Cozy Crafting and Art

“I made this for you. I thought of you while I made it. I guess I kind of love you.” ― Elizabeth Berg

My number 1 priority tomorrow is… to keep showing my unfinished knitting projects some love by actually knitting them.

            Sometime in 2009 or so on a fateful spring afternoon, there was a college speech class commencing persuasive speeches. The intention was to actually make them successful. I wasn’t very convinced that mine on “Why you should learn martial arts” was all that effective. But, my classmate Veronica had the most organic speech on why we should learn how to knit. Even the classical macho men of the class wanted to try it. I did not expect her delicious speech to get me so obsessed about a beloved yet underrated art and science. Nearly seventeen years later, the craft is still with me, merged with my life’s blood till death do us part.

            My mom taught me the basics: Cast On. Cast Off. Knit. Purl. Grandma gave me all of her needles―she knew how to knit and crochet, but she preferred books, travel, origami, and church choir. Other than the multi-year hiatus I took before I moved out of New York City, I stay clanking my needles and reflecting on just how much the love has expanded along with my confidence.

            Unfortunately, I do not have any of my first few projects, swatches, and early loves. They have long been donated or lost while moving. But, I do have a collection of things from the point where I began to attempt more impressive projects: sweaters.

            Over the years, I’ve earned a collection of loveable pieces, potentially the beginning of arthritis, and a love for an art that is surprisingly mathematical. I think about and graciously thank Veronica (wherever she is today) for that persuasive speech nearly twenty years ago that opened an incredible door to a fiber filled world rich with history, culture, politics, mathematics, and nature.

            The art I once only associated with antiquity and grandmothers allowed me to look back at these matriarchs with unlimited respect, and remind me of how much I adore this elderly women overflowing with love, resilience, and knowledge despite living lives of pain.

            To Knitting, I say, I Do.

Pieces made over the years…