One of my favorite things about working at Purl is getting to preview all the new books that come through, and I'm often caught leafing through them when I should be unpacking and putting them on the shelf.  I recently got sucked in by one of our newest arrivals, the US edition of The Gentle Art of Domesticity by Jane Brocket, who is the creator of a blog I'll bet you've seen and loved: yarnstorm.  If you haven't seen it, check it out right now and you'll see how beautifully done it is.  Each entry reads like a letter from a good friend, detailing moments of creative inspiration found through family, books, movies, art, baking, traveling, gardening, fabric, and of course, yarn.

The Gentle Art of Domesticity is one of the most unique craft books I've come across at Purl.  In fact, I shouldn't even call it a craft book because it's not a how-to or a pattern book.  Rather, it's a smartly written collection of essays, reflections, and stories about Jane's domestic life and the immense pleasure she gets from building her nest.  Subtitled "Stitching, Baking, Nature, Art, and the Comforts of Home," Jane delves further into her love for "the gentle arts," contemplating varied subjects such as buttons, English painters, Cary Grant, and chewy flapjacks.  Yes, you'll find several recipes for baked treats interspersed with discussions of style, texture, practicality, luxury, and color.  And speaking of color, absolutely no punches are pulled in that department.  Most of the shockingly colorful photos were taken by the author herself, and illustrate the major role that color plays in each and every creative choice she makes.  I love that she likes to match her embroidered tablecloths with the icing on her cupcakes; and her toenail polish to her dahlias.

As a single girl whose tiny New York studio apartment can have a hard time feeling like a home, I found valuable creative advice in The Gentle Art of Domesticity, but I never felt bossed into adopting Jane's style or way of making things as my own.  Her thoughts on inspiration right at the beginning of the chapter were particularly helpful.  In the sub-chapter titled "A Habit of Seeing," she describes inspiration as simply "the opposite of expiration, a drawing in as opposed to a letting out."  After reading that sentence I made a promise that I would take the time to record in a journal all the things I see and hear during the day that I have allowed to affect an emotion in me; to take in the beautiful and gritty scenes of my New York life and let them find their way into my home via my knitting, sewing, cooking, photos, and writing.

 
Although visually stunning and inspiring to read, the pictures and stories in The Gentle Art of Domesticity are not what drew me in the most.  In the introduction, Jane calls attention to something that I and I'd guess lot of women of my generation think seriously about every day--the choice many of us have between staying at home with family or going out into the workforce, or even doing both.  She remembers that in the seventies (when I was born), feminism was mainstream again and young girls were being raised to have a greater sense of independence through career.  To the feminist thinkers of the time, the domestic arts were a throwback to the days when women's lives were relegated to the home, and soon enough they became devalued as quaint and irrelevant.  Having become a woman with both a professional and a domestic life, Jane reports that she sometimes felt embarrassed by her love of knitting, sewing, and baking and hid her creations, thinking she was alone in valuing these skills.  Well, it's certainly clear by the publication of this book, the popularity of yarnstorm and other blogs like it, and the resurgence of craft circles and retailers that she isn't alone.  I know that I enjoy spending much of my spare time in the kitchen, or with a pile of wool in my lap, or at the sewing machine, and that I feel great satisfaction in both the process and the product of these pursuits.  And most of all, I'm glad that I was given a choice.  Thank you Jane! --Leah

ps. You can find the book here! If you'd like to learn more about this book, and see a whole gallery of images check out this link: Melanie Falick Books!