Comfort in My Hands, A Kaleidoscope in My Brain

…written by Kim

Remember those Mary Maxim magazines? When Mom received hers in the mail I would always steal it and hide in my room just to gawk over the millions of crafting possibilities. It was almost the same feeling as getting the Sears Christmas catalogue. I would flip the pages slowly and gaze at each item with awe. Everything was so beautiful!

As a horse lover, I was drawn to this bulky knitted jacket with a horse on the back. I wanted THAT jacket and I was going to knit it. I ordered it in red and I remember this massive amount of bulky red yarn in a white plastic bag that laid around for ages. Some parts were knitted but I did not have the knowledge to sew it together and I gave up. I’m not sure what happened to that bag. Anyhow, Mary Maxim was my first glimpse of how knitting would speak to me later on.

Attention deficit is something I know I’ve had for many years. As a teen and young adult, I was into to drawing, painting, horseback riding, Jiu-Jitsu, photography, fiddle, etc. But knitting has always been a constant in my life. It’s like that comfortable spot I turn to every day. The calming repetition of stitches that can somehow quiet my thoughts, yet at the same time, knitting can show me a kaleidoscope of possibilities with its colours, textures, patterns, fibres!

The last 10 years have been my best knitting years. I’ve met others who share my passion, fibre festivals are now a THING, Ravelry grew into a massive smorgasbord of EVERYTHING knitting, there is such a person as an indie dyer and the internet has just made all fiber related products so accessible to everyone! I’ve learned to knit socks, sweaters that fit, began spinning just last summer and have spent an enormous amount of time with needles in hand. And after many years of trying, my little knitting community grew to a bunch of special fibre friends. Immeasurable amounts of pleasure was had during road trips, fibre festivals, Saturday morning meet-ups, sheep shearing, potlucks, parties, beach retreats and impromptu trips to several LYS’s. I look forward to many more of ALL those things and new adventures! COVID is not forever!

I cannot express how much comfort, joy and excitement this “apocalyptic skill” has brought me. It is a creative outlet that is always changing, producing new techniques, styles, colors and that satisfies my squirrel filled mind (so does blogging for that matter!) .

I shall seek comfort in my knitting until this pandemic is over and look forward to sunny days by the water.