KNIT ONE, PURL TWO AND YOU\u2019RE FREE<\/p>\n
\nProperly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit,
\nand it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either.
\nElizabeth Zimmerman<\/p>\n
\n
I was a nervous child.\u00a0 I was terrified of the horrible dangers that lurked around every corner.\u00a0 If I talked to strangers because they would abduct me; I must never argue with my mother or she would give me back to the Indians.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t cross a street without risking my life; if I dared to boil water, the steam would blind me.\u00a0 Touching the pan would cost a finger. Boys with nasty leers jumped out behind bushes at little girls like me, and teachers got angry for no reason at all.<\/p>\n
Reality was too much for me to absorb.\u00a0 My nerves were jangled and my nails bitten to the quick.\u00a0 I jumped at an unexpected sound; I screamed when a light flashed; I hid under the couch when someone slammed the door.<\/p>\n
My mother was a redhead with an attitude.\u00a0 She was afraid of nothing. Danger actually thrilled her and she met it head on with eyes flashing and acid repartee that quelled the bravest among us.<\/p>\n
And it was she who made me quiver and shake at the thought of facing another day with all its pitfalls.\u00a0 It was she who reminded me that I might trip if I ran too fast; I might break that dish I was wiping; or jam the brush into my eye when I brushed my hair.\u00a0 She couldn\u2019t stand the fidgeting, the nail biting, and the twitches.\u00a0 \u201cThis kid is driving me crazy,\u201d she told my Aunt Hazel.\u00a0 \u201cShe is a nervous wreck.\u201d<\/p>\n
My Aunt Hazel was a pragmatist.\u00a0 When she didn\u2019t get enough meat for dinner, she left home.\u00a0 When she couldn\u2019t earn enough money to support herself she married a bootlegger.\u00a0 She was one of the first in that generation to think outside the box.\u00a0 \u201cTeach her to knit,\u201d she told my mother.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you crazy?\u201d said my mother.\u00a0 \u201cShe jiggles so much she\u2019ll poke her eyes out with a knitting needled. \u201c<\/p>\n
\u201cWell that\u2019s one way to calm her down,\u201d said Aunt Hazel.<\/p>\n
So it was that my aunt took me with her to the Stitch In Time Knitting shop filled with yarn in every color and an oval table piled high with pattern books. Several ladies sat around that table drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes (this was 1943) chatting about the war effort and knitting scarves, mittens and caps for our servicemen.\u00a0 Their needles clicked and they smiled and laughed as they worked.\u00a0 As I watched these women moving those needles at the speed of light, I saw to my amazement that they were creating all kinds of garments: sweaters with lace sleeves, block patterns and colors, plaids and stripes and polka dots.<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to do that,\u201d I told my aunt.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought you would,\u201d she said.\u00a0 \u201cWhat would you like to make?\u201d<\/p>\n
My aunt took me home that afternoon and told my mother, \u201dShe\u2019s knitting a scarf.\u00a0 That will keep her in line.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was back in 1943, but my aunt\u2019s wisdom holds truth even today.\u00a0 In fact, a maximum-security prison in Brazil came to the same conclusion.\u00a0 They have decided that if their inmates knit something for three days, it is worth one day off their sentence.\u00a0 They know what my aunt figured out so many years ago.\u00a0 Knitters don\u2019t have time to get in trouble.\u00a0 They might drop a stitch.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KNIT ONE, PURL TWO AND YOU\u2019RE FREE Properly practiced, knitting soothes the troubled spirit, and it doesn’t hurt the untroubled spirit either. Elizabeth Zimmerman I was a nervous child.\u00a0 I…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"yasr_overall_rating":0,"yasr_post_is_review":"","yasr_auto_insert_disabled":"","yasr_review_type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[837],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-15457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-joe-cillo"},"yasr_visitor_votes":{"stars_attributes":{"read_only":true,"span_bottom":"