It’s been a bad week here in America. Two mass shootings, stock market volatility, and the usual political divisiveness. Nerves are frayed, and many of us feel the stress.
For those of us who knit, a breather is just a couple of knitting needles and a ball of yarn away. If you’re suffering from jangled nerves, facing personal challenges, or just dealing with ordinary stress, pick up those needles and knit. You can knit anything – it’s doesn’t matter. The easier the project, the better. The point is to take a few minutes for yourself and your own mental health, check out from the rest of the world, and enjoy the peace and quiet for a while.
In times of deep stress, I’ve always turned to my knitting needles. Several years ago, as I waited to travel to another part of the world to adopt my youngest child, I learned that the children in his orphanage could use handknitted hats and scarves. Delighted to hear this, I used this knitting time to soak up my stress and calm my nerves. When it came time to finally travel, I had an entire suitcase full of warm knitted hats and scarves for children who had no personal possessions, plus scarves for all their caretakers.
Knitting can heal. Knitting is our own little time and space where we can re-group, re-think, and prepare to face the realities of the world once again.
Blessings for peace and resilience, Cindy
Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, fictional short stories about knitters of prayer shawls and how their gifts bless people they know or have never even met. The story “Hats for Orphans” is based on her own knitting of hats while an expectant adoptive mother. Available in e-book and paperback at this link.
Sycamore Cove Knitting 