Monday, January 26, 2009

I NEED TO KNIT WITH WOMEN!


Okay, maybe the need isn't so great that it requires capital letters and exclamation points but I really do need to knit with other women. One of my New Year's Resolutions was to take more time for myself. One way that I was able to to do this was to join a local knitting group at our local library. 2 hours a week, on a Monday evening, 5 minutes down the road.

Up until this group started, I had been sneaking away on rare occasions to my favorite yarn shop ( insert shameless plug here), but that required a 45 minute drive and a balancing act between what needed to be done around here, hubby's availability to hold the fort down here and my need to have sometime for myself. My favorite yarn shop has a lovely sun room and a great group of women who congregate there. I can drool over yummy fiber, have a good cup of coffee and work on whatever project I am in the middle of, uninterrupted.

Fiber Fellowship.  Knitting with other women, I can get inspiration for the next project. Such as this lovely scarf.  We share our hopes, joys, and concerns and more than enough laughter.

There used to be a time in my life when I was living the writing life. Nearly 20 years from those earnest poems of my teen years to the full bodied poems of a life lived.  I had a regular writing routine, I labored over poems while waiting for the right words to fall from the pen. I belonged to writers groups.  I used a lot of paper.  I frequented poetry readings and submitted poems for publication.  I actually had some local success with the whole endeavor. 

 And then...one day it just stopped.  Writers block? Maybe.  But I also reached a point where I didn't feel the driving need to write.  At one time I heard a story on NPR about Harper Lee and Henry Roth.  Writers who had one great novel and that was it.  The essence of the story was that even though they only wrote one novel they were creative people at heart and had found other outlets for their creative drive.

 Writing can be very solitary. Unlike knitting, it is hard to see how your poem fits a loved one. If the color is flattering or if ;while your hands were moving, you were daydreaming about the prospect of the next pattern, yarn and color you would like to work with.   

So, I create still, I weave still. Wool not words....




1 comment:

Kathy said...

You create more words than you realize Dear One. But you are also right on ... being with other women, sharing a common interest is more than just the interest.

It's GREAT!