And Now For Something A Little Different

I was feeling very philosophical about knitting and how when we come together in a group setting, there is such a great connection. I could go on at length the many ways I find knitting with groups of women fulfilling.

This week while at a knitting class with Jane Elliott at Westport Yarns, I got a phone call from one of my kids that she had cut her finger. (She's fine.) I asked her to send me a picture of the cut while I gathered my things to leave. In the group were 8 women that included a nurse, mothers, and grandmothers. The collective wisdom and advice they dispensed with calmness and certainty was helpful on so many levels. I followed their advice, tended her cut, and planned to go to the doctor to check it in the am.

The Doctor and Nurses were impressed with what I had done and I gave full credit to the wonderful group of women I was knitting with.

In light of this experience, I pulled together some quotes about knitting.

From Elizabeth Zimmerman:

"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit, either."

Really, all you need to become a good knitter are wool, needles, hands, and slightly below-average intelligence. Of course, superior intelligence, such as yours and mine, is an advantage.

There is no right way to knit; there is no wrong way to knit. So if anybody kindly tells you that what you are doing is "wrong," don't take umbrage; they mean well. Smile submissively, and listen, keeping your disagreement on an entirely mental level. They may be right, in this particular case, and even if not, they may drop off pieces of information which will come in very handy if you file them away carefully in your brain for future reference.

"Useful and ornamental needlework, knitting, and netting are capable of being made, not only sources of personal gratification, but of high moral benefit, and the means of developing in surpassing loveliness and grace, some of the highest and noblest feelings of the soul." ~Author unknown, from The Ladies' Work Table Book, 1845

Knitting is very conducive to thought. It is nice to knit a while, put down the needles, write a while, then take up the sock again. ~Dorothy Day

These days, knitting and crocheting clothing, accessories and home decor items is as much a sanity saver or a social outlet as they are a creative effort. ~ unknown

Knitting forever, housework whenever. ~ unknown

"It took me years and years of trial efforts to work out that there
is absolutely no knitting triumph I can achieve that my husband
will think is worth being woken up for."
~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End:
Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

"Heirloom" is knitting code for "This pattern is so difficult that you would consider death a relief. ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Knitting is a boon for those of us who are easily bored. I take my knitting everywhere to take the edge off of moments that would otherwise drive me stark raving mad. ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Everybody tells me that they would love to knit, but they don't have time. I look at people's lives and I can see opportunity and time for knitting all over the place. The time spent riding the bus each day? That's a pair of socks over a month. Waiting in line? Mittens. Watching TV? Buckets of wasted time that could be an exquisite lace shawl. ~Stephanie Pearl-McPhee, At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much