Mindful Knitting

June 28, 2004
The latest addition to the growing shelf of spiritual crafts books offers a purl of a connection: Buddhism and knitting. A "dharma brat"—child of American Buddhists who were students of the popular Tibetan teacher Chögyam Trungpa—and a knitter since age nine, when she left lots of unmatched mittens around the house, Manning has grown into a contemplative craftswoman. She rightly sees that the repetitive, rhythmic character of knitting is as much an ideal contemplative activity as is bead-telling or chanting. Knitting and meditation both necessitate careful, focused attention. The Buddhist meditation Manning is familiar with requires a focus on the breath; knitting requires focus on the stitch. Containing essays that preface 10 knitting projects ordered by difficulty, this short book is long on practicality. The author's tone ("When we meditate, we give ourselves a gift of time") makes it a friendly introduction to crafting and contemplation. Though beginners may need an additional reference for techniques, the book includes helpful and accessible glossaries of knitting and meditation terms. Devoting more space to knitting instructions than spiritual musings, the book's spirituality is not deep, but many readers will enjoy "casting on" to the patterns of wisdom contained herein.