Friday, August 17, 2007

I Knit Therefore I Don't Kill

I am continually amazed by my fascination with knitting. It can be therapeutic for me. Sometimes when work is especially stressful I'll place my current portable knitting project on my desk where I can steal glances at it, and pet it if the need arises. I've been blessed with the ability to sit at my desk during lunch and knit away over here. In my old job I had to creep outside and sit on the concrete either sweating or freezing if I wanted to get in some knit time. Over here I get the occasional emergency* interruption or interested co-worker that stops by, but for the most part I'm quite free to spend 30 minutes knitting away.

The best projects for at work stress relief are of designed with colors that I adore and soft pettable yarn. The project has to be easy to pick up without having to spend too long trying to figure out where I am or what step comes next. The project also has to be easy to put back down in case one of those emergencies happen. I'm currently working on a pair of Pomatomus designed by Cookie A. (see a picture of her sock to the right) Mine are being knit in a yarn so full of purples that I couldn't love it more. The pattern looks really complicated at first, and that's why I've never knit them before, even though I'd had the pattern printed out for ages. It turns out that it's really not that complicated once you get it started. I'm making small changes, like doing one less repeat (because my feet aren't big enough for the full 6 repeats around) and I'm going to do a different heel type, because I like my hourglass heel. Soon there shall be pictures of my lovely purples, but that's something I can't quite manage at work, so you'll have to imagine.

When someone appears with a snotty attitude and tries to make me feel like they are somehow better than me there's a little voice I hear whispering, "Yeah but can they make socks?" So far I haven't met very many people here at The Company that can, so it's not real likely. There's also the calming effect that being able to knit has on me when I'm hanging around outside waiting for Jeff to come pick me up after work. If I didn't have knitting I probably would have strangled him by now.

*I've yet to have any of these interruptions fit my definition of emergency, but that's just one of the joys of working with other people. Everyone always feels that their needs are the highest priority.

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