I believe in the healing powers of knitting. Many people think of knitting as a hobby for old ladies, who sit back in a rocking chair, and move the needles back and forth. Well, what they don’t know is knitting is much more than that. It allows people from any back round to come together, sit, knit, and receive emotional support when a sock has to be ripped out completely. Knitting doesn’t have a particular look; there are tall and short knitters, skinny and fat knitters, white, black, brown, knitters. We all have that common bond: knitting. Knitting has healing powers. When someone has a problem, the knitters are there to comfort you and tell you that everything is going to be all right. I could be having the worst day ever, but when I pick up my yarn and needles, I then know that my day is only going to get better from there. At my favorite knit shop, Knitch, there are people there who have been healed by knitting. Everyone at Knitch has their own story; they tell it through their knitting.
One lady, whose name does not matter, comes into the shop every single day. She arrives at the store when it opens and leaves at closing. She watches the people trickle in and out of the store, as she sits there and knits the same pattern. She is an old southern woman who sits and knits for hours upon end. My mom says that when her 3rd husband died, she came into the store and never left. The people at the table change everyday, but she stays and knits away at the same log cabin pattern. The grief from her husband’s death is woven through every stitch of her ugly patterns, but knitting helps her move on.
I believe in knitting. I believe that every finished project has a story behind it, whether if it’s a story of laughter or a story of tears. Nonetheless, knitting helps people heal in ways that therapy or grieving doesn’t. You don’t have to be depressed or disabled or old to knit. All you need is a pair of needles, yarn, some friends, and a story, because to tell a yarn is to tell a story.