Why We Knit Wednesday

photo.jpg, a photo by theatreknitter on Flickr.

I can't believe that I have been gone from my blog for so long. Last night I had a fabulous experience and realized that I have been gone for too long. This could be what is missing from my life. So I am back. More on Last night in another Post, tonight I am thinking about a question. . .

Why do we knit?
Clearly there are easier ways to get a scarf, a hat, a pair of socks, a sweater, some lace. . . So why do we do it. I asked this question on Plurk and Twitter, and I will ask it to you. .

Why do you knit?

Why do I knit? To Cope.

I can personally remember the fist day I purchased needles. Nope, I really can. It was Sat. Sept 8th 2001. I remember this because I returned home from Michael's Crafts in High Point North Carolina with a pair of needles and a skein of yarn. I'm fairly certain it was pink. Right when I got home I was informed that my Boppie was dying in CT. I went through the next couple of days, I wandered around hoping that I would get home in time to see him, and learning how to knit. Then on Tuesday Sept 11, 2011. . . well we all know what happened that day.. . but I wandered through that day trying to figure out how to get home, because my Boppie had mere days to live.

For my early knitting projects I remember a pink scarf, I remember a hat, I remember a Christmas stocking. But I will always remember the day I purchased my first set of needles, and where I was.

Throughout the years, knitting ultimately became something that I always had with me, and over the past year it has helped me cope with terribly stressful situations.
This past year. . . . well. . . It has been awful. I won't beat around the bush about that.


When my aunt was passing away last October I was working on some blankets. The intention was for them to be given to my cousin and her new twins. unfortunately I don't knit very well when incredibly stressed. I have those blankets still, and I am reminded of the love that was surrounding my aunt during her last moments of life.

Sadly I don't remember what I was knitting while my Grandmother was passing in January, but I do have the February Lady Sweater that I knit for her as an 80th birthday gift. I loved knitting that sweater, and I think she enjoyed having it. Well, at least I hope she did. I wear the sweater with pride now. It doesn't quite fit, and it's a bit pilled, but I don't care.

This year, in early August, I received a call that my father fell off a cliff. . . no really he did. . . he fell 15 feet into a ravine. He broke multiple bones, but is alive and walking. When I was taking the train to meet him. . . . I had knitting.

And when I found out that my nephew was having brain cancer, I knit a hat (see more about that project in another post.

So why do I knit. To cope. sometimes it's stress, sometimes it's family situations, sometimes it's death, sometimes it's coping after a bad day.

Why do I knit?

to Cope

Why do you knit?