Knitting my way through stress

Happy Monday, DMV*! It’s April 6.

I’m back from a few days off for spring break. A few of you reached out to me, wondering where I was, how I’m doing. I took a few days of much-needed time off … and yet, I continue to struggle to calm my mind.

Stress. Challenges. They arise. I put one foot in front of the other. Nonetheless, my head is in a fog. So I turned to my knitting — an active meditation with my needles and yarn.

My mom, who once love crocheting and knitting, has given up her craft because it hurts her hands. In recent years she has gifted me several batches of yarn along with unfinished knit and crochet projects — most of it decades old.

As you can see in the photo above, she had been crocheting a skirt or dress, but I didn’t think I would finish or ever wear it. So I decided to frog it — i.e., to “rip it, rip it” (the sound that a frog makes, get it?) so I could reuse the yarn. Here’s a closeup of her handiwork before I frogged it.

I held it and gave it my love, praising her craftsmanship. I held it and gave thanks for the gift of her creation. Then I frogged it, winding the yarn into balls. It felt cleansing. This next photo shows the frogged and unused yarns she gave me — all the same brand in various colors.

I launched on a new tank top. I’m all for utilitarian clothing. I found a pattern I liked — the Audrey top by PetiteKnit. I got a few inches into it, then had misgivings about the sizing, so I compared it to the first Audrey top I made a few months ago. The first one — in a light pink yarn gifted to me by a friend who once aspired to learn crochet — fits though is slightly oversized. The sizing was difficult because my mom’s yarn was slightly thinner than the batch from my friend and required smaller-gauge needles.

It looked far too small, so I frogged it and restarted, sizing it up. I finished it Saturday night (April 4) and took this photo yesterday, next to the remaining yarn. I haven’t laundered the tank top yet, so you can see I started the bottom few inches with frogged yarn, which was still kinked and crimped from its previous crocheted incarnation. The yarn should smooth out after a wash.

My various yarn projects slow my mind and calm me. I take apart items that are no longer of service. I create something new. I give much of what I make to family and friends. The tank tops that I make with this yarn from my mother will stay for now with me and my daughter because these are the yarns my mom chose.

I’ve made three Audrey tops I’ve made since I bought the pattern a little over three months ago. I’m trying to finish up two batches of yarn (one from my mom and another from my friend). I’m guessing I have at least four more tops to go, which translates into a few more months of stress relief.

Cheryl Ryefield, a resident of Annandale, Virginia, shared photos from a few outings last month.

She went with friends on March 19 to the National Museum of Asian Art to see the Peacock Room, which opens its shutters on the third Thursday of each month to let in natural light.

“We arrived at just the right moment. A docent was there to share the fascinating story behind Whistler’s famously controversial design,” Cheryl said.

On March 26, she and a friend visited Hillwood Estate, Museum and Gardens.

“They feature their orchid collection during the month of March. And the orchids are really spectacular,” Cheryl wrote in her submission. “I like the way the blue color of the sky peeking through the glass ceiling of the greenhouse enhanced this scene!”

What do you do to work through stress and life challenges? Bake, garden, run, paint, build ham radios or cosplay? Show and tell me by sharing photos of your projects here.

* For those of you wondering: The DMV is how residents here call the D.C. region, which includes Maryland and Virginia. I’d get emails from people asking about this every few weeks. Now you know. 😉