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Two women from different parts of the world share the stories of their lives

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The Conversation: Love at first knit

Magazines & Reviews

Love at first knit

14/12/2020 GMT

BBC World Service - The Conversation, Love at first knit

Two knitting enthusiasts unravel the social and cultural history of the craft.

Economist Loretta Napoleoni and knit designer Hélène Magnússon believe knitting helps you relax, keep your mind sharp and can even bring about social change.

Knitting is sometimes dismissed as a gentle domestic activity, but this craft has a rich history of activism. It also helps keep your mind sharp and make you feel more relaxed. Kim Chakanetsa meets two knitting enthusiasts to unravel the social and cultural history of the craft.

Loretta Napoleoni is an Italo-American economist who usually writes about the financing of terrorism. She is also an avid knitter and in her latest book, The Power of Knitting, she looks at how knitting became a tool for women to fight discrimination and promote social change - from the spinning bees of the American Revolution to the knitting spies of WWI and WWII.  
 
Hélène Magnússon is a knit designer based in Iceland. She grew up in France where she was a lawyer. In the 1990s she quit her high-flying career to move to Iceland, using knitting to explore the culture and history of Iceland and to make friends, until it eventually became her main profession. For her, the benefits of knitting go far beyond a finished scarf: when she was diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, she realised that, throughout her life, she had been using the craft to cope with social situations she found stressful. You can find more about her work at icelandicknitter.com
 
Producer: Alice Gioia 

Image: 
L: Loretta Napoleoni - credit Roberto Vettorato 
R: Hélène Magnússon – courtesy of Hélène Magnússon

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