In the Loop

In the Loop: Knitting Now challenges oversimplified definitions of contemporary knitting to reveal the diversity and popularity of knitting today. Invited contributors range from practitioners and educators, to historians, conservators and curators, representing research from Australia, Britain, Canada and the United States. Lavishly illustrated, this book explores knitting from perspectives that shed new light on a craft that has too often been dismissed as a retro hobby. The artists, activists and designers included in In the Loop: Knitting Now do not create knitting that conforms to our typical expectations of what can be made with needles and thread. Across four themed sections---"Rethinking Knitting", "Narrative Knits", "Site & Sight: Activist Knitting" and "Progress: Looking Back"---a diverse and eclectic range of voices challenge the stereotypes of knitting. In the Loop: Knitting Now seeks to acknowledge and expand the contribution knitting makes to a vast array of disciplines, including contemporary and traditional crafts, modern literature, fine art, feminism, activism and history. Conceptual and material investigations are used to document the vibrant diversity of approaches now used to produce and discuss knitting today.