There are so many reasons to love yarn, and those reasons are as different as the crafters who use it. But, what we can agree on is that using yarn confers a benefit to us. (Otherwise, why would we keep on using it?) One of the greatest benefits for me, is that yarn and knitting give me a way to pass time that otherwise would be wasted, or spent doing something much less pleasant. It allows me to take those little chunks of time standing in line at the grocery store, in the waiting room at the dentist, riding the train, etc., and turn them into productive moments. When you’re an on-the-go type of knitter, it’s kind of amazing how much time you never knew you had! But, sometimes, life throws you a situation in which waiting is all you can do, and unless you have something to keep your brain busy, it drags on forever. Like the hospital!
Yesterday, my husband had to go for surgery. Usually I carry around something fairly simple to work on – stockinette socks, for example. But knowing I’d have many hours of time to kill, I instead opted for a more complicated sweater in Comfy for my niece. I’d only finished the sleeves up to the sleeve caps, and had only a general inkling on the body. Since pattern writing eats up time, it was a perfect opportunity to distract myself with all the charting and math.
We checked in at 7am. I pulled out the little sleeves as the nurses went through the pre-op procedure.
Before I knew it, the sleeve caps, and the pre-op, were done. My husband was wheeled off, and the waiting began.
Even though it was five hours in the waiting room, it hardly felt like time had passed. Working out the pattern for the sweater kept me so preoccupied that I forgot to worry about my husband’s surgery! Before I knew it, he was in a recovery room, sleeping off the anesthesia, and I was halfway up to the armscyes on the sweater. A few hours later, we were home.
Of couse, at home is where the real fun begins, what with aftercare and all – so, very little progress was made on the sweater for the rest of the day! Yarn has proven once again to be a real ally, helping me to make the best out of an unfavorable situation. And not only that, but I have something to show for it.
There are so many reasons why I love yarn, but when life gives you lemons, it can be the sugar that helps you make lemonade.
