I spent hours this past weekend listening to past years' epidoses of Brenda Dayne's Cast On podcast. Brenda's efforts have opened my eyes to the world of knitting as I take more than a few interesting and thought provoking tidbits from each listening session. Somewhere within her 2007 series of podcasts, I learned about the Knitting Ladies of Interim House, program at a halfway house in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for women recovering from drug and alcohol addictions. I am inspired by the program director's blog posts as the content really speaks to the importance of creativity and the sense of accomplishment that can be gained from the simple act of knitting. When one focuses on one stitch at a time, one can quickly see how each successful stitch works together with others towards a masterpiece of accomplishment. Having learned about the success of this program, I began considering my own stash and the potential rewards of corraling yarns that can be put to better use to benefit a group such as this rather than remaining in storage bins indefinitely. Interweave Knits publishes a lengthy list of charities that benefit from donations of knitting supplies and/or knitted items. It is clear that the potential for every knitter to make a difference is signficant.

Somewhere in the deep recesses of my diminishing memory, I recall peaceful moments as a small child sitting beside my mother as she was knitting... perhaps some socks for my dad or mittens for me. The mere recall of the pleasantly muted, soft clicks of her knitting needles brings comfort even now. My mother creating; my mother providing; my mother’s presence beside me – all captured in the auditory memory of needle striking needle as she knitted round upon round.
Mom turned 90 the other day. Unfortunately, the will and desire to feed her creativity and productivity seems to have left her in spite of a body and mind that remain quite capable. As I sat on her couch working on my own “Saucy Socks”, I could see in Mom's eyes that her spark for knitting is still there, although I learned that her desire to concentrate on pattern variations is gone. We soon found ourselves buying new knitting needles and plenty of cotton yarn to get her started anew and what followed was a virtual production line of hand-knit dishcloths. And there was joy – the pure joy that knitting brings. Mother and daughter sitting together, sharing feelings of triumph over a FO (finished object) and the ability to speak our minds without the intrusion of television. I wish moments like this for all women, of all ages.