In Lieu of a Half-Picture

Would you accept five hundred or so words? There are days I can knit for hours and not have a need to take a picture. This is not to say that I have not knit well, nor accomplished anything. It’s just how it is some days. Yesterday was one of those days.

I retrieved the US 0 circular and placed it in the last correct round of the vest. Then I ripped back eight rounds and knit one round with the Cream. I set it aside for the night even though it was not as bad as I had made it in my mind. This is good. I needed something to not be as terrible as I had imagined. Something else that I had thought would only be a bit stressful turned out to be more than I had predicted. Teenager. Need I say more? This drama still has another act or two. I pray for wisdom, and I knit. Actually, the situation is not difficult because she is a teenager. That is just a complicating factor. I am so glad to not be teenaged.

After the encounter with our daughter, I did the vest ripping. I thought that knitting it would be a good way to keep my mind off the situation, but I could not capture the proper mindset to work on it. Instead, I reached for the soothing, simple stockinette of the back of Arwen, and read knit blogs.

When I set aside Arwen, I could have gotten out the Brea Bag and knit on it for a while, but I knew it would lead me back to thinking about the situation with our youngster. I could have begun a square for the V-Day Community Afghan, but I did not feel like working with dishcloth cotton. I could have cast-on for the second Traveler’s Stocking, but I did not possess the requisite capacity to focus. Instead, I began work on a lace-edged handkerchief. I bought the pattern quite some time ago. I’m not using the pattern. This is nothing against the pattern; however, I wanted to try something different. I got out Stahman’s Shawls and Scarves, and looked at edgings on the different shawls. I settled on Alberta. I had already worked the foundation of single crochet around the handkerchief. My plan is to knit the edging onto the handkerchief as I go instead of sewing it on later. I worked several repeats and thought it looked pretty good. Still, I had wondered whether it might be better to attach to every-other single crochet rather than to every one. I worked another repeat attaching every-other, and I liked it much better. Therefore, of course, I then had to rip out all of my work. I didn’t mind. I like a lace-edged handkerchief, and I want this to be right. This is a nice project. I like the contrast of the white cotton against the brilliant blue aluminum needles. I find it quite pleasant and soothing to just look at. Although each repeat consists of twenty rows, the stitch counts range from just three to eight stitches. It is so simple to memorize that I did not need to watch the chart for long.

Yes, knitting is good. It is therapeutic. Be it the healing and comfort of wool or the magic of lace, there is power in what we do.