Pathetic how much time flies by before I realize I haven't written anything here.
When I was much younger, my mother went through a back to the land phase, like many folks in the seventies. It was an interesting time, and one that made a huge impression on me. She taught me how to do many things. A few never quite stuck, and some I did for a while and let drop. Knitting and crocheting were a couple of those. Knitting was a craft I'd pick up in the winter when I had nothing else to do, so it was very much an on-again-off-again kind of thing. I have knit a sweater, and a pair of socks; neither of which I am proud of today, but they were learning experiences.
Lately though, it seems to have gripped me again, and this time is refusing to let go.
I have knit preemie hats and newborn hats. I have knit a bootie (whose mate will get finished), three scarves and swatches. I hear you non-knitters asking "What's a swatch?" It's a piece of knitting of no determined dimension (other than small) that allows one to get gauge and see if they like the stitch being used. For example, a basketweave stitch looks different in chunky yarn than in baby weight yarn. The drape is different and it feels different. I was thrilled to be able to offer my mother a swatch in a stitch she had not yet knitted, and in a yarn she wanted to see that I had gotten on sale.

Knitting is bringing me back to my mother. Back to the values she tried to teach me. I am knitting preemie things to send up north to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. I am knitting for the less fortunate here in my own town of Cambridge. I am knitting to learn, to share and so that I may do something productive for my neighbours. I can't change global warming, but I can make my fellow man a little warmer.