Psychics, political prisoners and knitting

I have always believed in that there is something powerful and healing about knitting and spinning. I had been nursing some wacky pie-in-the-sky ideas about buying a bunch of spinning wheels and teaching children or inmates how to spin. I don’t know why I was thinking about these two groups, but I’ll leave the analysis to others.

Then, I went to see a psychic who told me about this new book, The Lighter Side of Robben Island. Robben Island was a notorious prison where Nelson Mandela and other political prisoners were incarcerated during South Africa’s apartheid. In this book, there is a chapter devoted to how some of the prisoners knitted to stave off boredom and keep their minds agile.

I never mentioned my crazy idea to the psychic. But I think it is a sign… of something.

Find out more about the book at the BBC website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21595857

Casting on

Yes. This is indeed another blog about knitting. And motherhood. And craft. And everything else in between.

There is something about working with fiber that seems to compel one to spill one’s guts. It’s not a coincidence that so many of our metaphors about storytelling are connected to working with fiber. Spinning a good yarn is more than coaxing the filaments through your fingers. It is also about giving beauty and form to experience, then drawing others in.