The Knitting Sutra - by Susan Gordon Lydon (Paperback)

About the Book

Both a meditation on craft and an affirmation for anyone seeking heartfelt comfort, "The Knitting Sutra" recounts Susan Lydon's membership in a remarkable community of craftswomen from all parts of the world, including sweater makers in Scotland and Navajo weavers.

Book Synopsis

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

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.

Review Quotes

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

About the Author

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.