Keep Calm and Always Carry Yarn

There is something utterly relaxing and even therapeutic about knitting. The feeling of yarn between your fingers and then gentle sound of knitting needles touching when you pick the yarn through the loop over and over again. It feels like I’ve always knitted, but I haven’t. Like so many others, I have started and stopped depending on life. I learned to knit as a child but didn’t knit for years until in my twenties when I started again just to stop when life got too hectic with work and all that adulting.

Then Mia got diagnosed with Autism and life shifted gears again. My weeks were filled with hours of sitting in various waiting rooms in those 45-minute increments, and like a long-lost soul I returned to knitting to avoid boredom during those long hours. I made blankets, I made throws from little squares that were quick and easy enough to make whilst watching my boys play. I played with patterns. This time it never stopped, and it became a habit to carry a project with me at all times, one in the car, one in his car, one in my purse as one never knows when there’s a moment to knit. I have knitted the entire way from Redmond, WA to Seaside, OR in the dark. That’s over 200 miles of knitting. A couple of weeks back I knitted my way through an entire week of training and instead of dozing off in the afternoon, or secretly getting immersed in social media. I knitted, and I listened.

I knit. I knit everywhere. I knit at meetings. I knit in trainings. I knit at movies. I knit at coffee shops. I knit. I can knit with my eyes closed – literally with my eyes closed meaning my fingers know what they are doing without me having to look. Shawls, scarves, socks, hats, mittens. It took me awhile to attempt socks as socks had always been the thing my grandmother supplied us with, and then there were all those rumors about the heel. It was on one of those long drives when I decided I would tackle the heel, and after my practice pair I made four more pairs of socks to make sure I had gotten it.

Most Mondays and Wednesdays I knit in a group. Not the entire day, but for a little bit in the morning with my lovely knitting ladies. We meet for a cup of coffee and a chat, and yes knitting. Some of the women in the group are more seasoned than others. Women whom first dye the wool and then spin it themselves. Um, not me. Knitters capable of creating the most beautiful patterns – still not me - and knitters that are just getting started. I limit myself to the quick and simple just because for me knitting is something I do whilst socializing or listening or maybe I’m just lazy. I want to be able to do it without looking down, without having to follow a complicated pattern. I guess it’s all a matter of preference.

I’m not too picky about my yarns either. Yes, I do love fancy hand dyed baby alpaca mixed with merino wool, but I may just as well buy a ball of acrylic yarn from the nearest craft store. This winter my favorite sock yarn has been Madeline Tosh’s BFL Sock, 100% Blue Faced Leicester wool (above). It requires some patience, or quick fingers as it is best for needle size US 1. If you’re used to bulky yarns and fast progress you may find this yarn somewhat daunting but it’s well worth it. Right now, I’m working on a pink shawl with a yarn that’s a mix of cotton and acrylic because it looked fascinating, went well with the bubblegum pink pima cotton yarn I had already started with and felt good to touch. It’s gonna look so pretty when it’s done.

How is this related to real estate then? Well, it really isn’t. It may be related to home décor at times, but that’s about it. Did I already tell you that I crochet too?