by Linda Skolnik and Janice Macdaniels
I seem to find my way to many books published by Skylight Paths Publishing, which “aspires to publish material that inspires thought, conversation, and enlightenment to readers’ spiritual journeys.” I found this on one sale for $2.00 on the used books shelf of my local crafting thrift store, and I just decided to put in into my queue of early morning spiritual reading.
I’ve been an on-and-off knitter my whole life long, my first ambitious project being a sweater I knitted for my first serious boyfriend in high school. Looking back on that, it’s kind of a miracle that I finished it during the short five months of our romance! Since then I’ve knitted a few other sweaters, hats, socks, scarves, and a patchwork afghan that I originally intended to give to some unidentified poor old sick person. Then I got cancer and decided to give it to myself, and for several years I loved wrapping up in it to write in my journal in the mornings. It burned up in the fire, so maybe it’s time to knit myself another one! I have had a very slow start on my current project: an anti-ICE protest hat fashioned after one that Norwegians knit during World War II to resist the Nazis, revived by a Twin Cities yarn shop after this past winter’s raids there. My fondest hope is that it will be completely obsolete by the time it’s cold enough again to wear to a protest, but honestly I doubt it.
Many of my women friends from all chapters of my life are needleworkers of one kind or another, and I love feeling that I am part of a sisterhood both in real time and stretching back centuries. (That said, my dear late godfather and Uncle Ben was a master knitter, and my son Gabe can knit too!) What I love about this book so far is that it examines the art of knitting from every conceivable angle — from the mystical/mathematical, to the historical, to the personal, to the practical. I have always loved the feel of fiber on my fingers and the meditative rhythm of knitting, so it’s fun to dive into a full treatise on the spirituality of this ancient craft.