In light of recent events in Orlando this week, I wanted to share a project with you that actually helped calm me, and made me consider meditation and knitting.
Behold Meditate by Elizabeth Doherty, lovingly knitted and photographed by madtownmama* (on Ravelry):
When I teach beginning knitters, I assure them that knitting is known for being meditative, therapeutic and relaxing. They’re all a bit anxious when they begin, worried about making mistakes, concentrating so hard their brows are furrowed in thought. Then I reassure them that the relaxation will come. After a bit more practice.
And soon they’re talking and knitting. And their shoulders relax. And they aren’t considering every step along the way, but instead enjoying the process.
This is one reason I knit. It takes me out of the world that sometimes defies understanding, to a place of creation, texture and color, and most of all, one stitch after another. A rhythm of moving forward when we just want to stop.
I love the linear order of its slipped stitch columns.
Its cool tones washed over me like teal ocean waves.
Knitting brings the world into order for me. I can meditate and reflect on the events of life, good and bad, while embracing beauty and color.
–Liz
*Madtownmama’s yarn is in a one-of-a-kind colorway in our 150g Thrilling gradient, but any of Knitcircus’s fingering weight 150g cakes would work!