The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice

By Susan Gordon Lydon

Book Overview

"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.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0062512021
• ISBN13: 9780062512024
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: HarperOne
• Length: 176 Pages
• Weight: 0.74 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.5" x 7.4"

Customer Reviews

Renewed my reasons to knit again- balance and spirit

Busy and unbalanced are two words to describe my life lately. Knitting appeared again recently and then this pearl of a book. Susan successfully makes the link between heart, hands, and spirit...helping one in the course of reading and knitting to find balance and a sense of self within spirit again. Fabulous stories from Native American to Sufi, from the British Isles to Florida wetlands. I bought several copies for my knitting friends.

For everyone who knits, crochets, or sews with passion

This book moved me to tears. It expressed what I'd been grappling to understand since I started to crochet two years ago. This beautifully written, personal journey is truly insightful and moving. I used to spurn womanly crafts such as sewing and knitting. But when I tried crochet two years ago I was immediately addicted. Somehow, this was what I had been searching for. I struggled to understand and express why I fell in love with crocheting. Finally I read this book and found my answer. Crocheting has become my way of connecting with other women both past and present. There is an instant fellowship when you meet someone and find out that they knit, crochet or sew. Crochet has also become my means of creating something tangible and physical in this electronic world. The author's stories of how women throughout the ages have put the heart and souls into their crafts were very moving and informative. I loved the story about the Guatemalan mother who when asked her greatest achievement pointed out her magnificent weavings and said "anyone can have children". I also identified with Ms. Lydon's quest for mastery of knitting-- that feeling of wanting to be proficient at something challenging. "The Knitting Sutra" is about far more than knitting but it's hard to read it and not be inspired to try knitting or some other art or craft. If you love any sort of handicraft and do it with passion then I heartily recommend this book.

A Gentle Gem of Wisdom

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!

A really lovely book.

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.

Follow the Threads

You don't have to be a knitter to enjoy The Knitting Sutra, but beware. I wasn't a knitter when I started but by the time I had reached the third chapter, I was playing around with my mother in law's needles and by the time I had finished, I was halfway through a sweater. This magical little book is really about the big topics - life, the spiritual quest and the threads which draw history and meaning together. Knitting is both a metaphor for how we build ourselves from the bits of yarn we gather over the years, and a literal, spiritual and very useful craft. For the lover of words, colour and texture, there is beauty in the way Lydon describes the exquisite yarn she purchases, the silver buttons she travels miles to obtain, and the quest for mastery of her craft. For the spiritual seeker, there is pathos in the journey Lydon takes to find meaning in her life, with an amazing range of references, from Arica through the Sufi order, Dineh and other Native American practices, Judaism, etc. For the craftsperson, this book is packed with references to the history of knitting, top designers and wool manufacturers. For those who just like a good yarn, the story of Lydon's struggles with a broken humerus, her travels, her knitting projects and her struggle with Cancer are an enjoyable read. There is something for everyone here. Highly recommended.