CREATIVITY STARTS NOW

‘I’m glad to finally see you knitting’, my son had told me a few days ago as he passed by my study and noticed me with knitting needles and yarn in my hands.

‘Me too’, I replied with a smile.

For the past two years, I had been planning to return to knitting. An endeavour I delved into when I was pregnant with my now teenage son and had first attempted during my own high school years. The difference is that this time my patterns would focus on handknits for adults.

My plan started with a few yarn purchases from different sellers who hand-dyed merino wool. Some yarns were bulky. Others were thinner. Then came the various knitting needles I needed to accommodate the different weights of yarns.

Ideas were forming in my mind and my yarn stash was growing. However, the actual knitting was delayed for several reasons.

One reason was due to our move from one apartment to another, two summers ago. Last summer was due to travelling to Europe three times throughout the year with some and all of my children.

Besides the moving and travelling, I could always find some reason to not take the time to start knitting again. Certainly, it had been many years since I took time to create something from yarns and needles. And an even longer time to put my handknits in my Etsy shop. But all that has now changed with the development of my first cowl pattern.

The new pattern I created when my son was at his father’s house this past month. A pattern which took several tries with my knitting and then unknitting the entire cowl. It also involved learning a new way to purl, which at first looked so complicated that I nearly gave up. Curiosity took over and I can now quickly do the Norwegian purl as part of the combination knitting for the cowls.

The new designs will involve both new techniques, colour combinations, and new weights of yarns. Something which will inevitably take time to master, but nothing which will be too difficult to learn.

There is a certain satisfaction in seeing a few materials turn into a finished product. Of the act of sitting at a table or on a sofa and working on something that brings you joy. A joy without the feeling of guilt for taking time away from other adult tasks which we dwell on for far too long.

Cleaning and organising can wait a bit longer. Creativity starts now.