yoga for the mind

Whenever I see someone frazzled, overwhelmed, and upset, I always feel bad if they don’t have any knitting. I feel sure that the tangible, even progress of knitting would make anybody feel better. (However, so far my attempts to give upset people some yarn, needles and a knitting lesson have been less than successful. Maybe my timing is off).

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the Yarn Harlot)

OK so I’ve never actually done yoga for the body, but I do know that knitting can calm and centre a troubled mind.  Knitting has been very comforting and soothing to me in difficult times.  This weekend, we were visiting my son’s friend who was recently badly hurt in a car accident (he’s going to be fine tho, yay). About this time last year, his mum was inspired to take up the needles again when she saw me making a fake isle hat, and I’ve been happily enabling encouraging her since then.  She was telling me how glad she was to have her knitting with her while she was by her son’s bed in the hospital, it gave her something to do and focus on, and she found it like a meditation.

Helping people learn/relearn how to knit can bring such unexpected benefits.

what I did on my holidays

We had a great camping holiday in Pembrokeshire in August.  Of course there was knitting on the beach

and by the campfire

and a visit to some lovely angora goats

And I became slighly obsessed with blanket making.  The people in the neighbouring tent had blankets to keep them warm round the campfire and we had none.  Which is clearly wrong, for a knitter’s family not to have cosy blankets.  So when we got back I used up some of my oddments for a crazy cat lady kind of blanket

Now that’s finished, son wants one of his own in blues.  Plus, I have finally got around to starting making squares for a sock yarn oddments blanket.

Oh and my summer chevron that I finished ages ago, I loves it. It turns out to be perfect for holidays and got lots of wear

pattern: Summer Chevron by Audrey Eschright (from “More Big Girl Knits”) (with heavy modification, see my ravelry notes)
yarn:  Patons UK Vintage, shade 07008 acidic
needles: 5 mm

I love to go a-wandering

Lack of posting recently reflects a bit of a  lack of knitting (and the one project I have made some progress on is currently embargoed).  Monday being a bank (= public) holiday I was hoping for traditional bank holiday weather so I could curl up on the sofa with my knitting.  But it failed to rain so I had to go out in the Fresh Air and take my Shap socks for a walk around Rivington Pike.

This week looks like being similarly blog- and knitting-light, as I have an assigment due soon.

how to break a knitter’s heart

Seven little words:
Mum, will you buy me a hat?

election night knitting

I hope any of you US knitters standing in one of those interminable queues have your knitting to keep you amused while waiting. Happy voting x

Me, I’m an election-night junkie.  I stay up into the wee small hours for our own British general elections, even the local elections.  Peter Snow and his swingometer is my idea of a good night in.  So of course I am planning for the long haul tonight.  Off round to my friend’s shortly with a bottle of wine and a bag of knitting.  I have temporarily abandoned the Christmas knitting because I had had had to start my clapotis, so am taking that with me.  It’s a fairly simple pattern that should stand up to distractions, tiredness and excitement that lay in store (and the washing machine friendly acrylic yarn should stand up to the red wine stains).

sssssh

Is all gone a bit quiet hereabouts due to the combination of looming exam and Christmas knitting I can’t post about yet.  More posting hopefully after the exam is out of the way, then I will have my first ever swap to look forward to and hopefully a new pattern to share.

my comeuppance

I am paying the price for all those socks.  And hats and gloves and shawls. Or rather, the price for ignoring those occasional aches and pains and twinges in my arms and wrists, for now they are much more than occasional.  I am resigned to a regimen of ice, ibuprofen and no knitting (or crocheting) for a week.

Being a crazy mixed up kid I knit right handed despite being left handed and it’s only my right wrist I’m having problems with, so I can still write with no problems.  Less knitting and more chemistry studies is probably A Good Thing with exam looming.  If I say that often enough I might even start to believe it.

It’s my family I feel sorry for ….