Why We Knit

When I'm asked, "why do you knit?" it's really easy to give a quick answer. I'm knitting because I'm waiting for my oil to be changed. I knit because I'm trying to stop biting my nails. I knit because I have a hard time finding sweaters with a torso that's long enough. There are probably as many reasons for why people are knitters as there are...knitters. And it's likely that a knitter will not go through life working her needles for just one reason. Life changes, and you adapt. Some of us just adapt better when armed with pointy sticks and a ball of yarn. So while a knitter begins as a trying to stop smoking or need to de-stress knitter, he or she will almost certainly be (if only once) a knitter because they love.We knit because we love. It's a weird thing for a non-knitter to get, and I understand that. We knit baby gifts, not because we want the kid to be swaddled in wool from day 1, but because we somehow feel that each and every stitch in that baby blanket contains a little bit of our love that will survive as long as the blanket does, or if we're lucky, as long as the memory of the blanket survives. We knit shawls when bad things happen, not because a shawl is a get-out-of-giref free card by any means, but because it's a big knitted hug when we can't be there in person. And we knit potholders to protect loved ones from hot pans and trays, but also to say "I love you". So next time you get a hat from that crazy aunt who crochets all the time, or your baby ends up with 12 blankets, don't think of them as "just another hat" or "another blanket I'll have to wash," but think of it as a physical representation of a knitter's love and caring. You'll never see a dishcloth the same again.

A new pastel ballband dishcloth for my Grandma Rosie, who is so knitworthy.