I think that everyone who has ever had the joy of sitting quietly and just knitting knows the contemplative peace that seems to flow from fiber and needles into the heart. Knitting into the Mystery shares a way of extending and building upon this quality of our craft. The shawl-knitting ministry offers those who wish to do so a path where prayers for others in times of need or in times of celebration are knit into the very fabric of the shawl. The shawl is then given to the person as a gift, not just from a friend, but from the soul in connection with the spiritual world.

Knitting into the Mystery will teach you how to do this, too, and share with you the stories of one knitter after another whose lives have been touched and often transformed by these shawls. 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. This is a very beautiful book.

Contrary to what the title may lead you to believe, Zen and the Art of Knitting is not a treatise on Buddhist meditation, though Murphy's exploration does include this. It is a heartfelt consideration of the core essence of what knitting evokes in the inner life. Interestingly, about 80% of the people she interviewed or observed are practitioners of Christian prayer and meditation. It is a book whose contents and intents are still living in my heart, well past the reading of it. I think you'll love it, too.

The stories these knitters tell have an enormous amount to say about the value to human beings, young and old, of working with our hands. It is in the simplicity and humility in which they are told that a picture of the human heart, active through fiber and needles and mindful of the Mystery that lives beyond our full comprehension comes to light. It is a picture of love, of love in actions small and large. By the end of the book, there can be no question that each moment is filled with a wonder that, if we are blessed with time and the will to do so, can be expressed through the work of our hands.

Additional, Murphy as also gifted the world with two wonderful chapters devoted to someone who is an amazing handworker and the best Waldorf Crafts Teacher it has ever been my privilege to know: Elizabeth Seward.** Between these covers are the most detailed, life-filled descriptions I've ever read of knitting classes actually taught to first and fifth graders in a Waldorf school (Highland Hall). Even better, what you'll find is what I have always hoped someone would do for these classes -- Elizabeth presented every single technique to her students in ways that united their hands with their hearts and heads, and left an opening for spirit and soul to thrive. We can all be inspired by the simple, yet deeply resonant way she guided the children through the techniques and led them into a loving, caring relationship with the work of their hands. All this, while maintaining an atmosphere of joy along with setting high standards for the outcomes of that work! What she accomplished is truly what we all want for our children.

 

**Elizabeth is no longer active as a Crafts Teacher, but does still offer classes and workshops to adults and makes herself available as mentor and guide to Waldorf Crafts teachers. I have known Elizabeth for about 20 years and can think of no one better to call upon in this role. Whether you are involved with a Waldorf School, public or private, that is ready to deepen its crafts program; or are part of a home school cooperative and would like a workshop to help the adults become more skilled at both the crafts and teaching them; or are an adult wishing to enrich your own life with a deeper, more joyful relationship to handwork -- Elizabeth Seward, in my opinion, is someone you could call upon with confidence that your needs will be met and your time and resources more than well-spent. Elizabeth can be reached through her web site: www.workofourhands.net