Why Knitting?
I can't begin to count the times I've shown up places with my knitting projects and had people scoff or call me grandma. I also can't begin to count the number of times people have been amazed that I have the ability, or the number of times people have been blessed by the finished work that has come from my fingers. I don't do it for the recognition, or to be different - that's why I sometimes dye my hair purple.
About 10 years ago I was pregnant with my second child, my first being 2 years old. I had morning sickness so terribly that I could barely leave the house. I think I survived on coke with lime and java chip frapuccinos. It was a difficult time for me, having a rowdy, too-smart, smart alec toddler, I couldn't go many places because I never knew what smell or sensation was going to set off my nausea. Just going to the grocery store was like running a gauntlet. I could crochet, so I spent some time looking up crochet patterns. My problem was I really like the look of knit, I am *not* good at keeping count of stitches, and crochet just didn't make me happy. But I needed my hands to be doing something. So I went off to the closest chain craft store and got a "teach yourself to knit" book. And that was it. I have been knitting off and on since then.
Why? Why do I continue to pursue this nearly "lost" art? I know that I can go to a store and buy a cashmere sweater for less than the price of the yarn. I can go to any box store and buy scores of gloves, scarves, blankets, leg warmers and socks for a tenth of the price of the yarn, and I don't have to spend the time knitting the items. So - why knit?
I have found that knitting is calming. I am not the type who can watch a television show and focus only on that. It's like I have restless hand, or restless brain syndrome. My hands want to do something else. I got out of my knitting habit a while back, and instead started playing games on my smart phone. That's a great time-killer, but I started to worry about the example I was setting for my already technology obsessed children. And I noticed signs of addiction. I would be crushing candies, and go to sleep, and the candy screen would play in my brain. That is *not* healthy. So I got back into knitting.
There is something nice about the methodical knit, purl, yarn over, repeat. I can do that without thinking and while I watch my dumb TV shows. It's relaxing. It's a joy to make things to give to people - things that are unique and made with love. And while I make things, I pray for the people who will receive them. Even if I start a project and haven't even decided who it should go to! Many times I knit in the quiet and pray and when my hands are focused on the task of knitting and purling and purling and knitting, in that quiet, I can hear His voice so much louder than I can when I am sitting completely idle. There is peace with the clicking of the needles. There is peace in my brain when I'm worried about the stitches and the knits and the purls and the yarn-overs. As a self-described control freak, I know where the yarn is going to go, I know what to expect of it. And when I have one thing I can control in my hands, I'm concentrating just enough on the stitches that my brain can shut off all of the worries of the world that I can't control. I think that's why the Finnish Coach is knitting through the Olympics, too! You can't control what's happening with your athletes, but you can ease the stress by shifting a little of your focus onto something simple.
And when I have clicked and knitted and purled and turned and blocked, there is something to show for it. Something with imperfections, to be sure, but something unique that hopefully will be used and loved.
About 10 years ago I was pregnant with my second child, my first being 2 years old. I had morning sickness so terribly that I could barely leave the house. I think I survived on coke with lime and java chip frapuccinos. It was a difficult time for me, having a rowdy, too-smart, smart alec toddler, I couldn't go many places because I never knew what smell or sensation was going to set off my nausea. Just going to the grocery store was like running a gauntlet. I could crochet, so I spent some time looking up crochet patterns. My problem was I really like the look of knit, I am *not* good at keeping count of stitches, and crochet just didn't make me happy. But I needed my hands to be doing something. So I went off to the closest chain craft store and got a "teach yourself to knit" book. And that was it. I have been knitting off and on since then.
Why? Why do I continue to pursue this nearly "lost" art? I know that I can go to a store and buy a cashmere sweater for less than the price of the yarn. I can go to any box store and buy scores of gloves, scarves, blankets, leg warmers and socks for a tenth of the price of the yarn, and I don't have to spend the time knitting the items. So - why knit?
I have found that knitting is calming. I am not the type who can watch a television show and focus only on that. It's like I have restless hand, or restless brain syndrome. My hands want to do something else. I got out of my knitting habit a while back, and instead started playing games on my smart phone. That's a great time-killer, but I started to worry about the example I was setting for my already technology obsessed children. And I noticed signs of addiction. I would be crushing candies, and go to sleep, and the candy screen would play in my brain. That is *not* healthy. So I got back into knitting.
There is something nice about the methodical knit, purl, yarn over, repeat. I can do that without thinking and while I watch my dumb TV shows. It's relaxing. It's a joy to make things to give to people - things that are unique and made with love. And while I make things, I pray for the people who will receive them. Even if I start a project and haven't even decided who it should go to! Many times I knit in the quiet and pray and when my hands are focused on the task of knitting and purling and purling and knitting, in that quiet, I can hear His voice so much louder than I can when I am sitting completely idle. There is peace with the clicking of the needles. There is peace in my brain when I'm worried about the stitches and the knits and the purls and the yarn-overs. As a self-described control freak, I know where the yarn is going to go, I know what to expect of it. And when I have one thing I can control in my hands, I'm concentrating just enough on the stitches that my brain can shut off all of the worries of the world that I can't control. I think that's why the Finnish Coach is knitting through the Olympics, too! You can't control what's happening with your athletes, but you can ease the stress by shifting a little of your focus onto something simple.
And when I have clicked and knitted and purled and turned and blocked, there is something to show for it. Something with imperfections, to be sure, but something unique that hopefully will be used and loved.
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