Friday - hopefully my last day home from work, I should be - all things being equal - back on Monday but I am definitely going to being gentle on myself.
I popped in on Wednesday for a meeting (I say 'popped in' - that makes it sound rather cheerful and bouncy, I should have written ... I shuffled in or I dragged myself in ... to a meeting) and after just over two hours I wobbled my way back to the car and drove home. I can't remember much after that, apart from appreciating the back of my eyelids beneath a duvet.
Now today, Friday, although not fully fit - I feel alive, actually feel positive and even though I am not full of my normal bounce - I am getting there.
.JPG)
I spent most of Thursday knitting - it certainly made me feel as if I was mending. Then, reports regarding Queen Elizabeth's death hit the news and swamped every form of media from edge to edge. I found I was watching from that edge, an outsider, observing how the country was being engulfed. Knitting and observing.
.JPG)
Then a little later J from Winters End Rambler said this ...
I thought carefully and replied with ....
.JPG)
I then realised that is exactly what I was doing - knitting for my wellbeing. The comfort, the feel of being 'busy' when in reality I was washed out and languishing beneath a duvet. Knitting to keep an increasingly busy brain and a want-to-be-entertained set of fingers satisfied. Having had fairly long separation from knitting made me appreciate it that whole much more.
.JPG)
And - if a little guilt was to slip in and say that the jumper I am knitting is one which I'd retrieved from the naughty bin. For the third time. I sheepishly dragged it out and unceremoniously flung it on the carpet to see how much more was to do ..... to find that all that was required was to complete the raglan decreases on the back and the neck shaping on the front ... then to stitch it together. The sleeves are done, finished and waiting..... ? why had I not completed it?? I don't honestly know.
So - today between gently pottering around the house tidying it after 12 days of neglect - I am knitting.
.JPG)
So knit, even if it is only one row - knit - it soothes an awful lot of things.
And it feels rather empowering.
Oh how I agree, knit whilst you can, doesn’t have to be complicated or huge but so soothing. Hope the jumper comes together, sewing up is my nemesis. Sandra
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough I don't mind the sewing - I don't even mind weaving in the ends! I just need to finish the thing first !! haha
DeleteAnd afternoon siestas...ideally twenty minutes, no more than thirty...
ReplyDeleteand siestas - definitely siestas!
DeleteI'm a fairly crap knitter but you have made me want to re-acquaint myself with my needles again. I do have the wool and pattern for a little knitted bear which I abandoned when I used the wrong size needles for a complete back of it.
ReplyDeleteWalking helped me today too. The fresh air, beautiful views and chance to think worries over helped no end.
definitely get back to knitting - it does not matter how 'crap' you are - I am a very basic knitter but I do get a lot of creative pleasure from it. But walking is my absolute release! I love it xx
DeleteA very nice post...
ReplyDeletethank you Anonymous :)
DeleteKnitting/crochet is also something I do too, to help ease the tensions of the day coming to a close. It is also easy when travelling in car/train and I always had something on the go when working as a teenager and travelling into the city by train. At one time you could take it on plane travel too. We've been bombarded out here in Oz too with all sorts about our Queen and I'm still in shock this morning. I remember her coming to the throne when little & going into Sydney for her cavalcade through the street. How times are changing. Take care Kate, ease back into work and hugs.
ReplyDeleteI find kitting or crochet whilst on a journey rather pleasant, I can still look out the window (as long as the pattern is fairly simple) and chat with G etc. I find it can enhance a trip 😊🧶
DeleteKnitting really is the best medicine! Like you, I recently fell foul of Covid, and like you, knitting was the first thing I turned to when I started feeling able to do anything more than 'be poorly'. The jumper looks like a perfect convalescence project - it's so close to completion, cooler weather is coming, and you don't even mind the sewing and weaving-in stage (the final hurdle I often fall at). What's not to like?! Hope you continue to feel better, and take things steady, one row at a time.
ReplyDeletesending germ free hugs to a fellow club covid member - knitting has definitely been a medicinal and mindful task and one I am really enjoying
DeleteLovely post - I'm a spasmodic crocheter and occasional knitter and totally agree that these gentle activities soothe and occupy whilst fulfilling the desire to create.
ReplyDeleteAlison in Wales x
Thank you Alison 😊🧶
DeleteWhilst I can knit, I rarely knit these days but my evening 'entertainment' is generally crochet; aah, the gentle rhythm of the hook, the familiarity of practised stitches, seeing it grow, feeling the yarn, luxuriating in the colours...... then there is quilting.... that tends to be a daytime activity unless I've got to the stage of hand quilting or sewing the binding on. Craft work is my liberator in any troubled times and has been for many years. Long may we craft. x
ReplyDeleteMy go to yarn craft is crochet but in the 'heat of the moment' I grabbed knitting and seemed to fallen back in love with it :) I agree it is a brilliant escape when things are not too good xx
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