Why I knit

The other day I accidentally broke a dish. Not just any dish - handmade porcelain, hand-painted by an icredible artist.  Expensive. I loved that dish, and I'd splurged when I bought it.  But there it was.  Broken broken. I was so angry at myself.  So frustrated.  If only I had been more careful.  Why was it there anyway?  The self-recriminations came fast and furiously. It couldn't be repaired.  There was literally nothing I could do about it.  I wanted to cry.  

I needed to be alone, so I went to into the sunroom, my little sanctuary. Next to the sofa there was my knitting - a simple project of 1x1 rib in two colors.  

I picked it up and started working on it.  The rhythm of the needles and that easy stitch pattern helped me to settle myself.  That's part of why I like knitting.  It's the thing you can do when you can't do anything. 

I know that sounds strange, but think about it a minute.  There are tons of things in our life that we have no control over.  If you're a 7 Habits devotee, as I am, you know that those things are in our area of concern, but not our area of influence.  We should always focus on those things that are within our area of influence - those things we actually can do that might have some positive impact. 

But what about those big vague things that we're worried about that there's really nothing we can do personally to change?  Worrying is profoundly unproductive both collectively and individually.  And so we knit.  Around the time of September 11, 2001, there was a surge in the number of women aged 24-24 who took up knitting - a jump of more than 20%.  Knitting is calming to the mind and soothing to the soul.  That's one reason I love to knit.  What about you?  Share your reasons here.