Humble (and then some) Knitting/Zen Beginnings

I remember a brief attempt to knit sometime around age seven. I finished a scarf for my Barbie in blue wool, then forgot all about it.

Then, in July of 2004, I read The Martini Diet: The Self-Indulgent Way to a Thinner, More Fabulous You!, by Jen Sander. Now this is totally not my usual kind of book, but I adored the title (because I adore martinis), and the Amazon reviews showed it wasn't really a diet book. (As far as I can tell, the only way to lose actual weight from a diet book is to buy one heavy enough to use as a barbell.) Among her nuggets of wisdom -- which include advising us to swim for exercise, because "underwater your diamonds look HUGE" -- was the idea that if you snack while watching TV, you should try knitting as a better way to keep your hands busy.

I thought that was a clever idea, so I bought some ecru cotton yarn and some size 8 needles at Wal*Mart, read over the basics on knitting.about.com, and made another scarf -- this one about seven feet long, in stockinette. The first foot or so looked a little like ass when I was done, but by the end I had those stitches down.

Since then, I've been knitting with a passion. I probably have avoided a few pounds from not snacking in front of the TV, but that stopped being a motivation about half-way through that first scarf. So great a part of my life has this little hobby become that I have had to ask myself, "What the heck is going on?"

Is it the yarn? All those beautiful colors. Al those textures. I love the feel of alpaca, the fuzz of mohair, the strength of wool.

Is it the knitting books? All those cool pictures to inspire one to knitting greatness. The coded patterns that make one feel like some sort of knitting spy.

Is it the concept of making something useful with one's own hands? My job is about knowledge and service. I have no product when I'm done. And yeah, I have Websites that I run, but you can't put on your Website and go out to dinner

Is it the endless possibilities for making gifts? I love giving hand-knitted things to people, making them something that really is unique (that's such an abused word), hoping they can wear it and enjoy it.

And well, yes, it's all these things...and none of them. I can read pretty books on anything, play with colors and textures in paints or fabrics, and make useful things with wood. Ultimately, it really just comes down to the actual knitting itself.

The concentration and manual dexterity required for knitting has an almost magical quality of uniting mind and body that is just soooo relaxing, so soothing, so...zen.

My interest in zen philosophies has an even more embarrassing origin than a diet-and-lifestyle book: Kung Fu.

Remember the show? With David Carradine? Some of the stuff they talked about just blew my tiny mind.

As with knitting, I had a renewed interest as an adult and struggled my way through things like The Sixth Patriarch's Sutra and The Miracle of Mindfulness. Eventually, I grew comfortable with the understanding that I would always view Eastern philosophies with a Western mindset.

For one thing, so much zen thinking is expressed for some male monk in a temple on a mountain somewhere. Sitting for hours, letting go all worldly goods, social withdrawal, etc., just isn't practical for a gal living in the big city, you know?

For another, I don't believe in the tao, or in nothingness. I have no desire to become a Buddhist, as much as I admire so much of Buddhism. I'm definitely a God/Christ/Heaven/Earth kind of thinker -- though much of organized Christian religion appalls me.

Understanding and accepting that, however, has allowed me to learn so much about living a happy and productive life with such ideals as finding my "original face" and "having a mind like water."

The more I learn about zen precepts, the more I understand my love of knitting. The more I knit, the more zen I feel. And that's why I decided to try this blog: to celebrate the zen of knitting.