

It starts with a solid color yarn, then the two color yarn is added in, and you make a bobble whenever you encounter the color pops. This would be hard to replicate with other yarn that doesn’t have the extended color pooling built in.

The background of the shawl is ribbed, making the project reversible.

The shawl uses fingering/sock yarn and comes out to be an asymmetrical triangle that’s 54 inches/137 cm long and 36 inches/ 90 cm deep and 60 inches/150 cm across the top edge.

Xandy says the pattern is for intermediate to advanced knitters. Knowing how to work traditional bobbles would probably help, but there’s a great video tutorial for how to work the floral bobbles so you can practice on other yarn or even incorporate the bobbles into other projects.

The bobbles are five-petaled flowers but they also kind of look like starfish to me, which could be fun on a child’s cardigan or other pattern. They’d also be fun on the leg of a sock or around the brim of a hat for extra whimsy.

The pattern includes photo and video tutorials, and written and charted instructions. It also includes tips on what to look for if you choose to use different yarn for the project, and instructions on how to dye your own yarn to use in the project.

If you want to give it a try, you can find the pattern on Ravelry.

[Photo: Xandy Peters]

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