Knitting...

A year ago, my Mum wanted to get out of the house more and see new people. She's always been a great knitter, so I persuaded her to go to a Knit and Natter group in a local church. She went, on the condition I went with her.

All well and good. But I couldn't knit.

I do cross-stitch and embroidery, so I took some cross-stitch with me and Mum took some knitting. All the other people there were lovely and didn't seem to mind the fact I couldn't knit, so I did my cross-stitch and for many months, that was that - Mum knitted, I cross-stitched and we both nattered.

But, most of the people were knitting for charity - hats or scarves or blankets - and I felt guilty that, although my cross-stitch pieces would get sold at a table of work sale and the proceeds go to charity, I wasn't really contributing much. It takes a LONG time to cross-stitch things! It also struck me that there was a wealth of knowledge around the table - knitting (in a variety of styles - "English" versus "Continental" and so on), crocheting etc. and that I should take advantage and learn some new skills.

So, I learned to knit! Now, you might wonder why it's taken me so long to master this, but the honest answer is, I could never work out if I was right- or left-handed at it. I'm neither-handed, in life generally. I mostly write with my right (though can write with my left, and did so exclusively for two years when I had RSI in the right), but do a whole heap of other things left-handed. When I learned to knit before, I got very confused over which needle went through the stitch and which way I should do it all (and frequently switched from right- to left-handed mid-row). I still have to concentrate quite hard! My first few attempts at knitting this time around weren't all that brilliant!

I expected I would just knit simple things at Knit and Natter, but to be honest, it's been a bit of a saviour for me over the last few weeks. I'm still deep in editing, and with the work involved in re-releasing The Wrong Kind of Clouds, and when I get to the end of a long day, it's been relaxing to be creative in a different way and do something that makes me think about something other than writing/editing (or Brexit!). I'm doing blanket squares (some might be more square than others, but hey!), though the rate at which I'm managing to do them, the blanket won't be ready until next winter. I've also ordered a second lot of wool, to do a second blanket!

The writing/editing load should ease soon. I'm hoping to sign off on book 1 of the trilogy soon, and re-release The Wrong Kind of Clouds, so I'll only really be juggling two books (plus the new one that wants to be written, but that's a different matter). I'll keep on knitting though!

What does everyone else do to unwind at the end of the day?



Comments