One stitch at a time

I feel like I've been away at rehab. It's been way too long since I've blogged on a regular basis and that's mainly because I haven't been knitting much lately thanks to my lovely run-in with tendonitis/carpal tunnel. As if that wasn't enough, I've definitely also been suffering from NKSD - "Non-Knitter's Stress Disorder". As much as it hurts to knit these days, it hurts more NOT to! I don't think I realized how important knitting was in my life until I tried to live without it. I can't. So I'm back.

One of the things I noticed recently was that every time I thought about starting to knit again, I found myself feeling anxious and overwhelmed. I think a small part of it was the thought of more pain. But I think that more importantly I was becoming frustrated with the thought of not being able to dedicate hours at a time to knitting the way I used to. Never mind that that's probably why I'm in this mess! Anyway, I had to remind myself that for me, knitting is about the process, not the end product. Of course, the sweaters are great, but the real joy is in the act of knitting. That said, I can chose to stay paralyzed by the limitations of my injury or I can focus my energies on truly enjoying the time I spend knitting, as limited as it may be for a while. I choose the latter.

So I'm starting my 12-step program today and taking it one day at a time. After all, just as a journey begins wit h a single step, a sweater begins with a single stitch. I've got two relatively quick projects that I need to finish up and get off my plate over the next few days, and then it's off to my new spring sweater (see my next post).

Happy Spring!