Something out of nothing

. . . the purpose of the craft is not so much to make beautiful things as it is to become beautiful inside while you are making those things.
~ Susan Gordon Lydon, "The Knitting Sutra"

Knitting is consuming me lately. I had a dream last night that I was at a knitting get-together in Chicago at someone's house, a fellow knitter and blogger, and "everyone" was there--all the other knitters whose sites I read, and whose projects I follow with great interest. There wasn't really any knitting going on, just everyone walking around, and talking, and I was amazed that I recognized all of these women despite never having met any of them before.

I ordered some yarn yesterday, pure wool to knit and felt (that's what happens when you wash something made out of untreated wool--it shrinks and the wool fibers grab onto each other and create a cohesive fabric) a tote bag. I've been wanting to do that for awhile, but had never done it before, and was uncertain what kind of yarn to get, and what colors, and what pattern to use. I'd thought about it and thought about it, and thought I might get some yarn when I went to the yarn store last weekend, but didn't--I just couldn't decide and be sure.

Then yesterday I got an email from an online yarn shop that was having a sale, and they had some wool on sale that I knew other people had used for felting, and they didn't have a lot of colors, which actually probably made it easier. I chose four:

I woke up last night worrying about it, the colors in my head, trying to think of the optimal stripe pattern for them, and wondering if I should have gotten different colors, or another one--there was a mustardy color that might have gone well with the ones I chose, or should I have chosen it instead of the purple? Worrying and worrying--the middle of the night kind that makes no sense, but that I'm powerless to stop.

And then I dreamed that we had a spare room, an extra bedroom that we weren't doing anything with, that I could turn into my studio! A knitting studio! With shelves for yarn and books . . . and then in that twilight between sleeping and waking, I thought hard about it and realized that we're already using the "spare room" for Bob's room, his office.

Last week I made another catnip "mouse" for Misty's kitties (she says they love it!), and over the weekend I knitted one for Dinah, although I haven't sewed it and stuffed it yet, and started another toy for them, a wonton from Knitty, an online knitting magazine which also has the pattern for the felted tote that I'm going to make out of the wool I ordered, although I'm going to make it less deep. And, obviously, not chartreuse and pink, but in the colors I chose, which strike me as somewhat "herbal" colors, and that phrase is why, I think, I was thinking of the mustard color as well.

When I was out at my folks' on Mother's Day, I took my current sock project, and my mother said it was nice to see me knitting again. Bob has said that, too. I love making things again, doing something with my hands, creating something out of nothing.