Ten on Tuesday

This week's ten on Tuesday is "Ten Reasons I Knit."

1. Knitting is my passion. It's really and truly something I can't imagine not doing (which is very interesting because this month, I mostly can't knit. And yes, it's bugging me.

2. I'm a very tactile person. I love the feel of the yarn in my hands. When I first began knitting I had no idea of the differing weights of yarn, nor of the textures. I was only in 2004, when I needed something to keep my hands busy as I sat in a booth for Nana Sadie Rose, my handbag business, that I realized knitting would help. And eyelash was the order of the day for yarn. That first year, I knit the eyelash scarves for doctors and nurses I was dealing with during a health scare, but I made enough of them that I started selling them in the booth, too...I now loathe eyelash, tho' I still have times when working with it is okay. Like for instance:

3. I'm also very much a color-person. As much as I want to touch something, I want to SEE the color variation. When I discovered sock yarns - the self-patterning ones - I was a goner. Socks have probably become my favorite project, and I don't even attempt patterns anymore. I just let the colors and variation speak in a plain vanilla pattern I've memorized. Toe-up, picot finish on the cuff.

4. Knitting is portable. I take it everywhere (socks, anyway). My sewing machine definitely isn't. That's critical, as I like being able to stay busy and creative wherever we go.

5. Gift knitting is an important part of keeping the people I love covered in warmth. Whether it's knitting a shawl, or socks, or a hat, or even a toy like the one above, gifts of handknits are an important part of my life. Not really sure that it's such a help to the budget as once it might have been, but my tastes have improved where yarn is concerned. It's less of an issue how much the gift costs as it once was.

6. I also use my knitting in my charity/good works life. I'm passionate about causes, and knitting something (like during the flooding in Vermont 18 months ago) that I know will be used makes me feel as if I'm giving part of myself. I suppose money gives of me (my time), but I do think a handknit is a more personal gift of my creativity.

7. Not long after I started Nana Sadie Rose, I was diagnosed with an auto-immune disease, and I found myself spending a lot of time in doctor's offices and having lots of tests. Knitting kept my hands from shaking, kept my mind occupied while I sat all those hours in medical facilities. It calmed me.

8. I enjoy belonging to an exclusive club. Knitters are neat people, and I enjoy everyone of the ones I know. The social aspect of our knitting groups and Ravelry, well, you just can't find that anywhere else.

9. Knitting challenges my mind. While I haven't ever and may never knit a sweater, lace knitting provides all the mental stimulation I need. Hopefully it's keeping my mind flexible, and I know that My Sweetheart may just laugh out loud at that one, especially since having surgery last week, my brain is foggier than usual - but then, you know, I'm not knitting right now, either. Hmm...wonder if there's a connection?

10. I knit because I love it. It's become a compulsion, a passion, my way to ward off loneliness, a manner of fighting boredom. It's my one true love, beyond My Sweetheart and my family. With everything knitting offers me, as long as I can hold the needles, I'll have them in my hands.