I Am A Knitter - "When the going gets tough..."

"When the going gets tough, the tough get knitting!"  A short perusal of my recent posts shows that life has been challenging for me during the past month.  With my mother's emergency surgery and difficult recovery and my sister-in-law's recent death, at times I have felt like I am just methodically putting one foot in front of the other.  How does a person cope in the midst of stress?  One thing I do is grab my knitting bag.

Knitting is a therapeutic outlet for me.

• It allows me to keep my mind occupied in a way that prevents me from sliding down the slippery slope of "what if's" that take me into the fantasy land of unreal terrors.  
• It allows me to feel a sense of control during times when I feel so helpless...as I navigate a simple pattern and see my piece of yarn turn into a fabric and a specific item.  
• It helps fill the time as I sit next to my mother's bedside or in a car seat driving the long road to Macomb, IL from St. Louis, MO.  
• It gives me something to talk about with the nurses and care partners who enter the hospital rooms.  
• It permits me to feel connected to the intended recipient at a time when I could feel very alone in my situation.  
• It fills me with pleasure, a sense of accomplishment and an appreciation of beauty in the midst of heavy, sad feelings.

So what have I been knitting?
I have a number of works in progress and a few completed items that will be gifts.  Completed are the Double Diamond Hat and Scarf set that I gave to my son, Michael, for his birthday at the end of November.

The Mitt Envy Fingerless Gloves I made for my nieces and nephew in Missouri:

The Regular Guy Beanie I have made for my grandson, Nik:

The Roaming Rib Cowl that I made at Milli's request for her to wear to LA King's hockey games. She is getting this on Christmas so I hope she doesn't read this post! :-)

In progress are: two men's beanies for two nephews and two Baby Surprise Jackets that I am making for one of the ICU nurses at UCLA Hospital who is expecting twin boys in February.

There is something so rewarding about creating handcrafts.  My maternal Grandmother first taught me to crochet when I was a young girl.  She lived to be 91 and many of my memories of her are crocheting beautiful lace edgings for items in my "hope chest!"  I have knit through my years of passage through good times and bad.  I remember my oldest son, Joey, saying as a young boy..."Mommy, you just take a piece of string and make something!"  It amazed him.

Last week my niece, Trista, sent me an electronic messaging saying, "Aunt Pat...I have a real desire to learn how to knit or crochet....any tips?"  Trista lives in Missouri...too far for me to grab a skein of yarn and two needles and run over to her house to teach her.  But my heart quickened when I read her words and thought of the enjoyment that was in store for her.

So...when the going gets tough, the tough get knitting...but always with a little glass of wine also at hand!