Synopses & Reviews
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. And the idea of knitting as meditation has caught on—it is often cited as the new yoga. With
Knitting Heaven and Earth Lydon again breaks new ground, this time following the emotional ties that become bound up in her handicrafts.
The new book was inspired by Lydon’s advancement as a knitter. As her stitches grew finer, she found that her life came into focus and her emotional wounds began to heal. When faced with a series of wrenching events–a heartbreaking romance, the death of her father, a devastating diagnosis of breast cancer—Lydon found new reserves of strength in knitting. Through it all, the skeins of sumptuous yarn and colorful thread helped her make sense of the trials of the heart.
Bringing elements of spiritual and historical lore into play, Lydon explores the connections that handicrafts forge, both in knitting circles and across generations, through her own experience and her encounters in the knitting community. Woven into the story are vivid accounts of projects she has undertaken, from a luxurious and fantastically expensive scarf that comforted her friends in their own dark hours, to the texture of the cashmere sweater knitted at her father’s deathbed. More than the gifts of scarves and sweaters to the ones she loves, it is the knowledge that she is passing her knitting knowledge to a new generation—like her daughter, Shuna—that buoys her spirits and gives her hope. As the author writes, "Let a thousand knitters bloom."
Synopsis
JACOB SLICHTER is a native of Champaign, Illinois, and graduated from Harvard with a degree in Afro-American studies and history. He has read his road diaries (originally published on the Semisonic website) on NPR's Morning Edition. With his multiplatinum-selling band Semisonic he has appeared on the Jay Leno, David Letterman, Conan O'Brien, and Craig Kilborn shows.
Synopsis
From the author of the modern classic
The Knitting Sutra comes an inspiring and colorful narrative on knitting through ones darkest hours.
Susan Gordon Lydons 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.
About the Author
SUSAN GORDON LYDON is the author of Take the Long Way Home: Memoirs of a Survivor and The Knitting Sutra: Craft as a Spiritual Practice. She has written for numerous magazines, including The New York Times Magazine, Ms., Interweave, Knits, and Rolling Stone, which she helped found. She has also taught knitting retreats at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California. Lydon lives in the San Francisco Bay Area.