Here's a wool/mohair mitten from my very first spindle spun yarn. I felted them slightly in the washing machine and they wear like iron.
Last week I checked out Zen and the Art of Knitting: Exploring the Links Between Knitting,
Spirituality, and Creativity by Bernadette Murphy from the library. I agree that knitting can be meditative and can be spiritual but so can brushing your teeth or changing a light bulb in the right context. But knitting is not always meditative or spiritual - sometimes it can be stressful or mindless as well, at least for me.
I did find this quote in the section about knitting and feminism. From page 151 and 152 of Zen and the Art of Knitting:
"I think it's of note that most of the younger women exploring knitting today are highly educated, many with graduate degrees and ambitious careers. Perhaps the women who fit the suburban stay-at-home wife/mother model were already active knitters before the craft became fashionable. Whatever the reason, the majority of new knitters I've encountered are coming from an urban sensibility that encompasses a breaking-the-mold approach to life. These urban knitters are welcoming the craft as more than a way of decorating their homes and making the man in their life feel special. They see their own knitting as an important unearthing of the creative and mystical side of themselves, as a journey in self-awareness."
Too bad this "breaking-the-mold" creative approach doesn't apply to the simplistic and uninspired designs in all the knitting magazines lately. But I have to go now. I'm way overdue in decorating my house and making the man in my life feel special.