Rating: 
Summary: Great Reading!!!
Review: After reading this book, I not only noticed calmness and peace in my knitting but saw it in my whole life!!! The stories share other knitters views and reasons for knitting. I think everyone looks for the why and how in life, in some way, shape or form. Without having to buy a exercise machine, join the gym, meditate, or diet, this book will leave you with a sense of understanding life just a little bit more. Sue Kneller
Rating:
Summary: I am one of those "creative"types
Review: Before writing this review, I looked over the others that had been written. It seems that many people are buying this book assuming that they will receive knitting tips, patterns, etc. Please review the title CLOSELY before purchasing the book; it says everything. I am a working mother, nurse, wife. For me, my time to craft {I crochet, knit, cross stitch} is my time to reconnect with myself and my inner dreams of spending my days making things for other people to wear and enjoy. Bernadette Murphy touched on this beautifully in this book. Enthralled with celebrities-well yeah, she lives near Hollywood, what do you expect? It's the same with anyone who lives in New York City! There have been many articles recently about women rediscovering their true feminine roots and this book explores this throughly. Unless you craft only for profit, and I mean, it can only mean profit for you, anyone who follows these arts are touched, spritually and mentally, by what their hands create. That is what this book is about.
Rating: 
Summary: Neither zen, nor artsy, much less knitting
Review: I bought this book to read during my last vacation, and I had to really force myself to keep reading, even during long aiport layovers and longer flights. As mentioned before, the author's real interest is creative types in general, and celebrities. Knitting is almost an afterthought. The chapter on Montessori schools is very interesting, if not poignant, and would have made a great feature story on a knitting magazine. The rest is ranting. If you are a beginner knitter you'll find no useful information here, if you are an intermediate knitter you'll find no inspiration here, and if you are an expert knitter you'll kick yourself for buying this - you should have learned your lesson after "The Knitting Sutra" (another waste of a couple of hours that could have been spent knitting).
Rating: 
Summary: Explores the spiritual side of knitting
Review: I had the opportunity to meet the author at a charity knitting function a few weeks ago in Los Angeles. She exudes a quiet grace and spiritual centeredness in person which is articulated in her book "Zen and the Art of Knitting". Murphy's exploration of the spiritual rewards that are reaped from crafting something out of a simple skein of yarn was motivating and inspiring to this novice knitter.
Rating: 
Summary: Tip of the iceberg for zen and knitting
Review: I liked this book - despite the fact I am basically a crocheter (which M's Murphy never addresses in her book, stating that some work sounds like it's been crocheted and her aversion to synthetic yarn).
M's Murphy details her journey into knitting, along with several other folks' experiences with knitting. She has some small projects at the end of the chapters that would be good for a beginning knitter such as myself. She seems much more interested in fitting knitting to suit her title and chooses her interview subjects to prove it. The chapter about the Waldorf School was especially interesting.
She seems to be a bit enthralled with the celebrities that knit,
It won't take the place of a good pattern book, but it is an interesting read for the times you're trying to rest your hands or inbetween projects. It would also be a good gift for a knitter or even as recommended reading for somebody who wonders why you like to knit.
If you liked "The Knitting Sutra", then you will most likely enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: Great read!
Review: I really enjoyed reading this book for knitting inspiration and for exploring what knitting means to me. The stories and insights about the parallels between knitting and life made me love knitting more than I already did.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: It got me picking up my knitting again and knitting like crazy. Loved it.
Rating:
Summary: Knitting to unwind
Review: My aunt taught me to knit when I was a little girl spending summers with her. My interest in the art has waxed and waned over the years as my children grew up and my career evolved. Now I'm in a place in my life where I find my interest in peace, serenity and spirituality is growing. This book has been a treasure for me. I haven't tried the projects, but I really enjoy the writing and the ideas. It makes me want to go teach knitting at the Boys and Girls Club. It makes me want to knit for charity (several of us "knitticts" have started making premie blankets, caps, booties to donate to inner city hospitals). It makes me want to open a yarn shop. It's encouraged me to have knitting projects available for "pick up" at all times. There is one by my rocker in the living room. One on the sunporch. One in my office for lunch and breaktime. One project road-tripped for 2,000 miles this summer. And one will fly to California with me for my son's wedding this fall. Bernadette Murphy has shown me that the process of knitting is just as important as the finished product and that was a very liberating concept for me. I keep a copy of Zen and the Art of Knitting on my nightstand (and one on my sun porch) because reading it is so calming to me. It really helps me unwind (pardon the pun) when I need to relax.
Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: Since I have rediscovered knitting, I have thrown myself into it wholeheartedly, nearly rivaling my obsession with books. In Zen and the Art of Knitting, I found a way to meld my two obsessions with wonderful results! I had felt that there was some sort of mind/body connection between knitting and meditation, but not being the contemplative sort, it took this book to draw the parallels for me and confirm my suspicions. I especially liked the chapter about teaching knitting to first graders as part of the Waldorf School program (believing it teaches concentration and number manipulation). After reading that chapter, I wanted to organize knitting classes in my youngest son's classroom (and I still may)! I have been encouraging nearly everyone I meet to take up needles and learn to knit. I am going to have encourage them to read this book as well!
Rating:
Summary: Put into words what I had been thinking
Review: Since I have rediscovered knitting, I have thrown myself into it wholeheartedly, nearly rivaling my obsession with books. In Zen and the Art of Knitting, I found a way to meld my two obsessions with wonderful results! I had felt that there was some sort of mind/body connection between knitting and meditation, but not being the contemplative sort, it took this book to draw the parallels for me and confirm my suspicions. I especially liked the chapter about teaching knitting to first graders as part of the Waldorf School program (believing it teaches concentration and number manipulation). After reading that chapter, I wanted to organize knitting classes in my youngest son's classroom (and I still may)! I have been encouraging nearly everyone I meet to take up needles and learn to knit. I am going to have encourage them to read this book as well!
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