Thursday, November 15, 2012

Knitting.

I started knitting in the 7th grade, when I would spend Friday nights with the ladies from my church learning new stitches and perfecting my tension. I joined a community of knitters (mostly with women 4 or 5 decades my senior) and spent a lot of my parents' money on yarn, needles, and patterns. I remember the first scarf I knit, the purse I learned the art of felting on, and my favorite teal size 8 straight needles. I remember the yarn store where I would walk the aisles, eyes wide with excitement at the colors & textures. I would watch the ladies knitting their sweaters & socks, enviously dreaming of the day I reached such a skill level.

Well, ladies & gentleman, I have arrived.

Perhaps I'm not making quite as intricate knitwear as the ladies in the knit shop made, but I also haven't yet retired to spend hours on end knitting. (oh, I wish)

Knitting has taken me on quite a journey. There have been times when I thought it was too uncool, when I lacked the patience to complete a project, when I didn't believe I could make something as big as a sweater. A decade later, and I'm feeling so fulfilled by my knitting. I love the feeling of the yarn between my fingers, I love picking out bright & colorful balls of yarn, and turning it into something beautiful, wearable, practical. I am constantly amazed at the minute difference between each stitch, and the huge visual difference within the finished product. I feel healed when I make things. I feel a sense of newness and excitement, as well as relaxation and simplicity. I am not at all bothered by the "uncoolness" of knitting or the hours & hours it takes to make one sweater.

I have learned that knitting isn't about the finished project as much as it is about the process. As is true of much of life.

2 comments:

amy said...

i love this, bec. i always tell my social work friends that in a field so abstract, knitting (and other miscellaneous crafting) is the tangible work i have to keep me sane. a finished project that you can see through from beginning to end. however, i lack your patience, dedication and most of all, skill, so i never make anything as amazing as your work (knitting a sweater sounds like the most daunting task ever). i so enjoy how you talk about it here, though. love you and your old lady habits. :)

Becca said...

Amy, you can totally make a sweater, seriously. You've just as much skill & certainly more creativity than me, so you could abolutely do it. I'll send you some good patterns to try! :-) love you!!