I can't do yoga, I'm just not stretchy and my mind won't shut down. But I needed a way to calm my ever frayed nerves. You know how life just seems to suck sometimes? Well, I was definitely going through one of those periods. Our son had passed away, my husband became disabled after a bad accident and I was suffering from chronic illness. All of these things had left me with boatloads of anxiety, teetering on the edge of some sort of breakdown.
I have suffered with anxiety since childhood (which was no cakewalk), and I had tried many ways to deal with it, including yoga, meditation and biofeedback. Unfortunately, nothing seemed to work for me, until I picked up those needles and yarn and learned how to knit. My mother was a phenomenal knitter, but didn't have the patience to teach her kids and to be perfectly honest, I didn't care to learn. My niece was visiting and had just started to teach herself and it suddenly looked interesting to me. She taught me the first few stitches and the rest was thanks to YouTube.
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Pattern: Spindrift Shawl by Helen Stewart
Yarn: Madelinetosh Twist Light in Found Pottery |
At this point, I can safely say I am addicted. Knitting not only gives me the opportunity to shut the craziness of the world out, but I have also accomplished something when I finish a new piece. Knitting is a form of meditation and it has had such a positive impact on my life, so I thought I would share some of my journey. The knitting community is very vibrant, encouraging and welcoming and I feel blessed to be a grain of sand on that vast
beach.
I hope to share not only what I'm working on, the designers and dyers that I love and my ever growing stash/hoard of yarn, but some of the crazy stories about my family and cute pics of my two adorable pups.
