Tradition of knitting shared at library event
By Contributor
Knitting is an enduring handicraft, which has been pass down from one generation to another, from one culture to another. In her beautifully illustrated book, Working with Wool: a Coast Salish Legacy and the Cowichan Sweater (Sono Nis Press, 2010), Sylvia Olsen explores these connections.
Olsen will be at the Grand Forks Library on Friday, Oct. 19th at 11:00 to talk about the impact of the Chowichan sweater, share stories of Coast Salish knitters and connect with audience, whether they are knitters, or not.
For Olsen it is a very personal story. It was her love of knitting that gave her acceptance by her native husband’s family, an understanding on the fusion of native and European handwork, work at the sweater shop she ran on the Tsartlip First Nation reserve, and the obligation to pass the tradition on. On Working with Wool Olsen said, “I could not not write this book.”
Moving between two cultures has been a way of life for Olsen, one that she has eloquently shared in her books for teens and children. Working with Wool, her first book written primarily for an adult audience, won the Lieutenant-Governor’s Medal for Historical Writing and was nominated for the Roderick Haig-Brown Regional Prize.
To get a sense of Olsen’s warmth and vitality listen to her interview on CBC’s Next Chapter at Fabulous interview on Shelagh Rogers Next Chapter Jan. 9, 2012
http://www.cbc.ca/thenextchapter/episode/2012/01/09/sylvia-olsen/ Once you hear her, you will want to meet her. For more information about her go to her website at: http://sylviaolsen.ca/ Or go to your library and take out one of her wonderful books.
Sylvia Olsen’s presentation is brought to you by the Canada Council for the Arts, the Kootenay Library Federation, and the (your library’s name). For more information about this free event phone the library at 250-442-2533
