When I was in college the second time, this time earning an English degree, I took a concentration of Women’s Studies classes. Below are links to a series of posts from a project I wrote while taking a Women’s Studies/English class called “Reading between the stitches.”
One of the required books for the course was The Subversive Stitch- embroidery and the making of the feminine by Rozsika Parker. The back cover reads, “Through the history of embroidery — in the very threads of samplers, firescreens, table runners and dress — can be traced another history: the history of women.”
Links to posts
Introduction – March 12, 2012
Mary Katherine Bryant, Gone Fishin’ – March 13, 2012
Cecelia Pearl Bryant Wirrig and her Singer treadle sewing machine – March 20, 2012
Katherine Clara Wirrig Smith — my paternal grandmother – March 26, 2012
Mary Etta Conner Lemmon — a pillar of strength – April 2, 2012
Katherine Roecker Adams, a farm wife – April 9, 2012
Anna Matilda Adams Lemmon — my maternal grandmother – April 16, 2012
Mary Katherine Lemmon Smith—my mother – April 22, 2012
Books on the topic of craft and spirituality:
Knitting Heaven and Earth – Healing the Heart with Craft by Susan Gordon Lydon
The Knitting Sutra – Craft as a Spiritual Practice by Susan Gordon Lydon
A Way of Working – The Spiritual Dimension of Craft by D. M. Dooling
The Knitting Way – A Guide to Spiritual Self-Discovery by Linda Skolinik & Janice MacDaniels
Christine M. Grote 
I have never thought about our “handwork” in quite this way. I come from a long line of quilters, cross-stitchers, knitters, and crocheters, etc.. I feel very connected to my ancestors when I hold their handwork in my hands. I really enjoyed this post! 🙂
Thanks. Sounds like we have similar backgrounds. I only thought about it this way because of the class I took. It was a nice fresh new perspective. Women’s work has gotten so little notice over the centuries, relatively speaking.
We women of today live in such a hurried world; it’s the exception if you find someone patient enough to create handwork one small stitch at a time!