Book summary

Susan Gordon Lydon had knitted recreationally, and sometimes compulsively, for years before her experience of a fractured arm (suffered in a fall while watching a hummingbird) made her reexamine the way she did everything. In THE KNITTING SUTRA, Lydon chronicles both her recovery from the broken arm and the spiritual journey she found herself traveling during the healing process. Encouraged by her doctor to exercise the small muscles in her arm by moving her hands, Lydon began work on a cardigan whose specific design requirements necessitated a trip to the American Southwest for a particular button. In her interactions with the Navajos in the desert, Lydon gained insight and wisdom that served her spiritually when she returned to her home and her primary work of writing. In THE KNITTING SUTRA, Lydon takes the reader along on a convoluted path from recovery through mastery of both the written word and the knitted sweater. In this intimate account of healing on many levels, Lydon shares numerous lessons sparked by the creation of many items of clothing as well as encounters with spiritual practices including Sufism, Native American religious beliefs, and the Fair Isle knitters' technique and lifestyle.