Knitting for the joy

[amd57432]

Knitting, crocheting and sewing are lost arts and extremely useful skills to have IMHO.  I used to knit and crochet when I was a child but these days I stick to sewing and do as much as I can by hand.  I find it soooooo relaxing and really makes me happy.

I sew as well but it is not very relaxing for me. I'm glad that you can enjoy a craft. I do agree that knitting, sewing and crochet are useful skills.

[Brenda86]

I absolutely love knitting and crocheting and do it a lot in my free time (if I'm not reading - just depends on what my daughter is doing at the time, haha) I have made some nice sweaters for my daughter, hats, two dresses and socks. I also made a really large blanket for myself about 3 years ago that is holding up really well. And I made a couple blankets for the births of my daughter and two nieces. Anyway, I've always got projects going. It's great stress relief - though EE definitely trumps it.

[ashu]

I used to sew heaps as I found it to be very therapeutic....that's before I read the wave of course 

[loreta]

For me knitting is a sort of meditation. I am absolutely sure that our grand-mothers were meditating while knitting. Ourselves also. I remember when I use to knitting during my young years, it calmed me and permit me concentration and insight. During World War II many, many soldiers on convalescence were knitting in hospitals and now I understand why: knitting is a god tranquilizer.

It is an art, too. And very beautiful. I have a sweater made by my paternal grand-mother since 30 years and it is almost new. She was very good knitting. She was also an expert doing bears and since then I love bears.

[Brenda86]

For me knitting is a sort of meditation. I am absolutely sure that our grand-mothers were meditating while knitting. Ourselves also. I remember when I use to knitting during my young years, it calmed me and permit me concentration and insight. During World War II many, many soldiers on convalescence were knitting in hospitals and now I understand why: knitting is a god tranquilizer.

It is an art, too. And very beautiful. I have a sweater made by my paternal grand-mother since 30 years and it is almost new. She was very good knitting. She was also an expert doing bears and since then I love bears.

This is making me think maybe I will say the POTS in my head while I knit to add to it as, yes, it is very calming and stress relieving and feels like a sort of meditation - as long as the pattern isn't too complicated anyway!

[loreta]

For me knitting is a sort of meditation. I am absolutely sure that our grand-mothers were meditating while knitting. Ourselves also. I remember when I use to knitting during my young years, it calmed me and permit me concentration and insight. During World War II many, many soldiers on convalescence were knitting in hospitals and now I understand why: knitting is a god tranquilizer.

It is an art, too. And very beautiful. I have a sweater made by my paternal grand-mother since 30 years and it is almost new. She was very good knitting. She was also an expert doing bears and since then I love bears.

This is making me think maybe I will say the POTS in my head while I knit to add to it as, yes, it is very calming and stress relieving and feels like a sort of meditation - as long as the pattern isn't too complicated anyway!

You know, even if the pattern is complicated, and there are some patterns that are really, really difficult, the concentration is so hard that it is a sort of meditation. Or mindfulness. Our grandmothers were not mathematicians but they were very good with creativity that necessitated counting, measuring, dividing, summing, multiplying.... etc. So I see more and more that knitting is not just an art by itself but much, much more!

[Brenda86]

For me knitting is a sort of meditation. I am absolutely sure that our grand-mothers were meditating while knitting. Ourselves also. I remember when I use to knitting during my young years, it calmed me and permit me concentration and insight. During World War II many, many soldiers on convalescence were knitting in hospitals and now I understand why: knitting is a god tranquilizer.

It is an art, too. And very beautiful. I have a sweater made by my paternal grand-mother since 30 years and it is almost new. She was very good knitting. She was also an expert doing bears and since then I love bears.

This is making me think maybe I will say the POTS in my head while I knit to add to it as, yes, it is very calming and stress relieving and feels like a sort of meditation - as long as the pattern isn't too complicated anyway!

You know, even if the pattern is complicated, and there are some patterns that are really, really difficult, the concentration is so hard that it is a sort of meditation. Or mindfulness. Our grandmothers were not mathematicians but they were very good with creativity that necessitated counting, measuring, dividing, summing, multiplying.... etc. So I see more and more that knitting is not just an art by itself but much, much more!

I am constantly in awe of the creativity it takes to come up with some of the patterns I have used that other people have come up with and have done some very complicated ones. You are right it does take a great deal of concentration and mindfulness - especially when one mistake, if its not caught right away, can cause you to have to undo hours of work. I have learned to be extremely mindful of what I am doing.

