Old maid habit for new age woman

Do you ever go through these phases when the mind just won't be still and calm? Simply can't concentrate on anything no matter how hard you try? The mind is restless, the body oscillating between listlessness and hyperactivity? Well I'd been going through one of these of late. And when all else failed (even an unfinished canvas) I turned to the old faithful - yards of yarn and knitting needles!

Before you raise your eyebrows, roll your eyes and dismiss me as a victim of an early-onset geriatric condition let me tell you knitting can be fabulously relaxing. That is if you're blessed with the basic dexterity required, of course. Once you get the rhythm going the regular clickety-clack of the needles is extremely comforting. There is a pattern, order and structure to knitting. It's not a mindless pastime. You have to concentrate, unless of course you don't mind creating a shapeless woolly thinggy full of holes.

Anyway, if you're working your way towards a definite end product, following the pattern helps you regain focus. And once you reach the intermediate level in knitting, sight and touch immediately alert you to any mistakes. I graduated long ago from the beginner level when you panic every time you drop a stitch or mess up the pattern. I can now work a few rows down without unravelling the yarn and correct mistakes.

My first major knitting project was when I was in my teens. I ambitiously set out to knit a sleeveless vest for my high school boyfriend. My grandmother and her friend very sweetly helped out, shaping and salvaging as much as they could of what I'd made. Another friend simultaneously tried her hand at knitting a scarf for her boyfriend. I'm proud to report that mine was MUCH better, with fewer holes and sags per quare inch of knitted garment! But I also have to give the boyfriends credit for the fact that they actually wore those hopeless creations of ours. Aaah, puppy love.

That was then. I've thankfully improved considerably since and over the last eight or so years have knitted for my kids, nieces and nephews as well as my friends' children. In the past three weeks I've knitted two sweaters for a friend's baby and am now making warm, chunky scraves with fringes for my boys. One sweater is all done - finished and sewed up - and just needs a few buttons. The other (in my favourite a cable pattern) is currently in four pieces, awaiting the finishing touches. Seeing them fills me with a great sense of accomplishment.

But even better is the fact that I've got my mental mojo back. My mind is well on its way to returning to its general calm, collected state. Might take a few more days. And I owe it all to something that's wrongly stereotyped as an old-maid pastime. Knitting can work wonders for new age women too. Just give it a try.