Handwork with Yarn

I love to knit.  Raising children and teaching has kept me from picking up my knitting needles for many years, but now that the children have grown and moved away and I have retired from teaching, I am knitting again.

              As I have become more involved in just circling a string of yarn around some pointed needles, I realize how much knitting illustrates many areas of life.  For example, in order to complete any project correctly, one must follow the directions.  Right now, I am involved putting together a slipover sweater.  I charged ahead believing I knew what I was doing and did not read the directions carefully.  As a result, I had to rip out about three weeks of work, go back and read the directions carefully and start again.  Is this not true of life?  We think we know what we’re doing and don’t “read the directions,” and find ourselves having to “rip out” and start again.  We’ve lost time and caused some wear and tear on our spirits and our projects just because we did not prepare adequately to begin with.

              Knitting involves joining a lot of individual stitches that must be woven accurately to complete the final project.  Any successful undertaking we attempt is usually made up of “individual stitches woven accurately” – many details, whether it be weaving yarn together to make a sweater or assembling a jet airplane.

              Sometimes we “drop a stitch” or miscount the number of stitches needed and the pattern becomes flawed.  Fortunately, many “dropped stitches” or counting problems can be easily corrected if we take the time to do the correction at the time the mistake occurred.  The point is, of course, a mistake must be made right or the final project will be marred.  We all make mistakes, but like in knitting, they cannot be ignored or the pattern of our lives also becomes flawed.

              What happens when we start a project and find it is too difficult to complete?  That is my problem right now.  I am also trying to knit an afghan square that has twists and cables, and I can’t do it.  I either have too many stitches on my needle and I don’t know where they came from, or I don’t have enough stitches and I don’t know where they have gone.   Isn’t this the way of life sometimes?  We get involved in something, and find ourselves in “over our heads.”  Events pile up and we don’t know where they came from or how best to handle them.  We don’t know which way to go.  What can we do?

              First, we can continue to personally try and solve the problem, maybe go back to the directions again.  But sometimes that is like beating our heads against a wall.  I have ripped out and tried again about a dozen times with the afghan piece; it is just not coming together.

Second, we can just quit, give up the whole project altogether, but then our plans would never be fulfilled.  I could use the yarn for something else, but I would never have the afghan.

Third, we can find someone who knows something about the project we have been working on and ask that person for help.  I know a “knitting guru” who lives near Fairmount.  She knows everything about knitting.  I plan to be at her knit shop within the next week or so.

I believe a lot of life can be compared to knitting.  Successfully completing a project in any area of life gives a sense of self-worth and personal satisfaction. May we all celebrate completed projects.