The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice [Hardcover]

Susan G. Lydon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 23, 1997

"The purpose of meditation is to quiet the mind so that it can sink down into contemplation of its true nature. You cannot stop your mind by an act of will any more than you can stop the beating of your own heart. Some cultures describe mind as a drunken monkey, reeling from place to place with no rhyme or reason. Like meditation/ knitting calms the monkey down....I believe that in the quiet/ repetitive, hypnotic rhythms of creating craft, the inner being may emerge in all its quiet beauty. The very rhythm, of the knitting needles can become as incantatory as a drumbeat or a Gregorian chant."

-- from The knitting Sutra

Knitting as prayer? Craft as spiritual path? In this wonderfully allusive story of the quest to master a craft, Susan Gordon Lydon's love of knitting and her search for spiritual insight become powerfully and lyrically intertwined.

Lydon's journey begins when she knits a turquoise chenille sweater to help a broken bone in her arm "knit." In pursuit of a perfect silver button for her sweater -- and a medicine man for her arm -- she ends up on a Navajo reservation where a community of women live by the proceeds of their craft in a unified cycle of livelihood, art, and spirituality. They remind Lydon of the women on the Shetland Islands who developed classic knitting patterns and of the women who gather at her local yarn shop. From old-fashioned quilting bees to the hundreds of knitters who communicate on the Internet, she recognizes in craftspeople the confluence of self, community, creativity, ritual, and the urge to beautify the everyday.

Each new knitting project she begins and every new skill she masters bring her closer to serenity and insight that have sometimes eluded her through years of spiritual explorations. In one passage, her arm healed and her passion for knitting rekindled, Lydon finds herself selling old books and clothes to buy a particularly extravagant yarn. The red sweater it becomes represents the lessons in daring and self-trust she learns while crafting it. Even a bout with cancer ("I particularly didn't want to die because I wanted to finish my Alice Starmore sweater") and the hiatus from knitting a tendinitis diagnosis demands guide her to take the lessons she has learned from knitting -- sitting still, focusing the mind, asking for help -- and apply them to the rest of her life.

Dedicated to "all the women who knit too much," Lydon's rich insights will delight and inspire all who seek the extraordinary in the everyday.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

This small, quite wonderful book shows all that knitting and meditation have in common--and it's more than some might suspect. In short essays, Lydon, a longtime knitter and dabbler in spiritual disciplines, winds her way through spiritual quests, physical problems, and, of course, yarn. Any knitter will readily identify with Lydon's take on the frustrations of knitting--the sweaters that don't fit, the half-finished projects that litter the house--but she also takes readers beyond the finished project and shows them how to appreciate the process. Seeing knitting as a road to contemplation may surprise some readers--perhaps even a few knitters--but by the end of Lydon's journey, most will agree that knitting "is the simplest and most ordinary of activities, yet somehow it mysteriously contains within itself the potential for expanding our conscious awareness." Ilene Cooper

Review

Lydon is a good enough writer to bring one to tears.” —San Jose Mercury News
“A very special book about women… Gracefully links handcraft and spiritual practice in our everyday lives. Because she is both a fine reporter and an honest woman, her book will be rewarding to many women, knitters or not, who are trying to untangle their lives.” —Vogue Knitting International

“This soul-stirring volume offers proof positive that crafts are much more than creative outlets—they can be catalysts for our personal transformation.” –Body Mind Spirit
“This small, quite wonderful book shows all that knitting and meditation have in common—and it’s more than some might suspect.” —Booklist

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: HarperOne; 1st edition (January 23, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0062512021
• ISBN-13: 978-0062512024
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (22 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,113,901 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Analyzing the Patterns Looking for Common Threads, January 18, 2001

By 

Donna V. Laing "Stitchin Joy" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice (Hardcover)

The common threads running through this little work are that spirit and handwork are entwined.

There are home truths in the book that I have discovered in my own experience. One of the most fascinating is how the hands remember what the head has forgotten. Women tell me they haven't knitted or crocheted in decades, yet they begin to work as soon as I put yarn and needles in their hands.

The repetition of movement in knitting and also of crochet is beneficial as a mantra, reducing stress, inducing a nearly trancelike state, and making time stand still. Laborare est orare. Work is prayer. Indeed.

Yes, it's addictive. Ah well. There are destructive habits and constructive habits.

My home is full of book and yarn and friends. Some of my friends share both addictions with me. And with Susan Gordon Lydon as well. We trade books and patterns and help and praise. And I have already given one of my friends this lovely little book.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Gentle Gem of Wisdom, November 25, 2002

By 

"lucasbob" (Oakland, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice (Hardcover)

The Knitting Sutra is that rare book of self-discovery in which the author not only invites you in for a comfortable chat, but also leaves you with little epiphanies of your own. Though I know Susan Lydon personally, I was still amazed at her journey to the heart of knitting, and how closely it was tied to her spiritual awakening. Reading this book inspired me to find meaning and purpose in the ordinary activities of my own life, rather than searching outside. What a delightful antidote to the arrogance and bombast of our global corporate culture!

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really lovely book., May 7, 2000

By 

Louise (Sydney, Australia.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice (Hardcover)

Susan Gordon Lydon's journey into knitting is described in loving, honest detail and is a truly absorbing read for anyone interested in the development of their spirituality or in handcrafts. The connection between repetitive, fine handwork and comtemplative thought will cause you to look at your crafts with new eyes. Definately recommended.