[Straycat]

Ahhhh, I'm glad someone bumped this thread!  I love to knit as well.  I recently took a class for an entwined shawl, but mostly I knit socks.  For doing them by hand, I prefer wood double-pointed needles, but many socks I make with a Legere circular sock knitting machine, mostly using wool and wool/bamboo blends.  There's an interesting history about them for anyone who's interested:  (Part 1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBdmqYTTK7c  and (Part 2) http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=id-JsTMiBEs

[Iarrthoir Firinne]

I love knitting as well.  In fact I love any handwork; crocheting, cross stitch, patchwork, applique, etc, etc ....  I have done lots of knitting over the years but sadly projects these days are very basic due to lack of time.  Have just finished a scarf, I did it in cables to make it a bit more interesting.  Love pure wools, particularly Alpaca and Merino. I felt a ball of Cashmere once and have had a yearning ever since to knit something in it one day (it would have to be something very small as it's terribly expensive!)  I agree that handwork is really therapeutic and relaxing .....  oh to not having to work and to be able to craft all day!!  

[amd57432]

You know, even if the pattern is complicated, and there are some patterns that are really, really difficult, the concentration is so hard that it is a sort of meditation. Or mindfulness. Our grandmothers were not mathematicians but they were very good with creativity that necessitated counting, measuring, dividing, summing, multiplying.... etc. So I see more and more that knitting is not just an art by itself but much, much more!
[/quote]

Hi,

I agree that knitting is an art and so much more. My paternal grandmother knitted but I was young when she died so never got the chance to learn from her.

I also agree that is a pattern is difficult it can be relaxing. That is as long as things are going right. I am working on a shawl right now that I was more then half done. I messed up and in trying to fix it made things worse and ended up frogging the whole thing and starting over again. I love the pattern though so it is not that much of a chore to restart it.

[amd57432]

I love knitting as well.  In fact I love any handwork; crocheting, cross stitch, patchwork, applique, etc, etc ....  I have done lots of knitting over the years but sadly projects these days are very basic due to lack of time.  Have just finished a scarf, I did it in cables to make it a bit more interesting.  Love pure wools, particularly Alpaca and Merino. I felt a ball of Cashmere once and have had a yearning ever since to knit something in it one day (it would have to be something very small as it's terribly expensive!)  I agree that handwork is really therapeutic and relaxing .....  oh to not having to work and to be able to craft all day!!  

Have you looked at cashmere blends? I am currently using a alpaca/cashmere blend that is very nice to work with.

[loreta]

When you are doing knitting and you make an error you just stop after seeing the error, return backwards and start again from the beginning of your error. Like life should be. In life we see our errors and than we continue as nothing, and sometimes we enter a spiral because we did not want to return and start from the beginning. If just we stop and look where we made an error and start again from then. So maybe knitting is a metaphor of life itself. All this patterns like decisions, roads, adventures that life give us, labyrinths where we enter, stories we create... Yes, maybe knitting is more then just that. 

[Iarrthoir Firinne]

Have you looked at cashmere blends? I am currently using a alpaca/cashmere blend that is very nice to work with.

Hi amd57432

Apologies for late reply - have only just seen your reply, hope I have done the 'pasting quote' thing properly!  No, I haven't looked at Cashmere blends, didn't know there was such a thing, sounds like a fab option, will definitely make enquiries - thanks!  Cashmere/Alpaca sounds like a lovely blend.  Am thinking about embarking on a bigger project again, a cardigan maybe.  Although sometimes I wonder whether we knitters shouldn't be furiously knitting socks and things and stockpiling them for everyone for the extra, extra cold spell that sounds like it might be just around the corner ...... 


Edit=fixed quote

[Laura]

I don't really knit or crochet very well though I can do some very basic things and made a baby blanket once... but I used to be a sewing nut and made most of my own clothes and many clothes for my children.  I've got a sewing room now and a pile of mending to do, but never seem to have the time.  I did make a dress a couple years ago that I wore to our Christmas party - black stretch velvet - and it was very nice and easy.  Sorry for hijacking a knitting thread... I'll go back to being quiet now!

[RedFox]

fwiw I use to love sewing (by hand) as a kid - particularly embroidery. I remember my mum making clothes from sewing templates, and helping her pin them together before she would sew them on the machine. When I was old enough I got to have a go using the sewing machine.
Seems the skills weren't lost as I lined some curtains with blackout material (saving quite a lot of money) a few years back quite neatly.