Life, as Measured in Yarn

I guess it's been about three weeks since I started working with the loom. I'm getting close to being finished with my dog rug. It's my first large loom knit project and I've enjoyed it quite a lot. Tonight, I spent some time watching more videos over how to fix my mistakes. I have a better idea now and hopefully, I can make it work out. I find the rug, even with all of its mistakes and uneven colors, to be quite lovely. It's very worthy of the sweet dog who will soon own it.

It's been two weeks since my illness. In the wake of it, I was left dizzy and weakened. My exercise has been mostly about me regaining strength. The process has been both tiring and satisfying. It's good to see that I can recover, even when I have some serious setbacks. If you're someone who is trying to get physical again, don't be discouraged if you get sick or injured. Our bodies are pretty amazing about being able to bounce back. You just need to be patient.

It's a week since Alice died. We're adjusting to her being gone, but it isn't easy. I catch myself playing through her time with us and it just breaks my heart that it was so brief.

I always feel like there is an interesting synergy to any long range project like my dog rug. As you knit (or sew or crochet or what have you), your hands become the extension for whatever is happening with the rest of you. When I look at this rug, it's more than just a rug. It's a physical timeline of my experience over the last three weeks.

The first part of the rug is me being unsure about what I was doing. The work is shoddy, inexperienced, and has a lot of mistakes to it. It progresses into something more even and assured. Then it progresses into a solid love for the process of looming in this fashion. There are a few lines on this rug that are pure victories, done during the days when I was so nauseated and so weak, it was all I could do to hold the loom for one line of work. Further on, there are lines done in a frantic attempt to find comfort, as Alice grew ill, and then after she was gone. This rug has seen me through a lot and is a part of my experience during these weeks.