The art of knitting and crocheting is a highly meditative and mindful art. Through your fingers your mind is connected with the piece of fabric that magically grows in your hands from a thin thread. The same dedication to every detail that was given to the design of our Mindful set of knitting needles has been given to our range of accessories and tools.
When you look at the darning needle from our mindful collection it will strike your eye with its oddly familiar, ancient look. Though being made of tightly laminated wood, its teal-colored, smooth surface reminds you of archeological finds, a modern version of something that you would see in a museum.
Ever since a woman started to connect pieces of woven linen grass or wool, the darning needle was a priced object and venerated as something sacred. Men and women of all cultures kept their darning needles in a little wooden purse or leather pouch close to their body. They also wore them as pins and bodkins in their hairdo. This way they could access them easily when a repair had to be made, or a thread had to be woven in. With the help of darning needles, girls and young women stitched their elaborate hair braids together until they looked like goddesses.
Our darning needle is of a deep teal shade evoking calmness and being easy on the eye. People who are attracted to this color are said to have an even temper and a thoughtful disposition, to be creative and able to think for themselves. There is, however, so much more behind this color as it may seem at first sight.
The teal duck is considered a sacred bird by many cultures around the world. Ducks and peacocks who wear this sophisticated combination of blue and green have been considered symbols of life and fertility, beauty and creativity. Teal ducks are both connected to air as to water with its deep symbol-laden mystery.
6000 years ago, the Mesopotamian mother goddess Inanna was depicted with bird feet and surrounded by birds, such as owls and ducks. Her belly and pubic triangle were teal-colored, too. During excavations in Egypt, archaeologists found teal-colored stones made of turquoise and lapislazuli which were shaped like sleeping ducks. Bronze age people wore them as amulets for protection against sickness and evil spirits.
The Greek goddess Penelope was also called the Duck Goddess, as she awakened the earth in spring with her eggs. She became Odysseus’ wife later on and was the main motivation for the Greek hero to endure all the trials, failures and losses on his ten-year long journey home.
Celtic tribes from Gaul had a duck goddess called Sequana which protected the tribes alongside the river Seine and was also a symbol for the sun. Figurines of her were made standing in a duck-shaped bark, and she is still venerated till today in the French city of Dijon.
And in a popular native American fable a teal-colored mallard outwits the cruel god Manabush and saves his flock, but is cursed with red eyes.
Dreaming of ducks in early Christian symbolism meant stability and being in peace and content with oneself. When you see a duck in your dream it has come to remind you to glide smoothly and confidently through the waters of your life and to look after your emotional needs.
With our mindful darning needle you not only give the finishing touches to a beautiful piece of clothes or accessory that you made with your own hands. When you pick up our teal-colored darning needle you pick up all of our forebears wisdom, thousands of years of knowledge and common culture which connect rather than separate us.
