Beyond Wool and Needle

Knitting is very slow.

Knitting is not quick.

If you're an instant gratification type, knitting is not the pick.


Funnily enough, I am an instant gratification type in many ways. I find knitting a valuable exercise in slowing down, being patient, grooving on the journey rather than grinding my teeth in strained anticipation of the desitination. It's not easy. But I'm getting there.


Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through... and off........

Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through... and off........

Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through... and off........

Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through... and off........

Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through... and off........

Needle through, yarn over, pull it back through, needle back in, yarn over, pull it th-h-h-hro-o-o-o-ough..... and off.....

Turn the stitch counter one...

Start again.........

Needle through...........


...and so my mind chants. Fixing my attention on such a mundane and manual task gives my mind licence to wander, yet keeps it tethered to the weaving in and out. The sublime union of freedom and restraint, liberty and bondage, makes for some fruitful reflections.

The end of the year is in sight, and so with it comes my annual spring tide of twinkly-eyed optimism. It's impossible for even the heaviest heart not to lift as the errors of the dying year are archived and the shiny promises of the new one contemplated. It's a time for potential.
I am very excited about the coming year. It's taken a long time to ramp the energy up since coming back to Brisbane; to know where to go or what to do. Or how. The first glimpses of the rest of my story have been hard to catch. But aren't the things worth having like that?

Not unlike the knitting. Stitch by stitch by stitch by stitch. It's a long, concentrated slog, but once it's finished...

Have a great Potential Season. May your coming year be just difficult enough.

Yes, I posted this on The Other Side as well. I thought it fit well in both places.