Knit Happens

I've had the knitting bug for a couple months. Was it the crisp evenings creeping into my den? Was it the desire to create, the need to make something with a starting point and a finishing point with my own two hands? I think it was a combination of the two, along with the urge to do something fun for myself that didn't directly meet anyone else's needs in my family. Just for me.

Last week I hauled up my knitting box from the basement... uncovering piles of yarn, my favorite knitting book Stitch 'N Bitch (from which I lifted the title of this post), and my beloved needles.

You see, all these elements of knitting are beloved to me because of their sentimentality. I picked up the craft for a road trip my husband and I took just over 3 years ago. I hypothesized that I would need something to do for all those miles. Our road trip took us from here in the Blue Ridge Mountains all the way to Banff, Canada. My memories include balancing my book on my lap and knitting scarves for all the women in our families for Christmas presents... all the while thankful for all the straight, flat roads which kept car sickness at bay! Doug and I figure I drove about 2 hours that ENTIRE 2-way road trip... all ~5,000 miles. I was happy creating and clicking with my needles... so proud of all my new, little creations. Doug was content keeping the wheel straight and pointing out all the hawks off the side of the road. It was such a special time for us... completely uninterrupted on the roads and in the woods in both Banff and Glacier National Parks... only to our sharing more of our history, observing the gorgeous settings, wondering about the communities we traversed, and dreaming of our future. It was during that trip that our Justin was conceived, unbeknown to us at the time. And in the backdrop of all these memories is yarn.

"What am I making?," you might ask. Well, I started and stopped several things in the last week. Originally, I was determined to knit with my leftover yarn. But today I decided I needed a new skein of yarn in a new color. What I was wanting to make just wasn't clicking with the available choices. And as any knitter knows, it is no fun to knit if you aren't excited about your yarn. So I headed over to a discount craft store- I'm no yarn snob... synthetics are preferred around here. And with my new-very delectable- yarn, I returned to start something new. And you'll have to wait and see (or read) once I'm finished recreating this small nook of the world.

For now, just picture my cute little knitting bag, made for me by a dear friend who first inspired me. It hangs on our little Doug-made coat rack by the front door... with antique wood casters and hooks and door knobs. Amidst the cars and trucks and music shakers and Dr Seuss books and balls... the bag brightens the room and reminds in thankfulness of an earlier time in my story that helped bring me to where we are today. And I imagine it will beckon me to itself in the coming days... massaging my own hands and mind, for every knitter knows... Knitting is a ministry for both the one who receives the finished product and the knitter herself. I'm in need of some knitting ministry. So with open hands, I put myself at the feet of the yarn and the One who first Created in the first place.