I had a brush with the knitting bug in college -- one of the girls on the floor of our dorm was from New England and she was determined to teach the entire campus the art of knitting. We would all gather in our common room and knit these totally awful scarves out of scratchy acrylic yarn.
My Daddy, bless him, even worn the one scarf I managed to finish. Wearing that obviously hand-made scarf was a testament to his affection for his middle child and also perhaps to his lack of fashion sense??
The knitted items that this group of young women produced might have been less than perfect; but, I do remember a lot of talking and laughing going on during those knit sessions.
Through the years to come I've tried my hand at crochet, cross-stitch, quilting, ceramics, all sorts of crafting and needlework. They all were forms of creative expression and I embraced them all.
Three years ago when my husband was in ICU for many weeks, I furiously crocheted scarf after scarf as I sat by his bedside. The quiet rhythm of hook and yarn was calming in a time of stress and uncertainty. It, along with my family, friends and church -- was a lifeline.
A little over a year ago, I discovered that my hands could no longer hold a crochet hook or a tiny cross-stitch needle - my arthritis made those crafts too painful to pursue.
My friend Jane and I had attempted to teach ourselves to knit at our weekly Stitchers meetings at the church; but, with me being a 'lefty' and Jane being right-handed -- our best efforts were entertaining but didn't produce any hand-knitted items - just lots of giggles.
Then, a miracle happened -- our church sponsored a knitted class !!! And, they had a 'angel' teach the class --we are positive she had to be an angel to actually be able teach the two of us how to knit and purl! We were truly bitten by the 'knitting bug'.
But, the best 'miracle' was that I can knit, even with the arthritis -- I can't do purling very fast but I can still 'create' and that makes me a very happy camper indeed!
But the whole 'knitting bug' has some ugly side effects -- you must have knitting by you at all times to keep the 'bug' satisfied.
Please notice how far my affliction has progressed:
- Knitting yarn and circular needles in my work tote bag -- you can always cast on for a knitted hat during your lunch hour - can't you ??
- Knitting secretly stashed in my glove compartment. I keep telling myself that knitting while my husband drives prevents me from telling him how to drive, thus it is preserving my marriage.
I'm beginning to realize that there's no need for a cure -- is there?
Having been bitten by the 'knitting bug' is a good thing; and. for all of the non-knitters out there
Surrender now.
Resistance Is Futile !
