I Really Love To Knit.

Any of my comrades in knitting know the joy I express when I say “I love knitting”.  But I’ll confess I can take it too far. 
Over the years, knitting has been a soft place to fall after a difficult day in the workforce.  Knitting has provided the peace and repetition, not to mention the inspiration and sense of accomplishment, that had nothing to do with a harsh and jagged-edged modern career.
In fact, knitting became a type of meditation.  As the project slowly unfolded in my busy hands, my mind could wander through my life events.  Or, alternatively, my mind would simply be at peace, as the case may be.
Is it possible to get too much of a good thing?  Yes!  Working on an especially enjoyable project, with an interesting pattern, I continued to knit into the night.  I remember jolting awake once or twice, and I was still knitting.  Eventually I decided I needed to stop and go to sleep.
The next day when I picked up my knitting again, I noticed something strange.  I seemed to have made several ludicrous mistakes in my knitting project.  As I ripped out the last several rows of my work, laughing to myself, I considered again what I already knew.  Moderation and balance are a sign of a healthy human being.

The joy of knitting is so much to my life.  But it’s still about life with the spectrum of activities and perceptions that create the wholeness from which my sense of joy can flow.
Do I even dare share what I am motivated next to divulge?  Maybe not, but here goes.  Back “in the day”, probably 30 years ago, I was in a relationship that wasn’t working out well.  At the same time, I also began to feel the wish to knit.  Wandering off to my local Philadelphia Sales store, a sort of discount department store unique to our region, I chose a learn-to-knit booklet, yarn, and needles.  Teaching myself has always been my method of learning of choice. 
I led a typical young-career-woman-of -the-80’s lifestyle, with a lively circle of friends and activities.  I would have a glass of wine in the evening to unwind and to fit in with the choices of my friends.  When I began to learn to knit, I quickly realized the glass of wine and knitting didn’t mix.  No problem; I simply stopped indulging in the glass of wine.
Well, my friend was displeased.  He informed me that he wanted a companion with whom to drink.  I said, “but I can’t drink and knit at the same time”.  I could see the writing on the wall.  This was the same friend who informed me that his underwear was becoming dingy under my laundering oversight.  As in love as I was, I can remember, upon hearing this, my eyebrows shooting upward and uncontrollable laughter as my response.
Anyway, need I describe the end result of that relationship?  And, of course, I went on my merry way, knitting when I wanted to with whatever level of sobriety I chose.  And in fact, that was the end of my wish to be someone’s “drinking companion”.
A bit off topic here, but I suppose I’m describing a most healthy activity in my life---that of knitting.  But even knitting must fit into a larger lifestyle.  Sleep is euphoric.  Knitting while sleeping---not so much.
So knit on, my fellow knitters.  It fits well into the balance and spontaneity of the hilarious treasury of life.