The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice - Paperback

by Susan Gordon Lydon (Author)

Available for the first time in paperback, The Knitting Sutra reveals how women can learn to knit their way to nirvana.

"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

When Susan Gordon Lydon was coping with a broken arm, her craft took on new significance. While knitting was essential to strengthening her hands, it also provided her with a newfound sense of peace and creativity. Immersed in brilliant colors, textures, and images of beautiful sweaters, Lydon found healing and enlightenment in a way she had never imagined. Capturing this journey of discovery, The Knitting Sutra recounts her remarkable membership in a community of craftswomen around the world, from sweater makers in Scotland to Navajo weavers, and the adventures that her craft led her on.

As she masters new techniques and conquers old obstacles, Lydon's story conveys how the lessons she learned from knitting, such as stillness and interdependence, later sustained her through a cancer diagnosis and even the incapacitation of her hands. The Knitting Sutra is both a meditation on craft and an affirmation for anyone seeking heartfelt comfort.

Author Biography

SUSAN GORDON LYDON is a regular contributor to the knitting magazine Interweave and the Knitlit anthologies. The author of Take the Long Way Home, she has written for many national publications, including The New York Times Magazine, The Village Voice, and Ms., and she writes a column for the Oakland Tribune. A resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, she conducts knitting workshops and is working on a new memoir of knitting.