My Secret Love Affair

With yarn, duh! This IS a knitting blog, after all. Anyway, this affair…it’s a problem. Mainly for my bank account because, one, inflation, and two, I apparently have expensive taste in fabric. I know, it’s a total shocker. But you know…[insert obligatory cliched YOLO reference here].

I think my love of crafts began in high school with Ms. Marsh, who introduced me to hodgepodge, basket weaving, painting (I’m good with colors, but otherwise, it has to be paint-by-numbers for me because this is NOT my forte), and drawing (also completely abysmal here, as I lack the hand-eye coordination needed). Ms. Marsh was a lovely free spirit who was calm, confident, and comfortable in her own skin, something that, as both a teenager and an adult, I have always found to be awe-inspiring. When I was in her class, the time flew by, and anxiety dwindled to nonexistent because every worry was pushed out of my head and replaced by the focus required to complete the project.

I hope to recreate the focus, passion, and sense of peace and calm I had in her class by knitting. I’ve always found it fascinating how something like a ball – which I recently learned is often called a “cake”- can turn into any garment imaginable (within the confines of yarn type, of course). I’ve had a lot of stressful life events recently, so a bit of calm would do me and my family some good.

I was recently given a potential cancer diagnosis that turned out, thankfully, NOT to be cancer. Instead, it’s something else that there aren’t currently many treatment options for. It also has a nasty habit of sometimes turning into lymphoma in a few years. Bane of my existence, thy name is sarcoidosis. In addition to that, I was also diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My aunt (mom’s twin) has it also, so she has been a fount of knowledge for me on this issue. All of that to say, I thought now would be a good time to focus on something positive. Something tangible. Something that’s mine. It’s a definite bonus that this is a life skill that results in beautiful and practical items that both myself and my family can use. Maybe, if I get good enough at it, I’ll be able to sell some pieces; the cost of the medications I have to take now to manage these conditions is laughably, ludicrously, astronomical. Beyond that, the satisfaction of creating something and creating it well brings me joy. Stay tuned as I take a couple of classes!