"Handywoman" by Kate Davis

Book in English

Paralysed by a stroke at the age of 36, Kate Davies’s world was turned upside down. Forced to change direction, Kate embarked on a radical new creative path. Handywoman tells that story. This is not a book about Kate’s triumph over adversity. Rather, it is her account of the ordinary activities and everyday objects that stroke and disability made her see differently. From braiding her hair for the first time to learning to knit again; from the lessons of a creative working-class childhood to supporting the contemporary craft community; from the transformative effects of good design to developing a new identity in her disability; in this compelling series of essays, Kate describes how the experience of brain injury enabled her to build a new kind of craft life. Part memoir, part personal celebration of the power of making, in Handywoman Kate reclaims disability as a form of practical creativity in its own right. Kate Davies is an award-winning knitwear designer and author who writes on a wide range of topics, from disability and design to textile history and women’s history. She has published eight books on knitting, lives on the edge of the Scottish Highlands and draws inspiration from the local landscape every day.