Monday, April 25, 2016

The Clincher Bandana Scarf from Ewe-Nique Yarns - Day 3

Come alive!

The rows are getting longer.  I’m plugging along, setting little daily goals for myself—70 stitches wide by Sunday, 80 stitches wide by Monday, etc—but I can feel the tension starting to settle in.  Top down shawl stress comes in many shapes, yes?

The ease of this pattern—memorizable by the first four inches and super-easy to catch a mistake and fix it before things get epic—makes it highly portable.  Chicago’s spring is a celebratory thing, so outdoor knitting is a particular pleasure right now.  Not too hot that you don’t want to be anywhere near wool, but warm enough to make basking in the sun with your yarn and needles a perfect way to spend an afternoon.

I’ve been reading Brene Brown’s The Gifts of Imperfection for a book group, and she talks about the need for creativity and play.  Not the desirability of those things, but the need for them.  I need to knit.  I miss it when I don’t.  I live in fear of a hand or arm injury because then I couldn’t knit (leg or foot injuries, on the other hand, just invite lots of sitting which of course means more knitting time!).  Knitting feeds something in me that then enables me to write. 

Brown offers this powerful quote from theologian Howard Thurman:  “Don’t ask what the world needs.  Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it.  Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Amen!  I write because I’m good at it and it’s a calling as well as a job, but knitting? Knitting makes me come alive.


Just like Spring.