Passion for the Process

Remember the iPod my boss gave to me for Christmas?  It was filled with music as soon as I brought it home and I loved listening while working out.  Then I decided to download the book club book and see if it work as a way to 'read' more books.  Well, I loved that even more than music!  Gilead by Marilynne Robinson was my first choice and I listened while at the gym (workouts fly by), at lunch, knitting when the house is quiet (read…no.one.home), and any other time available.  This is the best reason I can see to have an iPod, or the like. There is now a second book in my ear and I'm happy as a clam.  (As a grrl I just love that multi-tasking thing.)

One day the iPod was left in my gym bag and I had to knit through lunch without it.  Before I knew it, there I was with a smile on my face as the joy of the process came flooding back  Knitting with the book was enjoyable, but my attention was on the book and my hands 'just did' what they knew how to do. Knitting without the book I became very aware of the process, the passion I have for the process...each and every stitch of it and the simple solace it brings to my soul.  I will continue to  'read' during lunch time knitting but, from time to time, I will enjoy the surge of pleasure that comes from sitting quietly with my knitting, too. The second SockapalOOOza sock grows nicely with or without a book.

Sylvia's had a link on her blog a week or so ago to an article that I found very interesting.  The author, Catherine Hollingsworth, wondered if knitting could be considered an act of creation. She shares opinions from several of her readers on the (ongoing) debate of crafter versus artist. In a statement she attributes to St. Francis, the question is answered in part.

"If you work with your hands, you are a laborer. If you work with your hands and head, you are a craftsman. If you work with your hands, head and heart, you are an artist."

Reader, Robin Koutchak, had an explanation that is at the heart of the matter, as far as I'm concerned.

"It's a craft to those who do it just to have a scarf or something trendy. ... It becomes an art to those who learn and invent stitches ... teach techniques and become philosophically absorbed in the process of knitting, learning, finishing, designing."

Robin's statement is essence of the process for many knitters.  If you are absorbed in your knitting project, from choosing the yarn and color, making necessary changes, and following it through to the very last stitch…then you are, to my mind, an artist.

Laurie and I spoke of Blogland during our delightful dinner a couple of weeks ago (before her nightmare began) and how as knit bloggers, we not only have a common language but, also a shared passion.  If you take the time to blog about knitting, then it must be a big passion in your life. Passion creates common ground and shared ideas.  This form of communication winnows out many knitters with less passion for our fibery art.  We create daily with our words, pictures, and projects. Many times we tweak a pattern, change the colors or the techniques used in a project, and often, much more than that.  Our work is uniquely ours and we share it with Blogland friends in unique ways, too.  Blogland is a place to be inspired, enabled, enjoyed and loved, while we share our passion for all things fibery.

Speaking of passion, sock yarn must be mentioned! My hope for Project Spectrum is to learn to love, or at the very least gain new respect for, colors that have not been favorites of mine.  I have already learned to look at shades of orange  in a different light, because so many of my Blogland friends love it. The first Socks That Rock for the SockClub arrived from Blue Moon Fiber Arts on Monday.  It's such a nice package of beautiful yarn in unique colors, and a very nice pattern, too. It isn't a colorway I would normally be drawn to but, for some reason, I really like it. Maybe it's the name, Rainforest Jasper.   

Comments

[Kelly]

I am also one that likes to sit and knit in quiet, i know that sometimes my mind wanders off to other things but for the most part I enjoy the whole process, something my husband just can't seem to grasp.
Your socks are gorg! You'll have a well pleased reciever on the other end!

[michele]

What a lovely post...I got my STR package too...very fun and I feel similarly about the color and I love it now! I hung the little yarn keychain at my desk at work, it makes me happy looking at it during the day. Take care.

[Theresa]

I've been holding off on getting an iPod precisely because of what you describe. I was thinking of getting one, and when the thought "then I can even listen to podcasts as I walk down the street" - so as not to have even the 4 blocks to the gym "wasted," well, I thought I better not. I fear it would bring out my worst "must multi-task" tendencies.

[Carole]

I often sit and knit quietly - no tv, no radio, it's just a different type of knitting and I really enjoy it. And I get to think more, too.
I've had this discussion about crafting vs. art with an artist friend many times. It started back when I was quilting and she insisted that my quilts were works of art. I said, no, because I was following a pattern and not creating something on my own. But I do see her point - the fabric choices, certain design decisions, would make a quilt uniquely mine. Now she and I have the same discussions about knitting! I'm going to have to tell her about your quotes and this post next time I see her.

[PumpkinMama]

I too prefer to work in silence when I knit and spin. I think quiet is something we all sorely lack during most of our days. Taking the time to be alone with your thoughts with no distraction is so important.

[Cara]

It's a great thing to have this common passion and language. I thought about it a lot when I hosted that party up in Boston. I mean how great is it when you can get forty people in a room - mostly strangers - and they can be chatting away from the very start. And I'm always so surprised at how quickly the discussion moves ON from knitting into all kinds of other directions.

