I started knitting again in December 2014 after a hiatus of 30 years. I was first taught how to knit by my French professor in college. She was from Switzerland originally, moved to China in the teens of the 20th Century after marrying a Chinese diplomat, then in 1950 decamped to Taiwan with her husband after the R. O. C. (Republic of China) was defeated by the Chinese Communist Party. In addition to French and knitting, she also first introduced me to the art of eating a soft-boiled egg on an egg cup for breakfast.
Tree Warmer
According to Kirk, I knitted him a pullover 3 decades ago during the early years of our marriage and it was his favorite sweater. I can no longer recall how I did it. It, however, soon got misplaced at the Philosophy Department in Berkeley and was never found again. Fast forward to December 14. We were in downtown Bloomington looking for ideas for Christmas gifts. We went into a local yarn shop called Yarns Unlimited--they are the ones who clothe the trees downtown with knitted wool in the winter. Inspired by all the colorful yarn we saw, then and there I (we) decided that I should try to knit another sweater for Kirk just like the one he lost. That's how I picked up knitting again.
Hand Warmers that can type
Thanks to the wealth of knitting tutorials on-line, I managed to figure out how to knit again from scratch. Since then I've knitted several sweaters, multiple scarves, caps, etc. I like to have my knitting around when I am in between occupations and wanting to keep my hands busy, when conversation in a group seems daunting, or while sitting around at my hairdresser's waiting for my hair to finish "processing"; hours go by more quickly when you're stuck in planes or the airport, if you have your knitting with you.
Tree Hugger
What prompted me to write this post was my chance reading of an article in the New York Times this evening called The Health Benefits of Knitting. I'm not sure whether all the health claims in the article are verifiable but I can testify that it is an endlessly challenging activity and that it builds patience and perseverance, and teaches you to accept a certain amount of imperfection in your work--mistakes are unavoidable. I'm certain that if we were still in Gainesville, Kirk and I would be able to get a knitting group going, with our old gang of fearless amateur painters. I miss them sorely. A note to the wise, for people with carpal tunnel discomfort, knit in moderation.
