Two Sticks and Some String

"Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn't hurt the untroubled spirit either."

                                                                                      --Elizabeth Zimmerman
 
Over the past week I have felt an overwhelming urge to knit. I always enjoy my knitting, but usually proceed in fits and starts--bursts of fantastic progress followed by fallow periods where I am half a sleeve away from finishing a sweater and I am, for whatever reason, unable to take that last step.
 
I have been working on such a sweater for C for months now; even carrying it to Delaware and Maryland only to complete a mere row or two for my troubles. The sweater sits in a bag on the floor next to my couch, taunting me with every passing day I neglect to pick it up. I admit to being tired of it, ready to move on to the next project, but I am a knitting monogamist, and so I must complete this sweater, no matter how boring I now find it.
 
Somehow it is always during times of great stress or anxiety or strong emotion that the desire to attack my knitting again bubbles to the surface. Maybe it is my brain's way (or heart's way) of making sure I don't start smoking or eating whole tubes of raw cookie dough. It keeps my hands occupied, and drops a calming veil over my churning thoughts, if only for a few minutes.
 
Now that I have picked up C's sweater again, even though it's not under the best of circumstances, I am back in the groove. I am inspired and eager to finish, perhaps because every time I pick up the needles my mood improves. A little homespun therapy? Works for me..