[Beth]

The only books I end up "reading" these days are listened to. I can knit and read a little bit but nothing involving a pattern.

[marie in florida]

re: Ipod; it's like hearing your favorite song in a different way if you don't sing along with it!

[Judy]

There is a time for everything. When I need / want to think, I do so quietly. Yesterday, I walked a well marked trail (chain saws in the backgroung) so was very happy to be listening to a podcast on my ipod.

[janine]

I love my ipod too! I must get some audio books for it - I used to listed to CD books in the car. At the moment I spend a lot of my time listening to Podcasts on all sorts of subjects including of course knitting :-)

[Terry]

Amazing! You've put into words what I've been striving for - to understand and like colors I normally wd. not take a second look at. Now I understand (what I've been seeing mentioned, Project Spectrum) what the goal is. Thanks for blogging!

[Rachel H]

Your comments about knitblogging and the craft vs art question got me thinking about my own reasons for knitting and the lure of the blogging community. I definitely knit more, and different things since I've found all of you (which wasn't quite a year ago yet), but what I've seen the most marked increase in is not so much my passion for Knitting itself, but for Learning and Trying new things and looking at something with an attitude that's less 'I could never do that' and more 'I think I'd like to try that'. The joy and healing found in the process and creation. Those are the things I'm most grateful for.

[Kim]

All this time with an i-Pod and I've never yet downloaded a book! One of these days though...

I really love the quote you posted about knitters being artists. In the beginning, I started knitting just because it was a new way to keep my hands busy. A year later, I find myself staring at sweaters and scarves everywear, admiring the colorwork, the patterns, the stitches... I'm not ready to design, but I love just thinking about all the possibilities of things you can make with a string of yarn and a couple of sticks. There's no end to the possibilities. Just because of that, I don't know how anyone could consider knitting anything other than an art!

[Sarah HB]

Sometimes I read when I knit but mostly, I just knit.....ok, and maybe watch TV I don't have to concentrate on but I just LOVE to knit.

Great sock yarn colors.

[hillary]

What a great post! I was just thinking yesterday about how blogland has changed the way I knit. I've only been a resident for a few months but it has had a profound effect upon the projects and colors I choose as well as the way I view those projects. It is indeed the process above all else.

[Ann]

Ditto many above...when it becomes about the process, it's art. When you rip out a lovingly knit piece to fix a very-small- invisible-to-everyone-but-you error with the joy that only comes from getting to do it over and right this time, it's art. Thanks...again...for making me think about my knitting, Margene.

And you aren't the first person I've read who didn't love the STR color at first glance, but has fallen for it since. Me? I gasped when I opened the box...turquoises and browns...my heart went pitter pat. Can NOT wait to knit it up.

[Nancy]

Now you have to move on to podcasts, like Cast On and Musings of a Peaceful Knitter. There is nothing cooler than knitting while listening to someone talking about knitting. It's great fun.

[Lizzy B]

How right you are Margene! I have found that recently I have enjoyed knitting in silence more than with music or "Background noise." I had gotten into such a spinning mode that I had forgotten how much I love just simply making each stitch and seeing how it all comes together to make something ammazing.

I like the STR club skein a lot. I would have never picked it out for myself, but maybe that's part of the point, to make us expand our horizons. Like me knitting with orange for Project Spectrum. Not something I would have found likely, but spinning has had a lot to do with my expansion of my color pallet.

[Chris]

Thanks for the link to the discussion of art vs craft!

I'm hoping for the same thing from the STR - expanding my color horizons a bit.

Have you started listening to any knitting podcasts while you're knitting or working out?

[Jennifer]

I sometimes knit in the quiet when my children are napping. Sometimes it's the only part of my day that is totally quiet. It's amazing how relaxed one can become in the quiet with only the sound of the needles in the room.

[Ann]

It's funny, I felt exactly the same way about the STR. The colors are gorgeous, of course, but not necessarily ones I'd pick out. But the more I look, the more I like.

[Amanda]

I'm happy to hear you are going to welcome orange into your world a bit more. It's my favorite color. The color of a deep rich sunset, or a big juicy citrus fruit. I just love it.

[christine]

I have never been a morning person, until recently. Now, I find that I love to get up early, walk and feed the dogs, grab a cup of coffee and knit. No noise, other than the odd little burps that come out of the dachshunds after gulping down breakfast. There is something so peaceful and relaxing about knitting and silence. Somehow, it makes me happy and lets me start the day in a much calmer frame of mind.
I thought of this when I read your post - Just like you said: "each and every stitch brings solace to my soul." Exactly! So perfectly put!

[Isela]

I enjoy sitting in the middle of the night when the entire town is quiet and knit away. It is the best time to just sit, knit, and let the "bad" things of the day flow away.

[Dave Daniels]

I just enjoy to sit and knit quietly, look out the window once in a while, and meditate on what I'm doing. I never really cared for anything plugged into my ears. I don't mind the tv on in the distance, turned way down (I'm never alone), and just relax/concentrate. It's peaceful. For me, something iPod-like would be too distracting, but that's how we are each different.