How fitting that today is the last day of Blog Week, and I get to save the best for last. Today’s topic is about where we are when we engage in our craft. Not just in terms of place, but where we are in our minds. Is it part of a journey? A calming ritual? What is the space that this thing we so love occupies?
I’ve been a yarn crafter since I was 7 years old. Sure, it was a way to pass the time when I was alone, or watching TV, or contemplating the world. One of my most favorite solitary memories was the night I watched Daniel Day-Lewis win the Best Actor Oscar for what is one of my most favorite movies of all time. (Since he’s won two, you’ll have to click to see which one it is, though once you do, the answer will be obvious!) I actually MET Daniel Day-Lewis just a few weeks before the big event that year, as crazy as that sounds, but it’s true. It was one of the most memorable evenings of my life, when I attended a special screening of said movie, in Congress, no less. So, there I was several weeks later, cheering him on at the Oscars (from my couch), and crocheting a bedspread for my then-boyfriend-now-husband. At the time, I thought that was about as fun as yarn crafting ever got. Except there were times when I crocheted in the company of my grandmother, who was rarely without yarn in her hands, and of course, those memories are priceless.
Three years ago, though, I learned something really important. When you love something, you love it more when you can associate that thing with the company of friends. Over these last years I have made friends who otherwise would have been completely anonymous to me, but for the craft I would not now trade any of them for the world. Even when I do knit alone now, I am never really alone, because thoughts of the beautiful sweater that Tammy is making, or the funny joke that Julie told, or the heartache and hard times that unfortunately some are going through, but we lean on our friends and it somehow feels just a little better.
Knitting has given me the opportunity to make new friends, and feel connected to something larger than myself. And truly, that is what matters to me most about my craft. The connections.
So, please join me in celebrating just some of the hands that connect together and surround my heart. (As always, click to embiggen, click twice for full size)
Looking at these photos I can’t help but have the song “Hands” by Jewel running through my mind: “In the end, only kindness matters…”
And I hope for you that your knitting brings you also to that special place, whatever it is. For me, I’m forever grateful for the company of friends.
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