SevenSenses

“If you want to bring happiness to the whole world, go home and love your family” -Mother Theresa

My sister in law taught me to knit last Thanksgiving (2017) as part of her own certification to hold classes. I went along with the lesson for her sake, not from any deep-seated desire to learn to knit or enter into the fiber arts scene. However, as life has a habit of doing, this apparent favor to my sister in law turned into a valuable part of my lifestyle. I have been meditating since 2003 with a focused discipline attached to it since 2012 when meditation was not just a nice thing to do, rather it was a necessary part of my physical and emotional health regime.

I had learned some basic knitting previously. And I had learned to crochet granny squares from my sister when I was very young but it was never something I was particularly drawn to.   So when I bought the supplies in preparation for the Thanksgiving day lesson, my primary thought was – boy this is an expensive favor! Not to mention the fact that I wanted to knit a freaking hat and my sister in law told me I had to make a koozy.   Seriously? Who uses a wool koozy? (Fun fact – they are way better than the cardboard ones you get with your coffees to-go … who knew?)

In any event, I paid the cashier at Joanne’s fabric, picked up my pies from the Greenland Women’s Club and headed over to the family festivities.   My sister-in-law was very patient with me as I casted on and knit too tightly.   Then, after a while, I got the hang of it.   It was oddly satisfying to simply get into a rhythm on the row and to see row upon row grow into a soft, woven fabric.   I realized as I knit that it was very similar to focusing on my breath in meditation.  I quickly identified that this was a form of meditation for me … it was therapeutic!

I progressed from koozies to knitted Cotton wash cloths where I began to understand the differences in fiber types.  Don’t roll your eyes … yes, I knew the difference between cotton and wool before, but what I am referencing is the behavior of the fiber. Not only the feel and tension but also the source.  Spending that time in a calmed state just working with the fiber to transform it from simply yarn to a product provided an intimacy with the very fiber itself.   There was a recognition that the fiber had already transformed to be in the state of yarn: one yarn from the fur of a living animal, the other from a cotton plant.   This may seem obvious to you, my reader, but it was to me a subtle reminder.  So many of the things we rely on and take for granted have travelled long transformational paths in their journey of production. This recognition also transformed my simple knitting projects into acts of gratitude to the sheep or cotton plant that provided something to this process I was now enjoying.  My knitting progressed to crocheting which ultimately sparked a “mass” production of bags and what’s-nots galor, charged with the renewing energy of the meditation practice, ready to share with others.

I had some friends and acquaintances who I knew were avid knitters with whom I  shared my new found stress reliever epiphany.  They simply smiled with an understanding as if to say “Yes, Grasshopper. Now take the stone from my hand.” I was given all sorts of sites on technique. I taught myself to cable knit – my mentor was so proud – and when the skill became overwhelming, I reverted to a simple project because, after all, this isn’t about the product for me. This is about the process; a process that I can take with me almost anywhere without raising an eyebrow.   For example, if I were to sit in lotus pose and do some deep breathing on the bus ride home after a hard day – folks might feel uncomfortable. But when I pull out some yarn, they just smile – might even ask what I’m making. I don’t need to tell them that I’m actually releasing negative energy and pulling in positive energy, I just say “Oh – just a scarf for my mother”.  They smile and go back to their book and I continue to mediknit.