Knitting v. Writing

Writing is an obsession. Not the sneaky one that catches you unaware, like the time I was 30 bags into my cheetos obsession before I realized it, or the time I went through several *cough,cough* 1 pound bags of peanut butter M&Ms in a year. Writing is the kind of obsession I've lived with forever, stories filling my head, voices of strangers as familiar as the voices of my friends, and sometimes, the voices of my friends as they become characters, carrying on conversations they never remember in real life.

Knitting is my new past time, as well as crocheting. It is the most rewarding and most frustrating thing I've ever done. I can walk away from a well written work of fiction bothered by my inability to express the thought the way it deserves to be expressed, but when I finish a block of the baby blanket I'm knitting for my husband's sister, I feel the accomplishment that writing never gives me. Knitting (or crocheting) is great in that it is an instant gratification kind of thing, although when you make mistakes and have to undo hours of work because you inadvertently added a stitch or you missed a double crochet in the 3rd round, it can be kind of frustrating. The inability to adequately express myself is much more frustrating.

Knitting, however, doesn't give me the sense of purpose that writing gives me. In knitting, I am an imitator, since I don't know enough about the craft to be a creator. But in writing, I am a creator, crafting character traits from glances, conversations from single words. I do not know enough about the craft of writing to be a creator, but the craft itself compels me to create.

I took up knitting to lull my brain, to keep the thoughts from richocheting quite so painfully so that maybe I would be able to isolate the things I wanted to say from the things I would need to say later. It has turned into a fascinating hobby where I can spend hours searching for yarns, designs to try, magazines with designs that I actually think someone would wear, etc. In some ways, it has eclipsed writing. Maybe because it is easier, maybe because it doesn't require much thought. Maybe because I don't get quite as angry when I'm interrupted from knitting(crocheting) as when I'm interrupted from writing. It has been my blessing, a much needed rest as I get back on my writing track. The intricacies of teaching myself to knit and crochet has definitely sharpened the mind even as the ability to knit (once I learned) has given my mind the freedom to wander.