SlowCraft Blog
The Importance of Doing Nothing
One of the greatest achievements over Christmas was knitting a tension square in DK with 4.5mm needles. A fairly standard knitting task, but for me it was a milestone. I was pleased that I found the flow to quickly move from casting-on to stocking stitch. I was completely unaware of the time that had passed or even how many rows I was on, when I noticed my rows of knitting curling up. Tilde told me this was common and suggested I switch to alternate stitch such as a broken rib. What might have been a bit of a challenge was in fact just a new route to go down, to enjoy the new rhythm and watch the texture appear in my rows.
The Importance of Being Bored
New Year resolutions still feel important to me. It’s a bit unfashionable as we are overrun with wellness and self-improvement articles at this time of year which so often read as guilt trips that you are not having ice-baths and running marathons. But still, I persist each year with my precarious tower of minor ambitions. My resolution ‘process’ has now evolved into an over complex to-do list for the year. I am a bit of a nerd and very visual, so I draw with felt tips on an A3 sketch pad colourful statements in pretty colours. ‘DO this!’ ‘ENJOY More!’ ‘STOP being SAD!’
The Real Therapeutic Benefits of Knitting
There is unlikely to be a crafter who does not view knitting and crochet as their ‘own time’, a moment they steal to themselves amidst their daily tumult.
People often tell me this when I mention that I am learning to knit and we always agree that it is ‘very good for us’ and I imagine us in The Steamie, wagging our fingers and nodding our heads at each other with that gentle chiding tone of ‘you must get yer knitting time in!..its good fur ye!’