Literally.
Knitting and spinning has come to my rescue many times over the years. It has given me something to fall back on, a comfort zone, to distract my mind when needed.
From the UK, to New Zealand and to Australia, life has been ‘interesting’ and not without its challenges. Being the eternal gypsy creates happenings in its own right.
From the word go, at the age of seven when I knitted my first doll’s outfit, my love of the craft has given me much support in times of need. When I am in a strange place, or in a stressful situation, often one of the first things I do is find wool and needles and start knitting. It doesn’t have to be a grand affair – the last time was a doll’s blanket for my granddaughter. I felt compelled to knit and even borrowed needles and oddments of assorted wool, and started knitting.
That is not the first time, and I know it won’t be the last.
When one is passionate about ‘something’ it’s amazing what hurdles can be overcome, and how a person can survive. It can even send you on a totally different track and improve and enhance your life to the effect that at some stage you look back and say ‘How on earth did I get out of that one?’ That has happened to me quite a few times over the years too.
Having ‘something’ to fall back on, a comfort zone, can literally save your life. It helps to cope with hard situations, even life-threatening ones, if you have something else to think about during those hard times. If it’s not possible to actually ‘do’ at the time, you can plan what you want to do, head towards that goal, and make it happen. Yes, it can take strength and courage, but it can be done.
Knitting, or spinning, is not just for women. Men, girls and boys can knit, and many
do. It is very fulfilling to create something from nothing. To work out which wool, what pattern, size and style that is to be knitted. And when one comes to making anything without a ‘commercial’ pattern its even more mind-consuming as the whole item, down to the last stitch, increase or decrease, has to be worked out accurately, as in the case of a garment or it will not fit correctl
Knitting is a life-saver – literally. It can be as high or low profile in your life as you wish it to be. Recently, for some reason, knitting has taken a turn for ‘high profile’ in my life and last year I undertook a course enabling me to teach in Australian institutions, so I can pass on to others the ‘something’ this ancient craft has given to me over the years.
Who knows where knitting will lead me next…