Knitting as Therapy

People in Texas don't knit. They crochet, and they quilt, and they do lots of other things--but they don't knit. While yes, I also crochet and quilt (and lots of other stuff--like beading), it is knitting that is my first love. But as a Texas knitter, I'm kinda an anomoly.

Knitting is theraputic; it is calming; it is relaxing. Knitting gives you time to sit and think, because unlike fancy crochet-work where you must be constantly counting, all but the most complicated knitting pattern will "fall into place" after a few repeats. You'll know by looking what you need to do next--leaving you free to complemplate on whatever problems or plans you need/want to think about. I'm not wasting time--I'm knitting.

Working with yarn is a soothing, tactile sort of thing. I love the feel of the yarn in a skein, and the feel of it as it slides through my fingers as I knit it into something wonderful. I love all the different colors, textures, and possibilities each skein represents. I'm every bit as bad about yarn sales as I am about fabric and bead sales!!

I've had a pretty rough couple of months lately. Anything that could go wrong, did. Some of the things I could do something about, and others I could not. But how to figure things out, and how to figure out which was which? So I knitted on it.

I knitted and I knitted and I knitted. And as I did so, I had the satisfaction of seeing progress. It was something that I could get right. Best case scenario for me is one sock per day. So essentially each pair of socks represesnts two days of working. Working, knitting, thinking, and figuring things out. Getting things in perspective. Being productive.

Things are better now. Not great, and certainly not perfect--but they ARE better. However, the bright side to all of this is the 18 pairs of socks I got knitted during this time. Two pairs never got listed because they were bought out from under me before they were even finished. NO, I'm NOT complaining!

Knitting is also something I can do when it's the only thing I can do. Cancer seems to have decided to run amok through so many families of my co-workers during the last couple of years. I can't do anything about that. Not a thing. But I can knit. I knitted "chemo-caps" for the partner of our Division's budget co-ordinator. Small things, but they meant a lot to the lady who wore then. I knitted a prayer shawl for a colleague who's husband had cancer and PTSD. And of course socks. Socks went to keep the feet warm of our Public Hunting coordinator last year when she had cancer, and more recently for her father who just succumbed to cancer last week. This morning I gave our program's administrative assistant socks for her mother-in-law who just got diagnosed a few weeks ago with cancer. Knitting says love. For her, and for her mother-in-law.

I can't fix the world; heck, I can't even fix my own life. But I can keep it's feet warm!