Most of us crafters know instinctively that working with yarn, fiber, and cloth makes life better. Believing that handwork is good for our well-being has sparked memes about knitting as “the new yoga” and sold tee shirts that read, “I knit so I don’t stab people.” But feeling good while practicing fiber art is only one of the ways that working with thread adds meaning to life.
As a “passionate knitter and yarn stasher, a comparably dispassionate sewist, a novice embroiderer, and a clumsy crocheter,” Nicole Nehrig has experienced this for herself. As a clinical psychologist, she used the tools of her training to examine how women have used needlework to meet their needs and enrich their lives. In stories collected from around the world and through time, she documents how women have stitched their way not only to emotional well being but also self-expression, community, and financial reward in her book, With Her Own Hands: Women Weaving Their Stories. The book combines narrative nonfiction with observations about the shared experience of making meaning while making cloth.
In our conversation, Nicole discusses how her loves of craft and women’s lives came together to tell the shared story of women’s handwork.
Nicole Nehrig’s website
With Her Own Hands: Women Weaving Their Stories
Elizabeth Wayland Barber, Women’s Work: The First 20,000 Years
Nilda Callañaupa Alvarez on the Long Thread Podcast
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Brown Sheep Company is a four-generation family business bringing you high quality wool and natural fiber yarns. We spin and dye U.S.-grown wool into hundreds of vibrant colors at our mill in western Nebraska. Our mill has something to offer for every craft, from our well-known knitting and crochet yarns to wool roving for spinning and felting. We offer U.S-made needlepoint yarn as well as yarn on cones for weaving. Learn more about our company and products at BrownSheep.com.
The Adirondack Wool and Arts Festival is the perfect way to spend a weekend surrounded by over 150 craft vendors in Greenwich, New York. Discover a curated group of vendors featuring the best of wool and artisan crafters. Throughout the weekend enjoy workshops, free horse drawn wagon rides, free kid's crafts, a fiber sheep show, and a sanctioned cashmere goat show. Join us September 20 & 21, 2025, and every fall! For more information visit adkwoolandarts.com. Buy tickets now!
Appalachian Baby Design offers U.S. sustainably sourced yarns, kits, and patterns for crafting heirloom-quality gifts for the family. Their U.S. organic cotton and Shaniko sportweight wool are soft, resilient and washable–perfect for creating lasting pieces. Whether knitting, crocheting, or weaving—for beautiful creations that will be cherished for generations, start with appalachianbaby.com.
