Patterns

Tell me you remember you are still a human being, not just a human doing.

Omid Safi

I started a knitting project at the beginning of the holiday. I’d actually planned to finish three hats for friends – belated gestures of holiday goodwill to compensate for my less festive mood prior to the break. I don’t need to remind you of the year we have all just been through.

The hat pattern I chose contained a few cables, yet that did not seem difficult. I was looking forward to finishing this off fairly quickly while practicing my new found skill of continental style knitting.

Halfway finished, I realized I had followed the pattern incorrectly. I ripped out the stitch work and started again. Shortly thereafter, I realized the way the yarn was organizing itself within the pattern was not presenting the colouring in a very flattering way. I ripped it out, changed the hat pattern and continued on.

I figured out that the way I was working the purl stitch was really hard on my hands, so I searched YouTube for a better way. Found it. Also found a crazy but effective new way to tension my yarn.

Yesterday, I lay the half finished hat (which has taken me the whole holiday to make – never mind three) on the counter. The light hit the colours in such a way that I knew the person I will be gifting this to will enjoy it.

I was able to be flexible with patterns of work and thought, let go of expected outcomes and in doing so, have begun to enjoy the process of knitting.

Best wishes in the coming new year where we will all need to continue to adjust our life patterns. Find small joys in the process of figuring out what works and what does not. Enjoy the being and not just the doing.