This book explores what, arguably, everyone's grandmother always knew, that when passionate knitters become one with the craft, amazing things can happen. In Zen and the Art of Knitting, Bernadette Murphy explores how knitting fits into the larger scheme of life itself as meditation, creative expression, a gift to express love, a way to connect, and much, much more."Zen and the Art of Knitting is crafted like a handmade sweater, with great texture and beauty and love. Bernadette Murphy knits together creativity, spirituality, and daily life, letting us see the rich and wondrous fabric that connects all of it, all of us, 'in a piece.' This is a book readers will want to wrap themselves up in for comfort, for inspiration, for affirmation of the healing, centering, power of the art."--Gayle Brandeis, author of Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write and The Book of Dead Birds: A Novel"Bernadette Murphy explores the now-radical notion that in the smallest, most mundane gestures, we may find a kind of grace. This book traces her discovery with openness and faith." --David L. Ulin, author of The Lost Art of Reading: Why Books Matter in a Distracted Time, Labyrinth and The Myth of Solid Ground: Earthquakes, Prediction, and the Fault Line Between Reason and Faith."The book is full of lore, technical tips, colorful needle-wielding characters, and, ahem, plain old good yarns. Knitting, in Murphy's hands, is more than a metaphor; it is tangible, proof of the inner-connectedness of all living things." --Michelle Huneven, author of Off Course, Blame and Jamesland''A wise, illuminating book, for knitters and non-knitters alike." --Tara Ison, author of Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to Live, Love and Die at the Movies, Rockaway, and A Child Out Of Alcatraz

This volume uses knitting as a metaphor to discuss the unity of all life and the spirituality involved in all endeavours carried out with mindfulness.

A fascinating introduction to Zen principles and learning.

In an era of global warming, war, escalating expenses, declining income, and drugs and violence in schools, many mothers feel they have little control over their families or their worlds. Nora Murphy eloquently demonstrates that many women do control one tiny thing: their next stitch. While tracing the frustrations and joys of knitting a sweater for her son through the course of one cold, dark Minnesota winter, Murphy eloquently brings to life the traditions and cultures of women from many backgrounds, including Hmong, American Indian, Mexican, African, and Irish. Murphy’s personal stories — about her struggles to understand esoteric knitting patterns, her help from the shaman of the knit shop, and her challenges sticking with an often vexing project — will appeal to knitters as well as everyone else who has labored to create something from scratch.

This “super useful book” includes step-by-step instructions for using each of the 150 patterns four different ways (Knitty). In the Up, Down, All-Around Stitch Dictionary, designer Wendy Bernard presents an innovative reference guide for knitters of all skill levels. This hefty collection, ranging from lace and cables to colorwork and fancy edgings, is loaded with beautifully photographed swatches of each pattern, plus charted and text instructions. Bernard also demonstrates how to work each of the 150 popular stitch patterns four different ways: top down, bottom up, back and forth, and in the round. And to showcase the stitch patterns in action, she includes instructions for eight garments as well as her famous formulas for knitting garments without a pattern.

Mindfulness in Knitting casts fresh light on this famously calming craft and reveals how the simple repetition of plain and purl can nurture wellbeing. Through personal anecdote and mindfulness exercises, this book explores how everyone can experience the joys of making and looks at the numerous benefits of taking up one of the simplest and most useful of crafts.

“Bernadette Murphy’s luminous book shows us how to take risks that make us fierce and vulnerable, knowing that true strength is about being generous as much as it is about not giving in.” —Emily Rapp Black, author of The Still Point of the Turning World and Poster Child What happens when women in midlife step out of what's predictable? For Bernadette Murphy, learning to ride a motorcycle at forty–eight becomes the catalyst that transforms her from a settled wife and professor with three teenage children into a woman on her own. The confidence she gained from mastering a new skill and conquering her fears gave her the courage to face deeper issues in her own life and start taking risks. It is a fact that men and women alike become more risk averse in our later years —which according to psychologists and neuroscience is exactly what we should not do. And Murphy stresses that while hers is a story of transformation using a physical risk, emotional and educational risks can serve the same beneficial purpose for other women. Murphy uses her own story to explore the larger idea of how risk changes our brain chemistry, how certain personality types embrace dangerous behavior and why it energizes them, and why women's expectations change once estrogen levels drop after the childbearing years. She also explores the idea of women and risk in pop culture—why there are so few stories of the conquering heroine (instead of hero). Surely Thelma and Louise driving off the cliff should not be our only pop culture reference for women finding true freedom. With scientific research and journalistic interviews weaving through a page–turning, road trip narrative, Harley and Me is a compelling look at how one woman changed her life and found deeper meaning out on the open road.