Trying it on

Quite a number of years ago when (late) my mother-in-law developed sever manic-depression and my (late) father-in-law developed Alzheimer's it seemed prudent to return to my old habits of knitting out my stress when I was too involved with their care and needs to be able to write full time the way I used to. My mother-in-law also used to tell me that having me around doing something homey like knitting (or crocheting) also seemed to help keep my father-in-law calm whenever he needed to have medical testing or procedures done (his Rheumatoid Arthritis was dreadfully painful). I often wondered if it was because Meta herself used to knit most evenings so he was accustomed to it. I know he told me that it was comforting to see me knitting as though everything would be just fine the night we had to admit Meta to the hospital for emergency care.

My maternal grandmother used to crochet incessantly. Hundreds upon thousands of granny-square lap rugs and afghans for all of her children and great-grandchildren and even more besides were left behind when she died at age 96. I have Rubber Maid tubs full of them downstairs just waiting for me to turn them into bed spreads (the way my mother did :-D) or to find the place that needs them most for bright spots of color and comfort. Certainly my grandfather loved to watch her hands work -- and I loved to go to her house where it was always so comforting, cool and just...grandma-like.

For me, knitting is release. I like bags most, so that's what I make. But I also make other things - especially when my son comes in and demands stuff (a sweater or a hat for his girlfriend, a sweater like dad's, something for his cat to play with... LOL!) And when I can figure out which CD they're on, I'll post pictures of projects, and even a pattern or two.

But for right now, I'm trying out this blog to see if it works.

Cheers from humid Michigan

Terese Ramin aka The Writing Wench