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.

Knitters-there are some 38 million of them in the United States alone-are part of a tradition that's both plainly practical and deeply spiritual. With needles clicking, they weave together not just garments to warm the body but also comfort and companionship to nurture the soul. This tradition is flowering today through knitting ministries, a worldwide ecumenical movement of women's groups, gathering to pray and knit for those in need and those celebrating life's joys. As they create shawls for others, their handiwork becomes an expression of their love-and of the loving care of the God who works through them. Knitting into the Mystery shares the stories of how this ministry has touched lives and hearts around the world. It offers directions for knitting the shawls and for starting a parish or community knitting ministry. It also provides a selection of prayers, written from many faith traditions, to offer with each completed shawl. Book jacket.

In Knitting, Praying, Forgiving: A Pattern of Love and Forgiveness, Cheryl shares her story of faith and her journey to forgiving the young man who murdered her mother .She provides a user-friendly pattern to experience love and forgiveness with the craft of knitting and an ancient monastic prayer practice: Lectio Divina. You may find encouragement in Cheryl's story, and her pattern will help guide you to forgiveness one stitch at a time. "A grace-filled book for knitters and contemplatives, Knitting, Praying, Forgiving is a practical and inspirational guide to the transforming power of knitting God's love into shawls of forgiveness." - Susan S. Izard, co-author of Knitting into the Mystery "Cheryl Wunsch has an amazing story to tell, and she does so with great courage and compassion. Knitting, Praying, Forgiving lays out the path to a new life for anyone who has suffered at the hands of evil. I love this little book." -Paula Huston, author of A Season of Mystery and Simplifying the Soul. "Thoughtful and touching, Wunsch weaves together deep appreciation of a centuries-old prayer tradition with the needs of today. Her approach reminds me of the weaving of baskets prayerfully performed by the desert monks of long ago. Both spiritual and practical, this approach is another way to pray always." -Brother Bede Healey, OSB Cam. "Cheryl Wunsch weaves in her tender book Knitting, Praying, Forgiving a simple pattern of prayer, reflection, and craft (knitting) that abides as the heart of a loving and forgiving life. In the manner in which she knits her story, her prayer, and her practice together, Cheryl creates a radiant shawl of quiet that speaks powerfully as the fruit of faith and forgiveness." -Glenn Mitchell, spiritual director and director of training and programs for Oasis Ministries

From the author of the modern classic The Knitting Sutra comes an inspiring and colorful narrative on knitting through one’s darkest hours. Susan Gordon Lydon’s groundbreaking book The Knitting Sutra offered a new way for knitters to look at their craft—as a healing and meditative endeavor instead of a granny hobby or an indulgent pastime. The first book without knitting patterns to capture the knitting audience, it has been widely imitated, but no other book has endured so well. With Knitting Heaven and Earth, Lydon again breaks new ground, this time following the emotional ties that become bound up in her handicrafts when a series of wrenching events—a heartbreaking romance, the death of her father, a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer—leave her reeling. Through it all, Lydon finds new reserves of strength in knitting, in the skeins of sumptuous yarn and colorful thread that help her make sense of the trials of the heart.

A collection of twenty unique hand-knit designs from Weardowney features detailed patterns, full-color photographs, and step-by-step instructions for an array of one-of-a-kind cardigans, skirts, tunic dresses, sweaters, and tops.

This new spirituality of knitting addresses topics such as knitting as a popular pastime, what knitting does for our minds, bodies, and spirits, and how knitting helps people reduce stress, overcome loss, form friendships, and connect with a community. Most important, the author shows readers and crafters how knitting can become prayer.

"An intelligent, moving read" (Pages) and "a testament to women’s friendship and to Ann Hood’s talent" (Hilma Wolitzer). After the loss of her only child, Mary Baxter finds herself unable to read or write, the activities that used to be her primary source of comfort. She reluctantly joins a knitting circle as a way to fill her lonely days—not knowing it will change her life. As they teach Mary new knitting techniques, the women in the circle also reveal their own secrets of loss, love, and hope. With time, Mary is finally able to tell her own story of grief, and in so doing finds the spark of life again.

Presents an introduction to knitting, discussing the basics of yarn selection, techniques, design, and stitch variations that can be implemented for scarves, shawls, hats, gloves, and socks, with tips from expert knitters.

With just a few tools and fabric, Karen Tiede gives you directions for making 28 different rugs with designs that use age-old motifs, including stripes and spirals; traditional quilt patterns, such as tessellations and log cabin designs; and freeform inventions. She shows how to create a wide range of color modulations, as well as different shapes, from rectangles to circles. The results are beautiful, one-of-a-kind floor coverings and wall hangings that are perfect for your space and taste.

DIVKnitting Yarns and Spinning Tales brings to life the unique and universal experiences of knitters from a variety of backgrounds. This exceptional collection combines lighthearted essays with more philosophical pieces from authors and experts such as Meg Swansen, Perri Klass, Lily Chin, Teva Durham, Lela Nargi, Susan Gordon Lydon, Suzyn Jackson, Amy Singer, Greta Cunningham, Laura Billings, Kay Dorn, Betty Christiansen, and Jennifer Hansen, who put down their needles long enough to share their thoughts and musings about the popular pastime. In these entertaining yarns, the authors provide insight into the warmth and enjoyment of knitting and crocheting. Join one writer as she shares a poignant Sunday afternoon in March shearing sheep with her father; travel to Sant ’Arsenio, Italy, where women gather on their door steps to knit, crochet, embroider, and chat; laugh at one woman’s memories of learning to knit in an uncomfortable classroom chair beside a World War II vet named Max; and smile at the essays that delve into the psyche of the knitter. If you live to knit, enjoy the companionship of other knitters, or appreciate the intricate handiwork of a handmade sweater, Knitting Yarns and Spinning Tales is a must-read!/div