I recently gave my sister a ride to a pre-natal appointment and then spent a lot of time in stop-n-go traffic, trying to get back to work. How do people do it? Why would they rather drive, when they could be sitting on a bus or light rail train, reading or catching a few more precious minutes of sleep, or in my case, knitting. While sitting in my Zipcar, waiting to move a few feet forward, I longed to knit, read, anything but sit in traffic unable to do... anything.
So, I have come to the realization that riding the bus supports my knitting habit. So does watching TV. After all, if I'm knitting, I'm not wasting time. I'm being very productive with my time. I'm catching up on the shows or movies I enjoy, I'm relaxing and I'm making something useful as well.
And knitting protects me on the bus. If I'm using double pointed needles, I find that people are a little afraid to ask what I'm doing. After all, those thin pointy sticks might fly across the aisle and hit them. If I'm working on lace or anything with a pattern really, after an initial questions as to what I'm making, most people leave me alone after I make an elaborate show of concentrating on the pattern.
What they don't know is that knitting can be mindless for me, in the best way. I may look like my entire life's outcome is wrapped up in the next stitch but really, my mind is wandering to what I will make for dinner tonight to ideas for what I'll knit next while my fingers fly and I usually arrive home, feeling a bit more rested than when I left work and ready to maybe, just maybe, clean my house. For a few hours at least, until my favorite show comes on.
