Why do I …
Part 1 of 4 - a bit about me and why I do the things I do to destress, refocus and sometimes, maybe - hopefully, make the world a little bit brighter.
Why do I - and why did I decide to do it this way?
Hello, and welcome back to my creatively chaotic mind! I’m so glad that you’re visiting again! Have some tea and cookies while I explain some small details before we jump right in.
As said in the subtitle, this is the first part of a minor, 4-part series meant to explain a bit about me. I won’t bore you with my life story; no worries about that. I might share a small memory, but that will be all.
There are two main reasons for my decision to make this into a small series instead of one single post.
Reason 1 - I still need some time to figure out how I want to pull this off in the first place. I tend to jump in head first without a plan to help me float. As you can imagine, I have done the same with Substack. I do know where I want to take this whole thing in the long run. I’m just not sure yet. My experience with newsletters and blog posts consists of reading them and being slightly intimidated by how well they’re written.
Reason 2 - It keeps me from rambling and jumping from one thought to another. It lessens the time I need to re-read and edit my posts. Keeping the newsletter/post to one topic should allow me to manage that one-post-a-week pattern I aim for.
Okay, now that that’s been said, let’s start the central part of the post.
Why do I - knit/crochet?
Many people do many things for many different reasons. Sometimes those reasons overlap each other; sometimes, they don’t. Both allow for conversation, and you can find many lovely people that can become friends even if they’re spread worldwide.
I do it because it helps me relax after a long workday. The repetitive motion doesn’t need a lot of brainpower, and I can think of nothing. Or have a podcast, audiobook or movie running in the background. Those are usually more background noise. Sometimes I don’t even have a goal in mind when knitting. Just trying out different patterns is a lot of fun. There are multiple pattern books in my stash that I reference when planning.
Yet, none of that was the reason why I started knitting.
I started knitting because I saw my grandma knit a jumper for the baby doll my mother gifted me for Christmas. Back then, I was still too young to hold the needles properly, but I tried to imitate her with coloured pencils. Or I helped her when she needed to frog a project. That was always a lot of fun! (Not so much for her, though.)
When I was about twelve, I remember a weekend with my grandparents. At that point, I already knew the basics of knitting and worked on a simple scarf. Grandma had just started a new pair of socks for Grandpa. Knitting with five needles looked like magic to twelve-year-old me. I couldn’t imagine how she could keep them stable without slipping stitches.
That was on Friday evening. On Saturday morning, right after breakfast, she handed me a set of needles and walked me through the beginning of a sock.
I didn’t leave that kitchen chair until I had finished that first sock - after dinner that same Saturday evening. It was dark brown, not very pretty, but it was still the best thing I had done. The second sock took a little longer - because I had to return home on Sunday.
I knit/crochet these days because - as I said in the beginning - it helps me decompress. I can keep my fingers busy while my brain goes offline. It helps that I can then give the projects to friends and family. Right now, I have four or five projects running alongside each other: a cardigan, a blanket, a scarf and a pair of socks. However, I might have forgotten one. Having multiple WIPs is nice because I can jump from one to the other depending on what I feel and what works best for me. Granted, it takes longer until they’re all completed, but I don’t mind.
And now, let me share a few pictures of some projects - not all of them but a few.
Welcome! from someone who has also jumped in head first with no real idea how to do this 😅 Breaking posts down into a series sounds like a very sensible idea that I may have to use, random tangents are a speciality of mine. Your cables are so neat! Makes me want to practice more with the knitting needles, I can do them with crochet but stocking stitch is the extent of my knitting skills.