Tag: hobbies

Knitting for Daily Delight: The Joy of a Daily Shawl Practice

Knitting for Daily Delight: The Joy of a Daily Shawl Practice

Cynthia Coe

We all know that knitting can be a relaxing and enjoyable hobby. It’s not just about creating beautiful garments for others; you can also knit something special for yourself. Imagine the joy of making a shawl just for you, without any specific spiritual practice in mind. Self-care and taking a little time for yourself are essential for a happy life. With a daily shawl practice, you can weave a touch of delight into your daily routine.

The Daily Shawl Ritual

This practice is all about having fun and adding a daily dose of creativity to your life. You can decide to set aside some time each day to knit a few rows or a specific pattern repetition. It’s a simple way to make time for yourself and celebrate your love for knitting.

You might want a little structure for this daily knitting practice. In recent years, many knitters have embraced personal knitting challenges, like “temperature blankets” that represent each day’s temperature with a unique color. Others have created blankets that track train delays, their daily moods, or noteworthy events. These creative projects become a delightful daily ritual, a moment to reflect on different aspects of life.

Feel free to choose colors based on your mood, the season, or even random picks. You can switch things up and create a pattern that’s uniquely yours, without any strict rules.

Creating a Comfortable Space

As a dedicated knitter, you can choose to create a cozy knitting nook that makes you feel happy and relaxed. Maybe you have a favorite chair or a spot with a great view. You can add some scented candles, colorful decorations, or anything that brings you joy. It’s your personal knitting paradise!

As you look up from your knitting, you’ll be reminded of the joy and creativity that knitting brings into your life. It’s a way to stay focused on enjoying your knitting time, instead of worrying about everyday chores.

The Real Joy

The real joy here is the daily act of knitting, not just the end product. It’s about embracing a fun and lighthearted daily ritual that brings joy. You’ll find yourself looking forward to this special knitting time, and it can even become a delightful part of your daily routine.

Blessings, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, interrelated stories about knitters and those for whom they knit and love. The sequel to this book, The Knitting Guild of All Saints, has been released! Available in paperback and on Kindle, included in Kindle Unlimited. 

Be sure to follow me for an upcoming announcement of a new book for makers of Prayer Shawls!

When Do You Pull the Plug on a Knitting Project?

When Do You Pull the Plug on a Knitting Project?

Cynthia Coe

In the past two days, I’ve pulled the plug on not one but two new knitting projects. First, I tried to knit socks with lace weight yarn. That was Fail Number One, due to utter unsuitability of the yarn to the project. Fail Number Two was more complicated.

I planned to knit a scarf as a Christmas present for Son#1. He recently moved to Nebraska and suddenly needs LOTS of cold weather garments. I miss him terribly, but this gives me a new focus for my knitting. Need a hat, cowl, or winter scarf? I’m all over it! 

But the pattern I selected for this scarf just didn’t seem right. Mind you, there was nothing inherently “wrong” in this pattern – a traditional Scottish horseshoe pattern. But it wasn’t right for son. And that bothered me. I kept knitting the pattern, but I still didn’t like it. Finally, I pulled the plug – or should I say, the yarn – and frogged the whole thing. I re-started the scarf with a tried and true pattern I enjoy and could do in my sleep. (And I’m reasonably certain my son will love it.)

Friends, knitting is something we do for fun and relaxation. We need to knit what we want. If you start a project and don’t like it – for whatever reason – pull that yarn and start over. Knitters have a huge advantage over other crafters: we can re-use materials if we need to start over, and no one’s the wiser. Plus, you get “extra knitting time” with the same yarn if you decide to frog it.

So knit what you want, what you really really want. If you don’t like it, remember this is a HOBBY for most of us. And the whole purpose of a hobby is to relax and do something pleasant. If you find yourself knitting something you don’t like – for whatever arbitrary reason – yank the end of that yarn and be done with it!

Blessings, Cindy

Cynthia Coe is the author of The Prayer Shawl Chronicles, a collection of interrelated short stories about knitters and those they meet through knitting and sharing prayer shawls.