Waxing philosophically

I was going to write a blog entry tonight. About current knitting, knit night, domestic projects, the ever-expanding shelves of sprouting seeds. And more thoughts about Sunday's date. Which was even nicer in retrospect, thankyouverymuch.

Thanks to J, I was given the opportunity to break my book-buying fast and purchase Stephanie Pearl-McPhee Casts Off.

There is a reason I broke the fast. Yarn Harlot was my first faithful-read blog, and from there, I discovered that I wasn't alone. I had no idea there was this enormous community out there who shared my obsession.

I loved yarn and knitting from the moment two dpn's with rubber-bands for stoppers on the ends were placed into my hands, nearly 18 years ago. I have always had a project on the go. While I may have put knitting aside for a time, because of work, or education, or another hobby, or various other reasons, knitting has defined a significant part of who I am since I was 15. I was never particularly ashamed of it, and always knit at parties, and cheerfully showed off what I was working on to any guests, but since I found this elusive place, I have made it a priority. I have stopped brushing off the compliments. I have challenged myself to become better at this craft.

And you know what? I'm grateful. Being loud and proud, as it were, has given me much joy during a year where much has changed, for the better, mostly (though any change is hard for me), given me security when I needed something to hang on to, and made me reach out during a time when I didn't really feel like reaching out.

Thank you, J, for cluing me in. Thank you, D, for coming over to my house one day and saying "hey, I knit too!" Thank you, L, for insisting that I bring yarn and needles to teach you. Thank you, Wolseley Wardrobe. Thank you, teacher. Well, I can't thank you enough. Thank you, bloggers, for putting it all out there.

Why yes, I have had three glasses of wine. I'll get going on dinner right away.