Last year I discovered the joy of knitting and have once again, as the weather has grown colder, re-discovered the nirvana of knitting.While my life is mostly characterized my insane busi-ness, knitting allows me to zone out. The repetitive motion is soothing, calming, relaxing. My mind is allowed to wander as my fingers move back and forth. And the best part is I can knit wherever and whenever...in front of the TV, in the car, at get-togethers, in waiting rooms...the possibilities are endless.
There is something indeed spiritual about the practice of knitting. No other activity can settle me as knitting. There is a peace that I find in the rhythm of the stitch that soothes and comforts me, allowing me to move beyond the chaos of my life and find focus, clarity and a sense of being firmly grounded.
Pictured are just my projects from this past month...five scarves. Josh believes since I can whip out the scarves so quickly, I ought to move on to a more complicated project...namely a sweater for him. But, he is missing the point. For me it is not what I produce (though it saves money come Christmas gift-giving time!), but rather the process. To do something more complicated would mean I would actually have to pay attention to what I was doing and that would defeat the whole relaxing aspect of knitting. I knit to slow down, not to stress about the stitches.
3 comments:
That's awesome. I'd love to learn how to knit. Heck, I'd love to learn to do something to help me slow down and stop stressing. Jay knits to relax, too. Right after Joshua was born, during the brand-new-baby moments of uber-stress, Jay knitted booties and a hat to relieve his stress. I cried a lot.
I agree with MB - I'd like to find something like that, too. I used to do a lot of cross-stitch, which was surprisingly relaxing. But a recurring pinched nerve in my neck has made me stop. Plus, the last thing I tried stitching was a picture of Jesus and I kept sticking myself with the needle and swearing. What could be more blasphemous?! Plus there was some kind of eerie irony about spilling my blood on Jesus. So I quit. Anyway.......good for you with the knitting! :D
jennifer - that is a great story! ha ha!
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