Security Blanket

My mother-in-law saw a tote bag the other day that said “If I can’t bring my knitting, I’m not coming.” Do you want one, too?

We’ve been doing a fair amount of hithering and yoning during the past few weeks. I’ve left my wallet, my phone, and my keys behind in more locations than I’d like to admit, but I have yet to lose track of the knitting bag that has been accompanying me nearly everywhere.

It has two projects and a notions bag in it. (And when I’ve got my thinking cap on, I toss my wallet in there, too!) It’s travelled all over town, into the Rocky Mountains for a few days, and back and forth several times on a 140-mile round trip.

And yet, in the past couple of months, I bet I’ve knit a whopping two inches on one Boxing Day sock and maybe double that on an Amaryllis cardigan sleeve. It’s not much progress for the amount of time I’ve been lugging the knitting bag around, and it has nothing to do with the complexity of the patterns inside. I simply haven’t spent a lot of time with my hands on the needles and yarn.

It’s a good time for me to review my thoughts about slow progress, especially point three. The projects in my bag are not just temporary life companions, but they are serving a few other functions as well.

Security Blanket In Disguise

My grandson, Bacon (name changed to protect his future dignity), adores his handknit baby blanket. It warms my heart to see him toting that bedraggled blue mess behind him. It already has so many fuzzed and felted patches and areas that have been stitched up in odd, slightly lumpy arrangements due to thorough, hearty use. If it ever had right angles in the corners, those days are long gone. It’s a disaster.

But he loves it, and I repair the latest holes every time I see him. If it survives his childhood, it will be a miracle, but while it exists, that blanket conveys real physical comfort. I’ve seen him plant his face in it, or cover his head, and even if it’s just for a nanosecond, the big world goes away.

I haven’t yet resorted to pulling my knitting bag over my head. But there have been times I’ve pulled out the cardigan or sock and found a comfort not unlike Bacon’s.

We’re in a season of Hard Things, when we seem to be collecting griefs both small and large. I don’t know that any of them are unique to our life, or especially noteworthy in any way except to us because they happen to be ours. But in the midst of them, small comforts are precious.

For me, a few moments of quiet knitting are as comforting as burying my face in a soft blanket made by someone who loves me. Narrowing my focus to the color and texture slipping through my fingers and around the needles blocks out the noise and frenzy of what is happening around me for a few blessed minutes.

A Path for the Mind

In a similar way, those few moments with my knitting are proving to be a safe space when there are too many irons in the fire, too many variables to sort through, too many choices to make, and too many emotions that want to join the party.

I have friends who clean when they’re under stress and need to think. God bless them. I admire that healthy coping mechanism. Knitting might not score quite as high as cleaning when it comes to productive coping skills, but on the other hand, I don’t believe I’ll ever have to worry that someone will annoy me just so I knit faster.

Somewhere along the way I learned to pick up my needles when I was nervous or worried, or needed to work out a thorny problem. St. Augustine is credited for saying, “It is solved by walking.”

I propose a slight modification for knitting friends. Sometimes, “It is solved by knitting.”

I’d guess the mechanism is similar. Knitting, like walking, provides a rhythmic, repetitive, physical action that engages the body while the mind can share time between observing the environment and sorting through the mental tangles. While one may provide more physical exertion, the other produces a tangible record of time spent in contemplation.

Both offer the opportunity to pick up from a starting point, make progress, and rest after a period of accomplishment.

I certainly don’t get everything worked out within a knitting session or two, but I usually make a little headway, even if only in finding some peace of mind within the whirlwind.

The Handy Distraction

Finally, the third reason I’m doggedly toting my knitting all over creation is because it’s such a good distraction. People in vulnerable situations deserve as much dignity and privacy as we can give them, and I’m finding my knitting to be a handy accessory to accomplishing that task.

A partially-knit cardigan can serve as a lovely visual screen during delicate moments.

My intense focus on a project can allow emotional space for someone else in the room.

I can be there and not be there at the same time, providing minimally intrusive supervision and protecting independence at the same time if I’m “involved” in my knitting.

In other words, I may be helping those around me by having my security blanket/knitting bag handy. What a lovely thought.

On Helping Those Around Us

On that note, and along with solving problems with knitting, generalized anxiety, upset, and things related, it seems like a great time to do something I’ve been meaning to do for quite a while.

I’d like to introduce you to Nicole, who runs the website Knitting for Charity. This website is an incredible resource for anyone who is interested (even the littlest bit) in knitting and donating items for others.

From a downloadable guide with general help to a large database of free patterns suitable for donations, Nicole has invested so much effort to make charitable knitting an enjoyable and effective way of helping others in our communities and beyond.

I know it’s a thousand degrees outside today (approximately), but the weather changes are coming, knitting takes time, and the number of people who could use some kindness expressed through knitting is only increasing.

If you need a project for your go-everywhere knitting bag, you might allow yourself to be inspired by Nicole’s work.

If you’ve already got a project in a go-everywhere knitting bag, what is it? How long has it been traveling with you?

Happy knitting,

Kiersten J